Problem:
Last Chance Securities Situation: The IT director opened the department staff meeting today by saying, "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that management approved the payroll system project this morning. The new system will reduce clerical time and errors, improve morale in the payroll department, and avoid possible fines and penalties for noncompliance. The bad news is that the system must be installed by the end of December in order to meet new federal reporting rules, costs must be within the budgeted amount, the new system must interact with existing systems, and the vice president of finance insists on approving the final design.
a. Name the constraints, and indicate whether each is present, future, internal, external, mandatory, or desirable.
b. Explain why it is important to define the payroll project's scope. Explain how to define project scope.
c. Identify tangible and intangible benefits of the new payroll system.
d. What topics should be included in a report to management at the end of the preliminary investigation?
c. Using PERT/CPM techniques, develop a chart that shows the project. Use project management software to develop the chart.
d. What is the critical path for this project? How do you know?