Feasibility Study On A Project Concept For Monash University

Service Delivery Requirements

The service delivery requirements are the minimum conditions that are required for the project to be regarded as viable. This requirement provides a basis of either rejecting the project or going ahead with project implementation. The minimum service delivery requirements for this project on building and implementation of an ICT center for Monash University include:

1. The project should be able to able to provide enough learning space for all student:
2. The project should be able to offer students additional knowledge and skills on ICT
3. The project needs to be able to offer both local and international students unique experiences in the matters of technology and encourage technological innovation

The service requirements are in line with the project plan since the project plan is meant to improve service provision and increase efficiency in the organization.

The aim of this project is to provide students with an opportunity to innovate technological and to develop new ideas in this field of study.

• To understand the operations of institutions and align the operations and structure of the university with the ICT strategy.
• Put Monash University as a technology oriented institution and hence attract more local and international students to the University.
• Provide students and staff alike with opportunities to innovate and develop new technological products and advance the existing technology
• Achieve highly integrated communication system within the university
• Connect the University with the entire world through very high speed internet connection.   
• Provide students with the best learning environment so increase their productivity and aid in research in different fields of study.

Establishment of the right technological infrastructure in terms of computers and other machines

• Availability of all construction materials and resources to enable the construction of the facility to house the ICT center.
• Risk management. It is very important for risk to be well managed in this project both in the construction of the facility and in installation of machines. This is because risk can result to great or irreversible loss for the business.
• Cost reduction. The cost of building the facility needs to be managed to avoid costs increasing further and hence ruining the original budget set for the project.

Table template/structure below

Table1: Table demonstrating options considered

Head 1	Head 2	Head 3	Head 4
1		l Construction of many IT units in the University in different departments
		· Equipping students with personal computers to aid them in research
		· Entering into partnership with major ICT companies where students can go for their attachment and experience the work place environment.
		· Installation of high speed internet connection throughout the university.
		· Construction of mobile phone hardware assembly to design and manufacture hardware which the university can supply to the mobile phone companies.
		· Construction of a single world class modern ICT hub with high tech equipment  and computers to aid in research and innovation

Table 21 | Project options

Text and a table structure/template below

The options highlighted above need to be evaluated to determine which of the options is the most suitable. The suitability of the options depends on the alignment of the project with the long term organizational goals and objectives. The criteria used to evaluate the suitability of the project include the cost of implementation of the project, the benefits expected to accrue from the project and the alignment of the project to the vision and mission of the organization ( Heldman, 2011).

Table 2;Options evaluation criteria

Cost-Benefit analysis
Suitability of the project to the vision of the University
Effectiveness		This is the measure of project intervention objectives and how they will be achieved by the time the project is completed
Impacts		This are the positive, negative and secondary long term effects produced by the project whether intended or unintended
Relevance		This is the measure of the extent to which the objectives of the intended project are in line with the needs of the intended beneficiaries who in this case are the students and the  teaching staff of the University

Table 22 | Table 2 footer example – linked to contents

Using the criteria outlined above, the four options presented by the University were analyzed. The five evaluation methods stated above were used and they were rated an index to help identify which of the options provided was the most suitable than all the others. The option that was scored the highest in all the rubrics used to gauge the suitability of the project is the one that is undertaken by the University.

• The construction of an ultra Modern ICT center for the University with the highly sophisticated computers and other equipment to aid the student in research and development in the technology.

The scope of the project is very wide. The products that will be required to successfully implement this project include the construction of the building that will be housing the facility. The building will be a huge complex that can serve at least 2000 students at any particular time. The construction will require a huge budget and will take approximately three years to complete. The design of the building is sophisticated and the University will use the project as an opportunity to showcase the outstanding skills and knowledge by the former students of the University who have been awarded the tender. The project will involve various stakeholders to help see it to completion. The board of governors of the University needs to approve the final details of the project including the project budget. The other important stakeholder in this project is the partner who is sponsoring the project. The project has attracted many investors with companies like Google and Microsoft being highly involved in the IT installation phase and future collaboration. The other stakeholders in the project are the companies constructed to perform the actual construction. The project has to be completed within four years putting into consideration risk factors that may occur during the implementation of the project.

Alignment With Program Plan

This project expects to face some challenges and limitations that may distract its implementation. The challenges are the potential pitfalls that may be experienced during the implementation of the project (Chin, 2014). The following are the potential constraints and dependencies for the project:

• Inflation of the project cost given the changing economic and financial environment. This may bring about a budget constraint.
• Shortage of unskilled labor since the project is labor intensive. This may lead to delay in the project.
• Unplanned alterations in project design due to the technical challenges that may occur during the project implementation
• Time constraint as a result of unexpected delays in procurement of materials and other factors that may occur during the implementation of the project.

Scope management is concerned with understanding and managing the core aspects required for the project to be implemented successfully. The management of the scope of this project begins with the planning stage. The building of housing the ICT center is designed to accommodate approximately 2000 students at any particular time. The building is also set to accommodate offices for staff in the ICT department. The initial plan of the project is to ensure that a very strong high tech network is created in the ICT center and throughout the university. The building is will also have laboratories where students can carry out experiments to help them develop new technological products. The control stage of this project management is concerned with monitoring of the progress of the project and approving or disapproving project changes. A committee is formed to oversee monitoring of the project to ensure that all the objectives stated in the project plan are being fulfilled. The committee is also in charge of approving any changes in project design or in any other aspects of the project that the project manager may recommend changes. The final stage of the scope management will be able to the closing stage where the committee will evaluate and audit the project deliverable to determine whether or not the deliverable have been achieved or not.

The main deliverable of the project are the main pillars of the project which needs to be implemented do that the project goals and objectives can be achieved. The project deliverables have to be fulfilled for the project to be deemed successful. The following are the deliverable of the ICT project.

• Successful completion of construction of the building that will be the ICT center of the university. The building design and capacity of the building must be maintained and completed on time so as to ensure that the aims and objectives of the project are achieved.
• The hardware components for the project are very crucial for this project. The hardware component include computers, cables, routers, transmission machines and the other hardware component that are necessary for the project have to be procured on time(Kloppenborg, 2015). The suppliers of the hardware components needs to be identified and they should have the capacity to supply high quality products on time.
• Telecommunication is another important project deliverable for this project. Telecommunication for the project is a very key component of this project. The ICT center is to be installed with high quality communication gadgets such as routers, computers and telephone networks. It should be able to make communication easier within and outside of the University.
• The database systems of the ICT center should be of high capacity due to the huge volumes of data that will be in the system. The database should be able to handle the huge data traffic and the sophisticated system that is in place.

The key performance indicators for this project are the measures that will be used to gauge the success of the project.. The key performance indicators for this project will help to compare the state of the project after the project has been completed and compare the achievements of the project with what was envisioned before the project began (Luckey& Phillips, 2007). The key performance indicators for this project include:

• Cost performance measure. This will compare the cost of the project with the current performance to establish whether or not the project meets the threshold.
• Project return on investment. The performance of the project is also measured through the return on the initial investment of the project. The aim of this project is not to maximize revenue for the University but it is also expected to generate substantial revenue through corporate organizations who will buy licenses of products developed by the University.
• The project schedule designed at the beginning of the project will be used as a measure of performance through comparison with the time that the project will be completed.
• Current resource allocation. The amount of resources used throughout the project will be compared with what was planned initially to compare if its a success or not.
• Comparison of actual amount spent on the project with the initial budget. This helps to determine the deviation from the project and hence track wastage of resources and inefficiency (Lester, 2013).

The structure outlined above is the hierarchy of authority in implementation of the project. Communication will follow the structure outlined above and the changes in the project will be implemented through the structure outlined above.

Project Objectives

The project manager in this project is the project champion and brings together all the other stakeholders of the project. The project sponsor also approves the project charter and is accountable throughout the project life-cycle. The University is the project sponsor of this project. The steering committee is in charge of operations of the project. They determine the techniques to be used to measure the goals and objectives of the project and also monitors and controls project to ensure its aligned with the charter (Ferraro, 2012). The project management office is responsible for risk monitoring and manages inter dependencies between various aspects of the project (Chemuturi& Cagley, 2010). The project manager manages the performance and progress of the governance plan and executes the communication plan.

The reporting structure will follow the structure outlined in the project structure. The structure will be followed both for upward and downward flow of information.

Procurement of all materials and equipment required in the project will be done centrally. The procurement will be done by the procurement officer who is under the resource manager. The suppliers for the products will be chosen through tenders which will be evaluated to determine the capability of the suppliers (Ferraro,2012). Suppliers will be paid after goods have been delivered and counter checked to evaluate whether or not they meet the quality standards required.

Communication is very important for this project due to the huge number of stakeholders involved and due to the large scope of the project. The following is the communication plan to be used for the ICT center project.

Table 4

Name of stakeholder	Method of communication	Time/frequency
Project manger	Face to face meeting and emails	Weakly
Steering committee	Face to face official meetings/progress reports	Monthly
Project sponsor	Progress reports and emails	Monthly
Resource manager	Letters	Depending on particular need
Project team management office	Face to face meetings	Daily

Project readiness is the extent to which the project is ready to begin. The timing of the project is perfect given the increasing need for the university to offer the students conditions that will help them to innovate and develop new products and contribute to technological advancement (Newton, 2013).All the resources required for the project are ready and hence the project is ready to commence.

The following is the budget for Monash University ICT center construction and equipping project:

Table 5

Name of project: Monash University ICT center construction and equipping project
Name of client: Monash University
Item	Subtotals($)	Total($)
Income
Government grant	1,780,500
Fee income	780,345
Product licensing fee	3,675,290	6,236,135
Expenses
Construction material	1,903,450
Labor cost	458,345
Cost of architecture and design	270,945
Computer purchasing cost	321,678
Equipment installation cost	158,435
Other costs	45,781
Total expenses		3,158,634
Net income for the project		3,077,501

The risk in the project will be analyzed using established risk assessment procedures that have been developed by the risk management team. All the potential risks for the project are identified and ranked according to probability of occurrence (Young, 2013). The risk management strategies to be used in this project include avoiding of potential risk where possible, risk control, risk transfer, loss reduction, spreading of risk and duplication of resources (Australia& Blanton,2015).

The strategy of managing quality in this project begins with the selection of suppliers of raw material and equipment. Suppliers with a good reputation will be selected and the equipment will be assessed to determine if they meet the required standards before any payment is made. The project management team office is also in charge of ensuring that quality and safety standards are met at each stage of the project.

The project is to be completed within four years. The strategy to help complete this project in time is by ensuring that all resources are in places that are required for the project to be implemented on time. The risk that are prevalent in the project have been determined on time to ensure that there are no unforeseen circumstances that may significantly interfere with the completion schedule (Fox & Van,2007). Control and monitoring policies and teams are in place to ensure that every aspect of the project is line with the aims and objectives of the University

The benefits of the project have to be achieved by putting in place a human resource team to help the intended benefactors understand the objectives of the project and how the goals of the project should be achieved. Ensure timely maintenance of the ICT systems so that all the objectives of the project can be achieved. The plan is also to complete the project on time and within the planned budget.

References

Australia, C. L., & Blanton, S. (2015). Information Technology Project Management.

Chemuturi, M., & Cagley, T. M. (2010). Mastering software project management: Best practices, tools and techniques. Ft. Lauderdale, FL: J. Ross Pub.

Chin, G. (2014). Agile project management: How to succeed in the face of changing project requirements. New York: AMACOM.

Heldman, K. (2011). Project management jumpstart. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Ferraro, J. (2012). Project management for non-project managers. New York: AMACOM.

Fox, W., & Van, . W. G. (2007). A guide to project management. Cape Town: Juta

Kloppenborg, T. J. (2015). Contemporary project management: Organize, plan, perform.

Lester, A. (2013). Project Management, Planning and Control. Elsevier Science.

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Young, T. L. (2013). Successful project management.