Leadership In IT Project Management For Warcraft Ltd App

Introduction and project background

Discuss about the Leadership in IT Project Management for Warcraft Ltd App.

Leading a project to achieve success requires manager getting the work done by team members efficiently as well as effectively. It needs the person having clear vision, clarity of the reasons and practical experience in scheduling the activities. Thus, in project management it is required to analyze as well as assess several project management methodologies used on IT projects. In the present study, Warcraft Ltd App project has been selected as case study.  The goal of the project is to give a proposal for developing an application that can be optimized for iPhone as well as Android phones. The study describes background of the project and explanation of the project activities. The current situation by using SWOT analysis, outline of the problems, constrains and critical assumptions. In addition, outline of the problem, analysis of options as well as recommendations are provided. The paper also presents financial analysis of and preliminary project requirements. The cost model as well as baseline with the help of budget estimate is described in the study along with schedule estimate and list of potential risks.

Warcraft Ltd is a private limited organization with the purpose of developing as well a promoting live action role-play as well as battle game where players take the battles from the fantasy video games as well as table top games out on to field. On the other hand, a live action role-playing game is considered as a form of role-playing game where participants can portray characters. It is also important to pursue goals within a particular fictional setting that can be represented through real world. The organization has been experiencing a minimization of players as well as inability for retaining the players. The organization likes to propose an application that can be optimized for Android devices as well as iPhones. The application should allow clients as well as potential clients for enrolling and pay for lessons along with contacts other participant. In this perspective, the organization invests money and wants to develop an effective project management plan that can fulfill goals and objectives of the organization.

In order to analyze current situation, SWOT analysis would be helpful. The organization has been experiencing minimization of players.

Strengths: The organization is focused on developing an application optimized for Android based devices as well as iPhones as well as Android devices. With rapid growth of smart phones, the devices are useful to develop the standard and make it easy for the users. The mobile application as well as redesign of the websites can be helpful to gain profit for the organization. In addition, the users need to subscribe to the Warcraft newsletters as well as associated upcoming events. Thus, there should be access maps for the venues as well as video displaying the facilities.

Current situation

Weakness: The organization is facing several challenges regarding development of the applications as well as investment on the applications. Thus, it is required to manage plans that can fulfill the requirements. It is also important to mention that there is an increase of completion related to the mobile application development.

Opportunity: Development of the application would be helpful to improve the process. On the other hand, the applications allow clients for enrolling and pay for lessons, contact as well as other participant.  In addition, with the help of the application, users can hire cloths, retraining as well as booking tours along with watching videos. It opens up opportunities for subscribing Warcraft newsletter as well as associated upcoming events. The users can access the access map of the venues along with video displaying facilities.  

Threats: With rapid growth of information and communication technology, market of mobile technology and applications, there are several applications where various organizations are focusing on the application development. In this perspective, it becomes important to develop mobile application that can be feasible and gain competitive advantages over others.

For getting the desired application developed for Warcraft Ltd App Project within the intended time, a well-known waterfall development model is needed to be developed. Further, it has been anticipated that the phases of operations and requirements must undertake a couple of weeks. The other phases must take approximately about 3 weeks. Here, the group has been consisted of digital image expertise and two programmers. Further, the members are expected to spend about half day every week on the activities of the current project management. Instances of this include attending meetings and completing status reports and many more. The rest of the days are to be spent on various development works. Here they are been estimated to be paid at a negotiable amount.

Hence, there are various problems rising here as the project bid becomes successful. Kind of people who have been working here has been different from people doing activities on marketing projects. These people have various different ideas, skill sets and backgrounds. Here most of people hired in the previous years have supporting those new markets. Various difficulties have been originating for the employees who have been disagreeing with marketing strategies of the organization. Here, the plan has been to roll out and then they should review the current data, conduct researches and collect new materials. Further, there have been various applications that are required to be tested. These must be promoted before they are rolled out. Here, the project has been considered as a success as it comes on time, budget and time. This has been originating. Moreover, it is to be done within the given scope and primary stakeholders have been pleased with reporting and communication processes.

Outline of problem/opportunity statement

These factors are always helpful for Warcraft Ltd App Project. However, the factors have not been confirmed to be true. These assumptions have been adding risks to the project since it has been possible that they have been turning out to be untrue. They have been affecting the part of the project life cycle and it has resulted in implementation of solutions. Hence, it has vital to analyze and document them. At this stage the success of project risk control comes to action

The business constraints have been limiting the solutions based on present organizational state. Here, they have been focusing on various resources, money and time for the Warcraft Ltd App Project. For instance, the business case of the current project has been containing various assumptions regarding realizing the different benefits for the project. The various assumptions made about particular benefits have been linked and documents to the project requirements delivering all those benefits. It might comprise of extra risks within those premises, as it has been possible that those assumptions has been true or false at the end of the day. Further, focusing on the project risk managements has been highly affecting the outcomes of the projects.

The technical constraints have been focusing on various architecture decisions limiting the solution design. Here, they have tended to unchanging and inflexible and have been affecting the implementation of the solution. Further, they have tended to be unchanging and inflexible and have been affecting the implementation of the solution. Thus, they have been including sectors such as software, infrastructure, hardware and development languages. These are must use for the current project.

Besides, the constraints and assumptions has been a vital aspect of the project requirements. Warcraft Ltd App Project must assure that one analyzes and documenting them properly over the projects. Further, they are not the specific requirements and they are to be documented along with requirements they have been affecting. It has been a easy step for communicating and managing the requirements, constraints and assumptions as they are documented and identified.  Further, one can identify latest risks that are related to the constraints and assumptions of Warcraft Ltd App Project. These are also needed to be incorporated to the risk register.

The waterfall model for Warcraft Ltd App Project has been stressing various meticulous record keeping techniques. Possessing those records has allowed the ability to develop current program for the upcoming future. The waterfall methods are helpful for the clients to know the exact expectations. Here, they have no idea regarding timeline, cost and sizes for Warcraft Ltd App Project. Further, they do not have any definite concept of what their overall program would perform until the end. However, any employee turnover takes place; the documentation of waterfall would allow the least project impact. Besides, there are various disadvantages of the current waterfall methodology. As the steps are finished, the project developers can return to the previous stages and then relevant changes. Moreover, the methodology has been depending highly on the initial perquisites. Further, as the requirements are erroneous in any way, the project can get doomed.

Critical assumptions and constraints

Moreover, as any error in requirement is found, various changes are required to be made. Thus, the project needs to be begun from starting with the new code. Here, the entire products are to be tested till the end. As any bugs are written earlier and lately discovered, the existences have been affecting how the code has been written. Moreover, the temptation of delay of the overall testing has been very large. This is because those short-term wins have been staying over time. Further, the plan has not been taken to account to the evolving requirements of the clients. As the client gets to know that they have needed more than they have required, the change in demand and evolving needs, the project comes in late and affecting the budgets.

However, going through explicit resting phases as the implementation of the goes on, it is found that the testing is done very less. Hence, Warcraft Ltd App Project can consider an efficient error management tool for the life-cycle of the project. Apart from this, the most effective frameworks and languages can be introduced customizing the exception parameters. Besides, a complete control for the various filter systems of the active errors, are helpful to collect errors that are most important.

Cost-Benefit – INPUT VALUES
Initial Investment for the Project	$         25,000.00
Investment in the First Year	$         25,000.00
Investment in the Second Year	$         20,000.00
Investment in the Third Year	$      2,40,000.00
Total	$      3,10,000.00
Analysis of App Requirements	$         60,000.00
Design of App	$         13,000.00
Development of App	$         30,400.00
Total	$      1,03,400.00
App Testing	$           5,200.00
Project Closure	$           4,000.00
Total	$           9,200.00
Discount Rate Used	10.00%

Project Cost-Benefit Analysis
Analysis Variables:	Enter values for the cost-benefit analysis in the INPUT_VALUES worksheet.
Discount Rate Used	10.00%
Annual Benefits	$     9,200.00
Annual Operational Costs	$  1,03,400.00
One-Time Development Cost	$  3,10,000.00
				Year of Project
		0	1	2	3	4	5	TOTALS
Economic Benefit		$0.00	$     9,200.00	$     9,200.00	$        9,200.00	$     9,200.00	$        9,200.00
Discount Rate		1.0000	0.9091	0.8264	0.7513	0.6830	0.6209
PV of Benefits		$0.00	$8,363.64	$7,603.31	$6,912.10	$6,283.72	$5,712.48
NPV of all BENEFITS		$0.00	$     8,363.64	$   15,966.94	$      22,879.04	$   29,162.76	$      34,875.24	$      34,875.24
One-Time COSTS
Recurring Costs		$0.00			$  (1,03,400.00)	$(1,03,400.00)	$  (1,03,400.00)
Discount Rate		1.0000	0.9091	0.8264	0.7513	0.6830	0.6209
PV of Recurring Costs		$0.00	$  (94,000.00)	$  (85,454.55)	$     (77,685.95)	$  (70,623.59)	$     (64,203.26)
NPV of all COSTS					$  (5,67,140.50)	$(6,37,764.09)	$  (7,01,967.35)	$   (7,01,967.35)
Overall NPV								$   (6,67,092.11)
Overall ROI
								-0.9503
Break-even Analysis
Yearly NPV Cash FLOW			$  (85,636.36)	$  (77,851.24)	$     (70,773.85)	$  (64,339.87)	$     (58,490.79)
Overall NPV Cash FLOW					$  (5,44,261.46)	$(6,08,601.33)	$  (6,67,092.11)

Break-Even Chart
B-E Analysis Over 5 Years:	0	1	2	3	4	5
NPV of all BENEFITS	$0.00	$     8,363.64	$   15,966.94	$   22,879.04	$         29,162.76	$      34,875.24
NPV of all COSTS		$4,04,000.00	$4,89,454.55	$5,67,140.50	$       6,37,764.09	$    7,01,967.35

It is important in a project to identify the requirements for the project.  In the present project, it is required to focus on the hardware requirement as well as software requirements. On the other hand, it is required to focus on the resources and personnel who will be able to develop the project in proper way. As the project deals with development of mobile applications and redesigning of websites, it is important to identify the software and hardware. Computers with 4 gb RAM and 500 gb hard disks are required for the task. In addition, Window 8 or more upgraded operating system is compatible for the project. As software requirement, it is required to Dreameaver for developing the application along with Adobe photoshop.  

Resource Name	Type	Material Label	Initials	Group	Max. Units	Std. Rate
Programmers	Work		P		200%	$65.00/hr
Digital Image Specialist	Work		D		100%	$65.00/hr
Project Manager	Work		P		100%	$250.00/hr
Initial Investment	Material		I			$25,000.00
First Year Investment	Material		F			$25,000.00
Second Year Investment	Material		S			$20,000.00
Third Year Investment	Material		T			$240,000.00

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors	Resource Names	Cost
Warcraft ltd App Project	23.6 wks	Tue 08-05-18	Thu 18-10-18			$447,800.00
Scope of the Project	4.8 wks	Tue 08-05-18	Fri 08-06-18			$335,200.00
Determining Project Scope	2 wks	Tue 08-05-18	Mon 21-05-18		Project Manager	$20,000.00
Preliminary Resources Development	1 wk	Tue 22-05-18	Mon 28-05-18	3	Programmers	$2,600.00
Adapting Waterfall Model	1 wk	Tue 29-05-18	Mon 04-06-18	4	Programmers	$2,600.00
Initial Investment of Project	1 day	Tue 05-06-18	Tue 05-06-18	5	Initial Investment[1]	$25,000.00
Investment in the First Year	1 day	Wed 06-06-18	Wed 06-06-18	6	First Year Investment[1]	$25,000.00
Investment in the Second Year	1 day	Thu 07-06-18	Thu 07-06-18	7	Second Year Investment[1]	$20,000.00
Investment in the Third Year	1 day	Fri 08-06-18	Fri 08-06-18	8	Third Year Investment[1]	$240,000.00
Analysis of App Requirements	6 wks	Wed 06-06-18	Tue 17-07-18			$60,000.00
Carry out the need analysis	1 wk	Wed 06-06-18	Tue 12-06-18	6	Project Manager	$10,000.00
Developing Preliminary Budget	1 wk	Wed 13-06-18	Tue 19-06-18	11	Project Manager	$10,000.00
Preparing Draft for the Preliminary App Specifications	2 wks	Wed 20-06-18	Tue 03-07-18	12	Project Manager	$20,000.00
Securing Resources for the Products	2 wks	Wed 04-07-18	Tue 17-07-18	13	Project Manager	$20,000.00
Design	5 wks	Wed 18-07-18	Tue 21-08-18			$13,000.00
Review of Requirement Specifications of the Development of App	1 wk	Wed 18-07-18	Tue 24-07-18	14	Digital Image Specialist	$2,600.00
Development of Functional Specifications	1 wk	Wed 25-07-18	Tue 31-07-18	16	Digital Image Specialist	$2,600.00
Review of Functional Specifications	1 wk	Wed 01-08-18	Tue 07-08-18	17	Digital Image Specialist	$2,600.00
Completing Design	2 wks	Wed 08-08-18	Tue 21-08-18	18	Digital Image Specialist	$5,200.00
App Development	6 wks	Wed 22-08-18	Tue 02-10-18			$30,400.00
Assigning Development Staff	2 wks	Wed 22-08-18	Tue 04-09-18	19	Project Manager	$20,000.00
Developing Code	2 wks	Wed 05-09-18	Tue 18-09-18	21	Programmers	$5,200.00
Developer Testing	2 wks	Wed 19-09-18	Tue 02-10-18	22	Programmers	$5,200.00
App Testing	2 wks	Wed 03-10-18	Tue 16-10-18			$5,200.00
Detailed Testing	2 wks	Wed 03-10-18	Tue 16-10-18	23	Programmers	$5,200.00
Project Closure	2 days	Wed 17-10-18	Thu 18-10-18	25	Project Manager	$4,000.00

In order to develop the project, it is required to use Waterfall development approach. It is also anticipated that the activities related to project management as well as remaining 4.5 days will be spent development. In this perspective, it is required to have sound knowledge regarding the approach. On the other hand, the anticipated challenges whether the tender bid is successful. The kind of people working on the game projects are not same from people working on the marketing projects. Different educational background, ideas as well as skill sets are the factors that remain potential risks for the projects. Supporting new markets is also considered as potential risks for the project. Moreover, managing stakeholders is one of the major difficulties faced while developing the project.  The plan is required to rolling out review of the existing information and conduct the project in proper way.  In this situation, gathering new materials that will provide is a challenge that will give detail storyboards, alpha, beta, prototype as well as final version of the application that will be formed. Along with these, current market status is one of the major threats for the project.

Conclusion

From the discussion, it concludes that effective project management plan is important to develop a successful project. The study will be helpful to analyze and assess several project management methodologies used on the IT projects. In addition, comprehension of strategic alignment of the IT projects to the organizational system. On the other hand, multiple strategies to coordinate IT project change, project planning as well as selection techniques can be evaluated. The study demonstrates the business case and demonstrates theoretical as well as practical deployment of the model that can assist to implement a system thinking approach to the managing project. Application of delegation as well as negotiation techniques for managing organizations, stakeholders along with members of the IT project will be assessed with the help of this project.

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