Managing Information Systems Projects
ASSIGNMENT #2: Project Schedule
Assignment# 2 Requirements:
Submitted: Assignment submitted through Blackboard
Format: Electronic: Professional Quality and Appearance, MS Project Format (.MPP)
Application: Case Problem as presented in this document.
Tools: Word Processing plus MS-Project
Assignment Deliverables (underlined) specified as follows:
Assignment #2
Due Date: Refer to the course schedule (Late penalties apply per syllabus)
For this assignment, you will focus on creating a WBS and scheduling in MS Project. You will set
up the WBS in MS Project and assign LABOR RESOURCES ONLY. (Information regarding computer
equipment, other components, and materials will be provided to you as part of Assignment #3.)
(1) A Project Schedule document, consisting of a Gantt Chart , covering items as discussed in class
and developing the Assignment #1 Case Study into a formal project schedule. Be sure to add
Project Management and Quality Management tasks to those tasks that accomplish the
deliverables already specified in the Case Study. Set up the project software according to the
instructions you will receive in class. You will need to finalize your WBS from the Case Study
information in order to develop the complete list of tasks that must be entered into the software
for the Schedule. This will mean that you will use the new information to modify your previous
WBS from Assignment #1/Class Challenge. (You may also wish to remove unnecessary steps that
may drive up the cost of your project.)
(2) MS-Project Resource Sheet, Create a resource sheet and add all of your labor resources to
include resource names, types, availability and costs. At this point, do not worry about adding
computer equipment, other components, and materials – this will be done as part of Assignment
#3.
NOTE: This is NOT a group project. You are to work on this assignment independently. If you
have questions, please direct them to me. Thank you.
MISP
Assignment #2
(Continued, Page 2 of 5)
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Some additional considerations:
You do not need to create a Charter, Scope Statement or WBS Dictionary for this assignment as
this case problem is a continuation of that used in Assignment 1 and the Practical Lab 1 session.
You do need to build on your original WBS to produce a final WBS from the additional
information in the case study, and enter these items into the software. You do not need to
produce any separate WBS documentation or dictionary for this assignment. Be sure you give
each of the WBS entries the proper numerical code, and indent the tasks to show the structure of
the project WBS as per the MS-Project Software.
For the purposes of these assignments, be careful not to make your WBS too complex.
Therefore, elimination of unnecessary components or components that will drive up the overall
project costs from Assignment# 2 is recommended.
You must think about how to sequence the tasks logically and efficiently. Some task
dependency is understandable from the assignment, but is ultimately up to you, as there are
several correct possibilities. Do your best to identify the logical progression of tasks that makes
sense and determine which can be done in parallel.
I am interested in seeing how you represent dependency and relationships among tasks in a
schedule, along with the allocation of resources and costs, so concentrate on those items – not
worrying about the technology solution. If you are not familiar with the terms I’ve used, just ask
for assistance.
Resources and costs have been identified for you. Remember that you must allocate enough
time between the ordering of materials or equipment and its installation to take account of
shipment time.
The budget total for labor is for you to determine using the MS-Project software.
THERE IS NO SINGLE, CORRECT “ANSWER” TO THIS ASSIGNMENT. I WILL EVALUATE WHAT YOU
HAVE INCLUDED, HOW YOU HAVE STRUCTURED THE DOCUMENTATION, HOW YOU HAVE ASSIGNED
RESOURCES, THE WAY YOU HAVE FORECASTED COSTS, AND THE APPROACH YOU HAVE SUGGESTED
FOR ORGANIZING AND SEQUENCING THE WORK.
MISP
Assignment #2
(Continued, Page 3 of 5)
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CASE PROBLEM:
Organization Expansion
Founded to capitalize on the opportunities created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Telco
Corp. has served New York State as a regional telecommunications service provider for more than
25 years. During this period of time, Telco Corp. has constructed an impressive fiber optic network
that spans 4000 route miles throughout the State of New York. In addition to the large amount of
fiber optic plant that they maintain, they also have 30 Point-of-Presence (POP) locations that house
optical telecommunications transmission equipment that sends the communications signals over
the fiber optic cable. Their headquarters is located in a technology business park in Syracuse, New
York.
While Telco Corp. usually constructs its own fiber optic network when seeking to expand, they
recently completed a deal to acquire Adirondack Telephone, a family-owned service provider who
has a similar, but smaller network in a rural portion of Upstate New York that Telco Corp. currently
does not serve. This network will add 750 miles of fiber cable assets as well as (7) POP locations to
the Telco Corp. footprint. Under the terms of the acquisition, (10) employees from Adirondack
Telephone will be hired by Telco Corp. and they will be relocating to their headquarters in Syracuse,
NY. The expected start date of the new employees is April 5th, 2021.
While employees at Telco Corp. are excited about the acquisition, many have already expressed
concerns about supporting the new employees and additional infrastructure. Telco Corp.’s CEO,
Susan Smith spearheaded the acquisition and understood that this acquisition would require
initiating a project to address furnishing office space for the new employees, LAN connectivity to
company resources and access to the VoIP PBX phone system.
To address these issues, Telco Corp.’s CEO Susan Smith Jackson has decided to sponsor a project to
repurpose and furnish a portion of the warehouse and convert it to office space. This will include
extending its existing LAN and VoIP phone systems to accommodate the new team members. She
has appointed her Director of Operations, Bob Starworth, to act as the primary point of contact for
the project and he will be working directly with vendors and providing feedback to Susan Smith.
Susan Smith has also engaged her Purchasing Manager, Malinda Betts, since she will handle all
administrative tasks associated with the reward and execution of the contract.
After reviewing the responses from the projects Request for Proposal (RFP), your company
“Orange Technologies” was selected and awarded a contract to engineer, furnish and install (EF&I)
all contract items as specified in the RFP. Your CEO, Ed hayes, was very excited to win this project
and assigned YOU to be Project Manager. Understanding the scope of the project, the CEO agreed
to provide you with (5) team members that would be dedicated to the project and work at your
direction. The team members are Linda Mulherin, Nick Serafin, Ajit Singh, Victoria Dunn and Robert
Adams. Each of them have been team members on projects that you have led in the past and you
are excited that they are part of the team.
More specifically, the project will include the following hardware, software and office furniture:
MISP
Assignment #2
(Continued, Page 4 of 5)
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• New cubicle-style furniture will need to be ordered to create (10) cubicle-style work spaces
in the old warehouse area that was recently remodeled to accommodate future office
space. The Procurement Department should be contacted to determine the preferred
furniture supplier and to ensure the new furniture is of the same make, model and color as
existing furniture at the headquarters facility.
• Ten (10) laptop computers will be procured and installed in the new office space and will
have connectivity to the existing cloud storage solution. Ensure the (10) new computers are
loaded with the Windows 10 Enterprise operating system, Microsoft Office Professional 2019
Suite, Microsoft Security Essentials and Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Ten (10) VoIP handsets will be procured and installed in the new office space and will have
connectivity to the existing VoIP PBX (phone system).
• A new Zerox LaserJet multi-functional color network printer-copier with scanning and faxing
ability will be connected to the network in the old warehouse area as well, allowing shared
printing from any of the PCs on the network.
• Each of the (10) cubicles will have (1) Cat 6e cable that is run directly from the new
workstation to a data closet in the old warehouse where it will be connected to a new Cisco
ME3400 aggregation switch that you must purchase and install. Existing multimode fiber
will be used to connect the aggregation switch in the data closet to the main server room
where it will be connected to Telco Corp.’s main router (Cisco 1002-X). The Cisco 1002-X will
provide connectivity to all company resources as well as to a Cisco ASA firewall protected
WAN connection for Internet and external traffic.
• Five (5) new Cisco Aironet wireless access points will provide coverage throughout the new
office space. The Wireless access points will use WPA2 encryption for Wi-Fi access. One (1)
Cat 6e cable will be run from each access point to the Cisco ME3400 aggregation switch in
the data closet.
Other Project Facts/Assumptions:
To minimize interruption during normal working hours, deliveries and installations and can
only occur during a modified “Vendor Shift”, that is from 6:00 pm to 11:45 pm (with ½ dinner
break) on Monday through Friday. No access is generally permitted on Saturday or Sunday.
Orange Technologies has a staff work policy that limits all employees to working no more
than 40 hours per week. No overtime is allowed. Work will commence on September 28,
2020. However, several of your team members already have scheduled vacations which
conflict with the project and will need to be accounted for:
o Linda Mulherin – December 14th – 18th
, 2020
o Nick Serafin – December 21st – December 24th
, 2020
o Ajit Singh – December 28th – December 31st, 202o
o Victoria Dunn – February 8th – February 12th, 2021
o Robert Adams – March 1st – March 5th, 2021
Furniture for new employees takes 10 weeks to arrive after order.
MISP
Assignment #2
(Continued, Page 5 of 5)
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All other equipment components take 8 weeks to arrive after order.
Assume that project activities are approved to begin on September 28th, 2020.
Telco Corp. CEO Susan Smith has stated that all work must be completed and all billings
must be made prior to the beginning of the new Fiscal Year which starts April 1
st, 2021.
END OF CASE PROBLEM
Part 2 – New Information for Assignment 2:
The following information is provided to help you with designing the project schedule and budget. This
information is:
Staff Cost and Availability:
(The costs below are internal costs, not customer billing rates.)
YOU – Project Manager - $75.00/hr – available 75% to project.
Other staff (available 100% to project)
Linda Mulherin - Infrastructure Analyst/Engineer- $48/hr
Nick Serafin – Workstation Specialist - $45/hr
Ajit Singh – Network Integration Specialist - $52/hr
Victoria Dunn – Network Architect - $50/hr
Robert Adams – Sr. Network Architect - $57/hr
Costs for Senior Management are included in the Orange Technologies company overhead and should
not be included in the Resource Sheet.