Project Management for IT Applications ITP402

Introduction and Business Case

The Sporting Local is an organisation that is developing an application that world helps the child to regain their interest in sports by selling attractive sports merchandise. Being a non-profit organisation, Sporting Local is expecting to gain financial support from the government to develop the app. The effectiveness of this online application will help in bringing suggestions for effective merchandise in front of the students from the registered information of age, preference and interest in sports on Facebook. This effort can certainly help in boosting the overall sales figures in the project.

Task 1: PMBOK's five project life cycle phases to develop the project charter, stakeholder register, project plan, budget, schedule and risk register

Initiation

Depending on the required aspects for the development of the application proposed by Sporting Local, the initiation phase has focused on the competencies related to the start of the whole project. During this stage, the key objective has been to define the objectives and aims and set the scope for the applicability of the developed software.

Project Charter

Table 1: Project Charter

(Source: Self-Developed)

Planning

This phase is expected to include the activities relating to the design and development of the application. For this purpose, the team has decided to primarily focus on acquiring resources. Depending on the acquired resources, the project management plan has been developed which incorporated both design and budget approval of this app development. This phase further included the development plan for this programmer.

Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure

(Source: Self-Developed)

Project Plan

Sporting Local is planning to develop the application for streamlining various operations including event management, sale of merchandise, generating tax invoices, managing volunteers and others.

Scope management plan

Objective

To develop a comprehensive application which includes registration, merchandise listing and selling, ad listing and selling, purchase management, events update, volunteer management and resources training.

Deliverables

• Wireframe (To check user interfaces for different use cases)

• A properly functional mobile application

• Database backup

Exclusion

Any hardware related work, or non-app-related activities.

Acceptance Criteria

The application needs to meet the required functionalities and pass user acceptance testing.

Quality Management Plan

As per the provided case study, this is important to adhere to the PMBOK and agile guidelines. As per the PMBOK guidelines, quality assurance, control and management are mandatory (Amaro and Domingues, 2023). The mobile application must satisfy all the needs of Sporting Local. If any risk occurs at any stage, then the project manager needs to solve it then and there just in order to keep the project running smoothly. On the other hand, as per Alaidaros et al. (2021), agile guides project managers to test the application before delivery. The app will be first tested by developers and then a few common people as part of a pilot study. Feedback will be gathered and then based on that improvement will be done. This is a continuous process and before moving to the next step testing is mandatory.

Resource Management Plan

Human resources: In order to complete this project, primarily Project manager (1), developers (4), designers (2), testers (3) and business analyst (1) are needed.

Equipment: Coding tools, Wireframe designing tools, laptops, internet connectivity, and CRM software that includes communication tools.

Communication management plan

• Via the CRM softwares communication tool (can be a chatting or calling or both feature), continuous communication must be there.

• Weekly meetings must be scheduled in order to update everyone regarding the project's growth

• Weekly progress reports must be submitted to stakeholders, especially the project manager.

Table 2: Communication Plan

(Source: Self-Developed)

Budget

Table 3: Budget

(Source: Created by author)

Schedule

Table 4: Project schedule

(Source: Created by author)

Risk Assessment

Table 5: Risk Assessment

(Source: Self-Developed)

Project Execution

During this stage, the development of the application has been planned. This stage thus has a greater importance for quality standards.

Monitoring and Control

The testing and deployment of the application are included in this step. This step also offers adequate identification of relevant changes required within the software.

Closing

This stage particularly focused on handing over the application to Sporting Local. During this phase, proper illustration and training might also be included based on the requirements of the institution.

Task 2: Product backlog and the project tasks for 2 to 4 sprints

Agile Methodology

Agile is a project management framework that divides a project into phases, known as sprints and this is based on concepts of going development. In this context, Pcsov et al., (2020) show that agile methodologies are effective for developing the efficiency of projects.

Table 6: Project definition for Agile

(Source: Self-Created)

Initiating

During initiation, core stakeholders of this plan were identified along with the development of a project charter.

Define Users

Table 7: Define Users

(Source: Self-Created)

User Stories and Acceptance Criteria

The administrator is expected to be able to create and manage user accounts alongside resetting user passwords for account security.

• The administrator can create, update and delete user accounts

• The system displays a confirmation message after each deletion and in case of any errors, an error message is displayed

• The administrator can initiate a password reset

• The user receives a password reset link via mail.

The volunteers are expected to apply for training sessions and grants.

• Individuals can see a list of available training sessions and register for one session at a time

• The application automatically logs hours based on the participation of volunteers

• Volunteers can attain participation appreciation letters depending on the logged-in hours

The corresponding event partners are expected to be able to post information for each event and receive systematic updates from volunteers.

• Event partners can create, update and delete event information like date, location, age and participating authorities

• Event lists will be visible to all event partners

• These individuals will be notified of any voluntary participation

• The app will also send a reminder 24 hours prior to the start of any event

Product roadmap

This roadmap particularly focuses on defining major milestones throughout the stages of the project life cycle along with their respective objectives.

Table 8: Product Roadmap

(Source: Self-Developed)

Figure 2: Road map

(Source: Self-Created)

Product Backlog

The product backlog is decided to be developed by following four simple steps. These steps are,

• Identification of system users and their needs

• Creating user stories

• Prioritise user stories and work on relevant feature integration

• Estimating user stories and setting realistic goals

Sprint backlog

Sprints are short-time periods where product backlogs are formulated and tested. Considering the low expected duration of this project, this has also followed four aspects.

• Defining goals for each sprint

• Allocating user stories to identified sprints

• Creating a Kanban board using Jira or Trello for better task visualisation

• Setting up communication channels using Slack and incorporating general discussions

Sprint release

This is an integral part of the followed Agile project management and as such four different sprints have been identified with their respective deliverables.

• User management and basic features

  • Deliverables: User registration, Administrator controls and basic UI/ UX setup

• Event management and training features

  • Deliverables: Event creation and management, training session registration, training and event-related notifications

• Volunteer hours tracking and reporting

  • Deliverables: Automated hour tracking and generation of appreciation letters

• Final adjustments and advanced features

  • Deliverables: Integration with Facebook and enhancement based on user feedback

Sprint review

For the review aspect of the sprints, a demonstration of the completed work to stakeholders and a reflection on the overall progress have been included at the end of each sprint.

Scrum meeting

Considering the scope and objectives of this project, five different Scrum meeting aspects have been defined.

• Daily stand-ups for discussing one-day progress of the project

• Sprint planning meetings to define the goal for each sprint and potential areas for improvement

• Sprint review meetings to assess and represent the progress of the project to the stakeholders

• Sprint retrospectives to reflect on the continuous improvement capabilities for each sprint

Backlog refining meetings to review and update the backlog created for the product.

Figure 3: Kanban board using Trello

(Source: Created by author)

Task 3: Compare either the PMBOK or the Agile methodology features

Kanban methodology and its working process

Figure 4: Example of a project display through Kanban setups

(Source: Braglia et al., 2020)

Application of the Kanban approach in the process of project management such as developing an online application is crucial as this approach helps in the creation of ideas through visual presentation (Braglia et al., 2020).

General characteristics of PMBOK vs Kanban

• PMBOK

This methodology helps in developing better communication, agility, and risk management processes in the project from effective regulation and project management policies (Simonaitis et al., 2023). Maintaining effective quality in the project and cost management process becomes possible through the PMBOK method.

• Kanban

The interface is large in the approach of Kanban and it provides an opportunity for the users to make changes to the project plan. This additional liberty helps in tailor-making the project according to the demands of the client becomes possible in this case (Braglia et al., 2020). This effectiveness of the approach helps the methodology of the project to be agile.

Comparison of roles

PMBOK

Management of the project based on the instruction of the project managers and previously set regulations is emphasised through the role of PMBOK. The previously set rules and regulations help in maintaining a proper alignment among suppliers, team members, and investors of the project. Maintaining project budgets and timelines also becomes easier with such an effective approach (Simonaitis et al., 2023).

Kanban

The Kanban is an effective approach that helps in developing an agile methodology for project management (Zayat and Senvar, 2020). Based on that factor developing an idea about the process of work becomes easier for the stakeholders involved with the project. Receiving time and budget flexibility also becomes possible through this approach.

Structural comparison

PMBOK

The project management model of PMBOK has five effective phases that help in the completion of a project without failure. These phases are the initiation, planning, executing, controlling, and monitoring of an assigned project (Simonaitis et al., 2023). The development of a proper system of project management helps to analyse project scope and becomes possible through this system. On the other hand, maintaining project risk, time and cost management, procurement plan and mitigation of a project within the time becomes possible from such an effective approach.

Kanban

The kanban approach on the other hand loosely relies on four factors in project management. These are learning about the current situation of the project, making gradual progress, role development and maintaining communication with leaders (Zayat and Senvar, 2020). These factors help in tailor-making any specific projects.

Difference in method

PMBOK

Specification of the knowledge area of a project makes the focus for the development of the method in the PMBOK model (Der-Jiun Pang et al., 2022). Apart from that, each of the process groups that reneged in the process of project management has its specific method of managing the project in the PMBOK (Simonaitis et al., 2023). Better risk, and cost management in the project and working on completion of the project in time becomes easier through PMBOK.

Kanban

The application of the feedback loop of the stakeholders and the application of the Kanban board helps in the development of an effective methodology through the Kanban approach (Alaidaros et al., 2021). This method helps the Kanban approach in providing an effective methodology that helps in the development of agile project management.

Certification process difference

PMBOK

The certification of CAPM and PMP involves the effort of project management and project management professionals become necessary in the PMBOK (Arslan, 2024). The development of an idea about the work process and the rules that need to be maintained becomes clear in the PMBOK method of project management. Each of these certification processes helps in the regulation of risk in the project.

Kanban

The certification process in the Kanban project approach is not common. This agile project management approach helps in developing the project upon the requirements of the clients and situation-based instructions. This helps in the time and budget flexibility of the overall project management.

Effectiveness of both methodologies in app development

Kanban is an agile methodology that aims to ongoing development, improve workflow, and initiate flexibility in task management. Lanza?Len et al., (2021) show that Kanban is a pull method type used in projects. On the other hand, PMBOK is a framework that gives a set of guidelines, processes, and ideal practices for project management. Amaro and Domingues, (2023) show the significance of the connection applied to project tailoring and value creation, with the help of a model that connects concepts from PMBOK.

Task 4: Ethics play in the running of successful Information Technology projects

Privacy and Data Security:

The application is effective in storing user data based on their virtual activities, search items, and many more. In this respect, the most effective ethical consideration should be data security. The identity of the users and their details should not be compromised at any cost. As its users are mostly the young generation, it can harm their families (Thapa and Camtepe, 2021). In this respect, the authority should implement effective safety measures related to software to make the app completely user-safe and prevent data leakage. In this respect, the facility of data depersonalization as well as asking for consent from the user before collecting data should be implemented (Yang et al., 2020). Thus, the privacy and data security of the application can be ethically effective for use.

Maintaining data accuracy

The factor of data accuracy in the overall application is necessary. This will help the end users of the application by receiving correct information. It will also help to sustain the goodwill of the Sporting Local organisation in the market (Thapa and Camtepe, 2021). Development of trust of the users in the online application will also be possible through this step. Gaining effective information about each of the sports merchandise in the project is also necessary. This will help in further increasing the popularity of the application in front of young people living in Australia (Yang et al., 2020).

Accessibility increase

Increasing the overall accessibility of the online app is necessary to make each of the facilities of the online app available to its end users. According to Yang et al., (2020), providing data accessibility to people becomes necessary in online project management is a crucial factor for the overall success of the project. In link to that factor, overall data security and accessibility of the materials promised to the end users by the Sporting Local organisation should be present in the app. It will help the end users of the application to have a clear view of the information and availability of each information will be possible through the application.

Consent of the Young Users in Australia

The registration process in the online application needs to keep the personal information of the end users. In this case, there should be options for the end users to gain limited access to the application without introducing their details or opening an account (Xu et al., 2020). Apart from that the application should ask for permission from the users before saving any kind of personal details into the online database of the application. The application should be tailor-made according to the Australian Data Security Act.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the introduction of an innovative project for bringing young people in Australia back to sports can be possible through this project. Effective budget and project plan creation has been introduced in this report. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the agile method of project management over PMBOK in this project. Maintaining ethical control over each of the project management processes and data security of the project has been introduced as crucial factors. Verification of both methods has helped in gaining an idea about the agile project management process. The app should provide general data security and accessibility to the resources that the Sporting Local organisation promised end users.

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