Page 80 -

CHAPTER 3

Project Management

Learning Objectives
Once you have mastered the material in this chapter you will be able to:
1. Understand how projects are initiated and selected, define a business problem, and deter-
mine the feasibility of a proposed project.
2. Evaluate hardware and software alternatives by addressing the trade-offs.
3. Forecast and analyze tangible and intangible costs and benefits.
4. Manage a project by preparing a budget, creating a work breakdown structure, scheduling
activities, and controlling the schedule and costs.
5. Build and manage a project team.
6. Write an effective systems proposal, concentrating on both content and design.

j

Initiating projects, determining project feasibility, scheduling projects,
estimating costs, budgeting, and planning and then managing activities
and team members for productivity are all important capabilities for a
systems analyst to master. As such, they are considered project manage-
ment fundamentals.
A systems project begins with problems or with opportunities for
improvement in a business that come up as the organization adapts to
change. The increasing popularity of ecommerce means that some fundamental changes are
occurring as businesses either originate their enterprises on or move their internal operations
as well as external relationships to the Internet. Changes that require a systems solution
occur in the legal environment as well as in the industry’s environment. A systems analyst
works with users to create a problem definition that reflects current business systems and
concerns. Once a project is suggested, the systems analyst works quickly with decision mak-
ers to determine whether the project is feasible. When a project is approved for a full systems
study, the project activities are scheduled through the use of tools such as Gantt charts and
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) diagrams so that the project can be com-
pleted on time. Part of ensuring the productivity of systems analysis team members is effec-
tively managing their scheduled activities. This chapter is devoted to a discussion of project
management fundamentals.

47