Developing This E Commerce Website Information Technology Essay
| ✅ Paper Type: Free Essay | ✅ Subject: Information Technology |
| ✅ Wordcount: 3936 words | ✅ Published: 1st Jan 2015 |
Since project operates as part of a system and involved uncertainty, it is good practice to divide projects into several phases. A project life cycle is a collection of project phases. The first two phases are concept and development which focus on planning. The last two phases are implementation and close out which focus on delivering the actual work. A project must successfully complete each phases before moving on to the next.
Software development project is on subset of information technology projects. In general, information technology projects involved researching, analysis, and then purchasing and installing new hardware and software with little or actual software development.
The aim of this assignment is to report the details of a project which is developing this e-commerce website for Furniture for You store. The purpose of this web site is to extend their sales further and go online to reach customers not just locally, but throughout the United Kingdom as well.
The main activities of this project include, defining project scope, Work Breakdown Structure, Process Breakdown Structure and estimating Cost and Time.
In order to answer all the asked queries, this report has gone through the four main phase of the project and cover all the requirements through them.
Phase1: Concept
In the concept phase, the project usually is defined briefly and that is the first step in developing a project plan. Defining the project also define the total scope of the project which helps to define the end result and specify the project process. Cost and time of the development of the project are also estimated in this phase.
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Defining the Project
It is important to develop a clear project definition that meets all the requirements of the customer because a poorly defined scope or mission is the most frequent reason to failure of the project success. Clear scope definition is the primary perquisite for development of the Work Break down Structure.
To ensure the scope definition is complete, managers need to go through a checklist as the below one.
Project Scope check list
Project Objectives
Deliverables
Milestone
Technical Requirements
Limits and exclusion
Review with customer
Project Objectives
The objective of this project is to develop an e-commerce website for a furniture store to enable its customers not just locally, but throughout the United Kingdom purchase items online.
The owner has not specified the time and cost, but how long this project takes to finish and how much it costs, is determined in the next part of this assignment.
Deliverables
Deliverables are the expected outputs over the life of the project. The deliverables in the proposed projects are determined based on the required tasks. The process-oriented tasks and the deliverables resulted from them are as shown in the table:
#
Process
Deliverable
1
Form project team
Project Estimation Document
Project Staff assigned
Project Team Directory
2
Develop Scope statement
Scope statement
3
Develop Project plan
Supporting detail
Scope Management Plan
Role and responsibility Assignments
Milestone/ Gantt Chart/Network Diagram
4
Create WBS
WBS
PBS
Work Packages
5
Estimate time and cost
Cost & Time baselines
Cost & Time Management Plan
6
Define risk and risk approaches
List of prioritized risks
Risk Response Plan
7
Evaluate the current situation
Survey
Provide Graph and chart
8
Define user requirement
System Analysis
UML
Basis of Estimates
9
Define system requirement
System Analysis
Supporting details
Hardware and Software requirements
10
Define server owner requirements
System Analysis
Analytical List
11
Design Database
Database
12
Create interface
Web Pages
13
Database Implementation
Implement Database
Inserting Data
14
Transaction Processing
Converting Data
Inserting Data
15
Security Implementation
Provide security for the site
16
System Testing
Testing Document
17
System Integration Testing
Testing Document
18
Install the system
Hardware Test Report
19
User Support Documentation
User Support Documentation
User Guide Documentation
20
Status Report
Weekly Report
21
Prepare final report
Final Project Management report
22
Lesson learned
Lesson Learned
Milestone
Milestone Report is a useful approach in projects in order to show what need to be achieved. It defines all the most important tasks, task’s status, who is responsible for them, and when they are due. The following table illustrates the milestone report for the ecommerce web site project. (Schewalbe, 2004)
This milestone report is done on date of 24/03/2010 and shows that which tasks have been complete and shows the date for the future activities.
Milestone
Date
Status
Responsible
Issue/Comments
1.1 Form project team
01/03/10
2.1 Develop Scope statement
04/03/10
Completed
Anahita
2.2 Develop Project plan
08/03/10
2.3 Create WBS
08/03/10
Completed
Anahita
Review with sponsor in order to get confirmation about the time and cost.
2.4 Estimate time & cost
11/03/10
2.5 Define risk and risk approaches
17/03/10
Mr.X
In this task a survey should be done in order to achieve the exact customer’s need.
3.1.1 Evaluate the current situation
23/03/10
Miss.Y
3.1.2 Define user requirement
30/03/10
3.1.3 Define system requirement
30/03/10
3.1.4 Define server owner requirements
30/03/10
Miss.Y
3.2.1 Design Database
22/03/10
3.3.2 Create interface
15/04/10
3.3.1 Database Implementation
06/04/10
Miss.Y
3.3.2 Transaction Processing
04/05/10
3.3.3 Security Implementation
11/05/10
Miss.Y
3.4.1 System Testing
19/05/10
3.4.2 System Integration Testing
22/05/10
3.5.1 Install the system
26/05/10
3.5.2 User Support Documentation
27/05/10
Mr.X
4.1. Status Report
09/03/10
Mr.X
5.1 Prepare report
30/05/10
5.2 Lesson learned
02/06/10
Technical Requirements
Expected volumes of users
Expected peak periods of use
Types of content that will create high load
Security Requirements (is the site a secure site, rules for passwords)
Operating availability (i.e. 24/7 availability)
Database Sizes (for storing content)
Types of Browser to support, including browser resolutions
Software requirement
Hardware requirement
Internet Connection
Limits and exclusion
Since during the developing this website, programmer consider how the website looks on their own personal computer, developer might choose some feature that is not supported by client browser and that causes failure to the view of the website.
This website is a marketing website. The Low-speed Internet connections are an important barrier, because if the website is built large or overly-complicated, individuals connected to the Internet via dial-up connections or mobile devices experience significant delays in content delivery.
Another problem which might be face during the implementation of the website is in integrating website infrastructure with current traditional store’s systems.
Review with customer
On the project management ecommerce website, there could be several updates to the project plan to reflect changes made to the project scope, schedule, and to the budget.
Therefore a brief status report is submitted to the sponsor in order to get feedback from him. This information helps the project to progress more efficiently.
Work Breakdown Structure
Once the scope and deliverables have been identified, the work of the project can be divided into smaller and smaller work elements. The WBS provides a basis for creating the project schedule and performance.
Identify tasks of the project
WBS is a good idea to define all the tasks involved in the development of the project. As can be seen, the following WBS is based on project management process; initiating, planning, executing, controlling and. Figure 2 shows the WBS in Tabular form and figure 3 shows the WBS in Diagram form. Showing WBS in tabular form is easy format of WBS in using Project management software to draw Gantt chart and network diagram.
Initiating
1.1 Form project team
Planning
2.1 Develop Scope statement
2.2 Develop Project plan
2.3 Create WBS
2.4 Estimate time and cost
2.5 Define risk and risk approaches
Executing
3.1 Concept
3.1.1 Evaluate the current situation
3.1.2 Define user requirement
3.1.3 Define system requirement
3.1.4 Define server owner requirements
3.2 Web design
3.2.1 Design Database
3.3.2 Create interface
3.3 Web site development
3.3.1 Database Implementation
3.3.2 Transaction Processing
3.3.3 Security Implementation
3.4Web Site testing
3.4.1 System Testing
3.4.2 System Integration Testing
3.5 Web Site roll-out
3.5.1 Install the system
3.5.2 User Support Documentation
Controlling
4.1. Status Report
Closing
5.1 Prepare final report
5.2 Lesson learned
Figure 2 website WBS in Tabular form
Work Breakdown Structure Diagram
Developing the project through project management process group not only does the project team follow the good project management practice, but also the WBS tasks can be also be mapped more easily against the time.
Level 2
Level 1Figure 2 outlines the project with different levels of details. As can be seen this hierarchical structure facilities evaluation of cost, time, and technical performance at all levels in the organization over the life of the project.
Level 3
Figure 3 WBS for website (drawn by UMLet software)
Identify Work package of the project
This WBS breaks down the major tasks to the lower levels and shows all the tasks under each project process. Initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing tasks are WBS level 1 and tasks such as concept, web design, web development, testing and controlling out are WBS level 2 and the all the tasks under concept, web design, web development, testing and rolling out are Level 3.
Level 3 is the lowest level of the WBS which represents work packages. A work package is a short duration tasks that have infinite start and stop point, consume resource, and represent cost. Level 3 tasks or work package tasks include:
3.1.1 Evaluate the current situation
3.1.2 Define user requirement
3.1.3 Define system requirement
3.1.4 Define server owner requirements
3.2.1 Design Database
3.3.2 Create interface
3.3.1 Database Implementation
3.3.2 Transaction Processing
3.3.3 Security Implementation
3.4.1 System Testing
3.4.2 System Integration Testing
3.5.1 Install the system
3.5.2 User Support Documentation
Process Breakdown Structure
A project such as design a website, evolves over time process which each phase affect the next phase. Therefore Process Breakdown Structure could be more useful than the classic WBS to organize the phases. Defining PBS will help understanding what the project tasks are going to deliver.
In PB, instead of being organized around deliverables, the project is organized around phases. Deliverables are not ignored but are defined as outputs required moving to the next phase. (Gray 2006)
As long as exit requirements are firmly established and deliverables for each phase are well defined, the PBS provides a suitable alternative to the WBS for projects that involve extensive development work.
Gantt chart
At this point of time, Gantt chart is design to help in showing the durations of all activities and monitor their progress. This Gantt chart is drawn by Microsoft Project 2007. As can be seen in the Gantt, some tasks can be done in parallel or serially.
As can be seen there are some dependent activities in the project life cycle. That means these activities need to be completed in a sequence, with each stage being more-or-less completed before the next activity can begin. For example ‘Testing’ task can be only taken place when the implementation has been finished. Dependent activities are presented in series. There are some activities which are not dependent on completion of any other tasks. That means they can be done at any time before or after a particular stage is reached. Nondependent tasks are presented in parallel. For example controlling task can start at any time and end in any time.
Figure 4 Gantt chart (Drawn by Microsoft Project 2007)
Network Diagram
Network shows the relationship between activities. The network diagram for this project is dawn by activity-on arrow (AOA) approached. Activities come from the WBS which described earlier. The arrows represent the activity sequencing. A node is the starting and ending of an activity. First node signifies the start of a project and the last node represents the end of a project. It should be highlighted here that network diagram represents not all the activities from WBS, only activities with dependencies are shown on the network diagram. (Schewalbe, 2004)
The table below shows the activities involve in the project and they are sorted in alphabet letter according to their start date:
Task
Duration
Preceding Activity
Start Date
End Date
A
1.1 Form project team
3 days
None
01/03/10
03/03/10
B
2.1 Develop Scope statement
3 days
A
04/03/10
08/03/10
C
2.2 Develop Project plan
3 days
B
08/03/10
10/03/10
D
2.4 Estimate time & cost
4 days
C
11/03/10
16/03/10
E
2.5 Define risk and risk approaches
4 days
D
17/03/10
22/03/10
F
3.1.1 Evaluate the current situation
6 days
E
23/03/10
29/03/10
G
3.1.2 Define user requirement
5 days
F
30/03/10
05/04/10
H
3.1.3 Define system requirement
5 days
F
30/03/10
05/04/10
I
3.1.4 Define server owner requirements
10 days
F
30/03/10
14/04/10
J
3.2.1 Design Database
21 days
E
23/03/10
15/04/10
K
3.3.2 Create interface
14 days
J
15/04/10
04/05/10
L
3.3.1 Database Implementation
25 days
G,H,I
06/04/10
07/05/10
M
3.3.2 Transaction Processing
5 days
L
04/05/10
10/05/10
N
3.3.3 Security Implementation
6 days
M
11/05/10
18/05/10
O
3.4.1 System Testing
6 day
N
19/05/10
25/05/10
P
3.4.2 System Integration Testing
3 days
N
22/05/10
25/05/10
Q
3.5.1 Install the system
3 days
O,P
26/05/10
28/05/10
R
3.5.2 User Support Documentation
3 days
Q
27/05/10
30/05/10
S
5.1 Prepare final report
4 days
R
30/05/10
02/06/10
Critical Path
Project Estimation
Every project is constrained in different ways by its scope, time and cost goals. There should be a balance of these three goals in order to achieve the success of the project. (Schwalbe, 2004).
In this part Time and Cost of the project are estimated with a suitable method. Estimating the scope of the project is estimating the number of database developers, programmers and web designers needed to finish the project
Estimate Project Costs
The method used to estimate cost and time for this project is a “Apportion Methods”. This method is one of the most common methods for estimating time and cost. Apportion is used when projects closely follow past projects in features and costs. In this method cost is estimated by using the WBS.
The total cost of this project is estimated by Micro method to be £ 8000. In the apportion method costs are apportioned as a percent of the total cost and then the cost of each task has been estimated. For example, the costs apportioned to the “Initiating” deliverable are 10 percent of the total, or $800. The sub deliverables In-1 allocated 10 percent of the total which is 800 also.
Figure 5 Apportion Method of Allocating Project Cost Using the WBS (drawn by UMLet)
Estimate Project Time
The method which used to estimate the time of project is “Detailed Estimate for the WBS Work Packages”. This method is one of the most reliable methods for estimating time. The principle of this method is to use the WBS and to ask the people responsible for the work package to make the estimates.
As mentioned earlier, work packages in each project play the main role in determining the time and cost of the project. Therefore it is important to find out about the time of work package first. When the work package(s) of a project are specified, there might be significant uncertainty associated with the time to complete. Therefore it is suggested to use three time estimates for work packages by three different estimators and choose the average time as the estimated time of the project.
As can be seen the work package of the WBS of this project is WBS Level 3. The table below illustrates how the information of three estimators about this Work package and at last calculates the average and gives a more balanced time estimate.
Executing
3.1 Concept
3.1.1 Evaluate the current situation
3.1.2 Define user requirement
3.1.3 Define system requirement
3.1.4 Define server owner requirements
3.2 Web design
3.2.1 Design Database
3.3.2 Create interface
3.3 Web site development
3.3.1 Database Implementation
3.3.2 Transaction Processing
3.3.3 Security Implementation
3.4Web Site testing
3.4.1 System Testing
3.4.2 System Integration Testing
3.5 Web Site roll-out
3.5.1 Install the system
3.5.2 User Support Documentation
Estimator 1
Low Aver. High
Estimator 2
Low Aver. High
Estimator 3
Low Aver. High
Estimator Averages
Aver. Aver. Aver.
Ratio
WBD No
Description
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
EST.
Days
Low
Days
Days
High
Days
Range/Aver
3.1.1
Evaluate the current situation
5
7
9
4
6
7
6
8
9
5
7
8
0.4
3.1.2
Define user requirement
2
3
5
3
4
5
2
4
6
2.3
3.6
5.3
0.8
3.1.3
Define system requirement
2
3
5
3
4
5
2
4
6
2.3
3.6
5.3
0.8
3.1.4
Define server requirements
2
3
5
3
4
5
2
4
6
2.3
3.6
5.3
0.8
3.2.1
Web Database
20
25
30
40
50
55
15
20
30
65
31.6
38.3
0.08
3.2.2
Create interface
30
35
50
40
50
55
35
40
60
51.6
60
55
0.05
3.3.1
Database Implementation
10
25
30
15
20
25
15
30
40
13.3
28.3
31.6
0.6
3.3.2
Transaction Processing
2
3
5
1
2
4
2.5
3
5
1.8
1.6
4.4
1.6
3.3.3
Security Implementation
5
7
9
4
6
7
6
8
9
5
7
8
0.4
3.4.1
System testing
5
8
10
15
20
25
10
15
20
10
14.3
18.3
0.6
3.4.2
System Integration Testing
2
3
5
3
4
5
2
4
6
2.3
3.6
5.3
0.8
3.5.1
Install the system
2
3
5
3
4
5
2
4
6
2.3
3.6
5.3
0.8
3.5.2
User Support Documentation
5
7
9
4
6
7
6
8
9
5
7
8
0.4
Phase 2: Development
After the concept phase is completed, the next project phase is development. In the development phase, the project team creates a more detailed project plan, a more accurate cost estimate and amore through WBS. This phased approach minimizes the time and money spent developing inappropriate projects. A project idea must pass the concept phase before evolving into development phase.
This phase also involves identifying any risks that could affect the delivery of the project or cause to exceed the project budget, time scale or increase the required resource
Identify major risks
Phase 4: Close out
The closing process involves gaining stakeholder and customer acceptance of the final product and brining the project phase, to an orderly end. If e=includes verifying that all the deliverables are completed, and it often includes a final presentation.
A project, like designing website, requires staff to support the web site after it is completed. therefore there is customer support for the project .
Closing process out put are:
Final Report
lessons-learned report
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