CS632 Project Blog - Group 3 Team B

risk-management-template.doc

Here is the risk management template, Gene, kindly help complete the ranking or MI/Leong can do that also, for the tech risks.

And we are done!

final%20report%20ver21.doc

Hello Team

Please find the final project report final draft from me

Thanks a lot

Oge

oge-lesson-learned.doc

final-report-ver2.doc

Here si the final report with everyones lessons learned incorporated. I like the template I found much better then the one provided by the professor, but that’s just me. Oge demonstrated how effective this template could be.

I wanted to include one for each person in the final documentation to make it complete so feel free to send it to me as you have time but before this weekend.

 Thanks,

Gene

Attached is the Architecture & Design Document that describes the technical aspects of the website. Please comment. Thanks!

Architecture & Design Document

final-report-ver2.doc

bu-pmp-website-design-final-report.doc

Here is the second draft!

Gene, Jan please update and review

Hey Gene,

I keep going over the Prof’s requirements on deliverables and I see it is encouraged to use templates (Appendix D- TEMPLATES) from the text for all the PMBOK methodology

” we expect you to submit several templates for each of the initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling and closing stages that you find relevant.”

Let’s go back and make sure we have all the templates and documents for the stages in place. What do you think?

Do we have the templates for all we need to complete the deliverables?

Thank you

Team:

The professor is waiting for an invitation to our final presentation. When will all of the documentation be ready to present to the professor? I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on the non-tech members who are currently working on the documents, so I’ll let you folks set the deadline. I would just request that we have the presentation before Friday the 29th as I will be traveling then. Gene, would you be able to put together a brief PowerPoint that describes our project activities? Thanks everyone!

This is for those of you who’ve expressed interest in seeing a demo. Please download the Yugma web conferencing client if you haven’t already (http://www.yugma.com).

Web Conference details:

Yugma Session ID: 205-431-093
Conference Call #: 605-475-4261 (use Session ID as Passcode)

Team,

First, PLEASE clear your browser’s cache as some browsers hold on to old CSS files.

Then, go to our integrated site at: http://studentportal.bu-pm.com

There hasn’t been any integration testing done yet, but from a brief smoke test, it seems to be working. Thanks again to Ed for all the static content and diagrams.

bu-pmp-website-design-final-report.docbu-pmp-website-design-final-report.doc

Hello Everyone,

This is how the final report would look like, please send in your suggestions. If I need to trim of some, do kindly let me know.

 Gracias

Oge

Hi Team,

I am working on the final report now and I would like to include the problems, hitches encountered and changes that were made, under the change management process subheading. This would come especially from the tech team.

Another thing, comparing the actual project performance to the project objectives,  do give your comments!

From the comments we all are able to update the documents.

To Gene and Jan, I would label some of the documents you prepared to be included as appendices; status report and minutes of meetings, the cost estimation etc……., if that is okay?

By tomorrow I’d post the draft report  for everyone to peruse and comment (feedback, inputs), so as to know the changes I am to make and the things I would be needing from the team. And as always, I might be assigned to do something, but since it is a team work and everyone’s grade depends on this, I would love you all to always comment, suggestions to make things perfect …..

Gene, I know you are compiling the documents, please can you let us know where you are, if you need help with anything?  Transcribing some data into certain templates?

I totally see MI’s point, it would be an excellent idea to take most out of the way so as to prepare for the final exam.

Having ”said” all these, GREAT JOB GUYS! 

Hi Team,

Please recall that there were two technical deliverables: a form and a database. We have completed both.

The second deliverable was to suggest ways to make the site more web 2.0 as well as to provide detailed project documentation as specified in the project scope.

Web 2.0 is a complicated and much debated concept that revolves around the idea of an interactive website. Stylistically, CSS or cascading style sheets are very much Web 2.0 as opposed to HTML. However, this is not a relevant item of the deliverable, thus I have decided that we should adapt the CSS for the site.

The functionalities that we all brainstormed at the beginning of the project will be included in the project documentation and comprise the suggestions part of the second deliverable.

I would like everyone to go back through the blog and create a high level view of the project( which is why I love the blog). Post any questions you may have. This is like a code review. Especially the Project Plan, Djanwari did a fantastic job of adopting a template and everyone should take a look and comment

I understand there is a bit of confusion about the functionalities of the technical deliverable, and that’s a good thing because it illustrates some of the issues that arise during UAT(User Acceptance Testing).

Mohammed and I will be available on email all weekend to address any questions about the technical deliverable and walk you through testing the template and the database.

You may also post any questions on the blog and we will answer them promptly. I will start to bring together the documentation over the weekend and start posting large chunks of it on the blog for review.

We have done a fantastic job a as team to create the student portal and have a vast amount of project documentation to support this assertion. Now for the final sprint!

Cheers,

Gene

The website looks great! I can’t open the following links

Gallery

FaQ

JOB

Djanwari

Team,

I hope everyone has had a chance to test out the functional pages (that represent 40% of your final project’s grade). I would like to wrap this portion up by this weekend. The only thing that’s remaining as far as I can tell is integrating the CSS StyleSheets across all of the pages. Ed has added a lot of good content and links to the static pages, but the look and feel of the static pages is currently different from the look and feel of the dynamic (functional) pages. For me, it would just take a few minutes to change the styles of ALL the pages. So it is up to the team to decide which styles everyone prefers.

Please take a look at the following sites and tell me before 9PM EST today, which look-and-feel you prefer:

• http://studentportal.bu-pm.com/
• http://aspspider.info/asadis/

I will go into ALL of the pages (static AND dynamic) tonight and unify the look-and-feel to which ever the team chooses. We can then schedule a demo for the Professor sometime this weekend. Thank you everyone!

 -MI

Sorry Djanwari, here it is!

bu-pmp-website-upgrade-project_plan2.doc

sorry Djanwari, here it is!

Hi Team,

I have looked through Prof’s mail to see if he sent any template for Final Project Report like the Project Plan he sent. I have NOT “located” one, am I missing it or there is none?

If none, is it okay if I came up with one and also is there a suggestion as to how many pages the team wants me to stick to?

Thanks,
Oge

bu-pmp-website-upgrade-project-plan_vs1.doc

This is an initial draft of the project plan document. I used the template sent by the Professor. We still have some information to add to the project plan that I don’t have yet.

Thanks,

Djanwari

• Obsolete Web Server
  • The web server is quite old. The .NET platform that it is using is 5 years old (ASP.NET 1.1), which in IT terms is an eternity. What this means is that if we use the professor’s web server, we will not be able to leverage the productivity enhancements of ASP.NET 3.5, which could throw off our project timeline.
• Shared Hosting
  • Since our site is hosted on a shared web host and database, there is a high risk that other websites will impact our site’s performance and security.
• Cross-Domain Communication
  • Our web server is hosted by AspSpider.net and our database is hosted by IXWebHosting.com. The cross-domain communication adds risk since there could be a breakdown in communication with neither host taking responsibility.
• Virtual Technical Team
  • Having a virtual team adds risk that doesn’t exist in a team that is physically located in the same office. If a web developer needs the DBA to create a Stored Procedure in the database, it can be done in the matter of minutes in a traditional team. In a virtual team, however, the turnaround time could be in hours or even days.
• Lack of Source Control
  • The web application code is being maintained in Mohammad’s machine, the DDL script for the database is being maintained in Leong’s machine, and the web graphics is being maintained in Ed’s machine. If any one of these machines go down, we risk losing many person-hours of work.

Forms:

• Site Map
• Login Page
• Sign Up Page
• Sign Up Successful Page
• Student Profile Page
• Update Successful Page
• Admin Page 
• Delete Confirmation Page

Tables

• User
• Address
• State
• Access_Credential

Total Effort = 3.1 * [(10.2 * # of forms) + (7.9 * # of reports) + (4.9 * # of tables)]

Total Effort = 3.1 * [(10.2 * 8 ) + (7.9 * 0) + (4.9 * 4)]

Total Effort = 3.1 * (81.6 + 0 + 19.6)

Total Effort = 3.1 * 101.2

Total Effort = 313.72 Person Hours

http://hosteddocs.ittoolbox.com/JC021304B.pdf (courtesey Djanwari)

http://www.wikiservice.at/upload/ChristopheDucamp/McAfeeEntrepriseDeux.pdf

http://www.mtc.lu/Evenements-precedents/SOA/presentations/mainColumnParagraphs/03/document_en/OpenWide%20-%20MTCow%20-%20Achieving%20EII%2020061130.pdf

http://www.unc.edu/remedy/presentations/itil_study_guide.pdf

http://www.processor.com/articles//P2908/30p08/30p08graphic.pdf?guid=

http://www.gantthead.com/

http://www.itmanagersjournal.com/feature/21705

http://www.openworkbench.org/

http://www.globalknowledge.com/training/course.asp?pageid=9&courseid=9080&country=United+States

I have added input validation code to the forms. They now verify that the required fields have data and that fields like zip code, phone number, and email address use the right formats. Please begin testing the forms and posting issues on the blog. The site map is located at: http://aspspider.info/asadis

Known Issues:

Gene said that he wasn’t able to login after creating an account. I’m unable to replicate this issue on my end so it may have to do with configuration. Please verify that your browsers allow you to save cookies, as that’s how the login pages store authentication tickets.

I used the use case to figure out how many user inputs we would have and came up with 4. there are 2 user outputs one for the information viewed by the admin and one for the student. 2 Inquiries again, one for user one for admin. The number of files in this site will probably have are:

Home

About

Gallery

Login

Links

Evnts

Faq

A corresponding file for the backend for each page for updates. A backup database script, a back up database dump, a css file, probably around 50 image files for various graphics around the site.

9 external interfaces counting the pages and the admin and logged in console

4 user inquires login, update, view, delete

2 user outputs view, admin

Using the function point calculator http://vista.bu.edu/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/course_documents/functionPoint.html

And calculated 477.04 function points mulptiplied by 20 is 9540.8 Person Hours or if split between a team of 6 developers about 40 weeks to complete

Please comment!!

Communications

Communications is a critical risk in the project. If communication breaks down the project can halt, features will not be implemented, and team members can lose touch with each other and their deliverables.

·    There is a high risk of communication breakdown

Avoidance

·    Proper communication with the project manager at the team meetings

·    Regular visitation of the blog with comments

·    Regular status reporting

·    Regular attendance of team meetings

Acceptance – There is a risk that the key constituencies will not accept the new system.

• There is a moderate risk of this happening.

Avoidance:

• The business users need to be educated and involved in the UAT to ensure that there is full acceptance on the inside of the organization.
• Regular surveys and feedback loops must be established to maintain contact with the business community and affect any changes that may crop up during development.
• Acknowledge business process changes and incorporate them into the scope.

Budget

There is a risk that there will be a cost over run or that the business will decide not to support the project after a certain milestone due to cost.

·    This is a moderate risk

Avoidance:

·    Stay within the initial scope as much as possible

·    Use several different cost estimation tools

·    Keep clear lines of communications open with business and their support for the project

Documentation

Documentation pertains to keeping clear and concise records of the project and its progress.

·    There is a moderate to high risk that proper documentation will not be kept

Avoidance:

·    Use standardized modes of communication such as blogs, wiki’s, and COTS software tools such as Sharepoint and Groove to keep track of documentation and versioning.

·    Demand regular feedback from business and project teams and document it.

·    Maintain records of all communications, including emails, IM conversations, and discussion posts that pertain to the project.

Time

Time is a risk because a project that takes too long can become irrelevant by the time it is completed.

·    This is a moderate risk

Avoidance:

·    Follow the scope closely

·    Ensure any business changed are incorporated into the scope so that the relevance of the project remains current

·    Adopt a development methodology that allows for the delivery of small usable part of the project so that at anytime the project can be halted and still have some use to business

Hi Team,

We will have a team meeting on Monday February 18th at 10 PM EST.

Everyone MUST attend this meeting.

Please make sure you can attend this meeting or submit your talking points to me before the meeting and post your updates on the blog.

Conference Dial-in Number: (616) 597-8000
Participant Access Code: 322365#

See you then!

Gene

I’m in the middle of integrating graphics and input validation into the pages, but the site is mostly functional. You can create, update, and delete users. Give it a try:

 http://aspspider.info/asadis

Known Issues:

• There is currently no input validation, so it will crash if you hit “submit” without entering the necessary information.
• Some links point to resources in the actual BU site, so they may not take you anywhere currently.

The website is underway and a lot of progress has been made. I have added some buttons a banner and some other features. I will be building the rest of the pages this week including a nice feature for the gallery.  Thank you

http://studentportal.bu-pm.com/ 

Hi Team,

We had a small meeting last night during which we discussed various things, amongst them communication.

In our first meeting we all agreed that we would have a weekly meeting at 10 PM EST on Mondays. If you cannot make the meeting, at the very least let me know or send an email with your progress. I understand that everyone is busy, but this meeting takes 30 min and is crucial to knowing where everyone stands within the project.

·         The main conclusions we derived from last night was that we are nearly finished with the technical aspect and very close to being done with the project management aspect.

·         Mohammad and I will do the cost baseline using the function points and the 4GT methods. I remember Oge wanted to have some input on this and anyone else can add their input as well.

·         The Risk analysis will be done jointly with Mohammad presenting the risks from the technical side and I will present the risks form the project side. Everyone will then comment on the risks and a combined statement will be created.

·         Please post comments on the blog.

Overall, we are moving at a brisk pace and it appears will have the project completed on time.

Cheers,

Gene

I have loaded the webpage template, but I am having some issues with the pop mechanism in which allows the user to click on a hyperlink and open the page in a new page which illustrates a popUp.  The images can be changed based on the team suggestions. I have sent a note out to the professor to see if there is any restirctions on the server that I am not aware of.

Hi Team,

We had a small meeting last night, but I need everyone to post your progress so far with any questions or issues you see in the WBS. Please post your comments on the blog.

One of the deliverables is the status report. The status report is compiled from the status of everyone on the team after each milestone status meeting. I need everyone to comment on their status s that we can document the current status of the project.

We will not have a meeting tonight, but instead please post your comments.

Thanks,

Gene

Here is the WBS for the entire project. I inserted the technical WBS into this one thanks to Mohammads efforts. This is the first time I’ve ever worked with MS Project, so comments are welcome and if you want to do an edit and upload it that would be very helpful as well.

Project WBS

Please click [HERE] for the technical work breakdown structure.

Hey team, we (technical group) has revised the proposed ERDs as posted below. (Thanks to MI and ED!)

Feel free to suggest thought, as you see fit, the idea is to be able to deliver ontime based on the spec.

-Leong. 

Revised Conceptual ERD:

This conceptual ERD provides the conceptual representation of the entities and associations for the BU-PMA website database. It provides the overall high-level view of the designed database, as describe below: 

• Each user has one address.
• Each user has one access credential for the webpage login.
• Each address is associated to one user.
• Each access credential is associated to the only one user. 

Revised Logical ERD:

The Logical ERD details the logical representation of the entities, their associations, and the data elements for the BU-PMA website database. The designed database is in 2^nd normal form to better align with the business spec. 

Technical Team,

Please go to http://www.yugma.com and click on “Join Session”. Yugma is a free web conferencing tool. It will take you a few minutes to install it. Once it is installed, please go ahead and join Session # 203-312-177. The teleconference number has not changed, and it is still as follows:

Conference Dial-in Number: (616) 597-8000
Participant Access Code: 322365#

 This diagram depicts our server environment.

Gene, instead of copy/pasting our documents into this blog, should we use a real document management/collaboration tool? Has anyone tried out Microsoft Groove yet?

Leong,

Please go here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c243a5ae-4bd1-4e3d-94b8-5a0f62bf7796&displaylang=en) and download the free SQL Server Management Studio. It’s a very easy to use WYSIWYG / GUI for interacting with SQL Server. I will discuss it in more detail in today’s call. Thanks.

We will be having a Technical Team conference call tonight at 9PM EST. Here are the conference call details:

Conference Dial-in Number: (616) 597-8000
Participant Access Code: 322365#

We are moving very rapidly and I want to know if anyone feels a little behind or overwhelmed? Are the deliverable clear thus far? Do you have any questions regrading the scope or what the individual team deliverables are?

Thus far, we have  4 PM deliverables completed and are making excellent progress on the technical side! Good Job Everyone!! - Please Comment

Business Case for the BU PMP Association Website Upgrade

Purpose
The purpose of the site upgrade is to create a learning environment for BU Project Management students. The environment must be one that is memorable and interactive to hold the interest of students learning in a media saturated environment. The site will also serve as a data collection point for the BU Department of Computer Science as the site will gather information about students and create a newsletter distribution system that will enable the Department to interact more closely with the student body, disseminate information, and retain readership.

Business Definition

Boston University was founded in 1869 on the Banks of Charles River in Boston, MA. BU is one of the leading private research universities in the United States and is home to some 30,000 students and nearly 4000 employees. The university is dedicated to providing world class learning facilities to its student body and has a large endowment to achieve this end.

SWOT Analysis

The weakness is that the BU Project Management Association is facing is one of credibility and relevance. The current site is not up to standard when it comes to providing students with a useful portal to learn and interact with the university and with each other.

The opportunity for BU in this project is to create a relevant resource that students will use and spread amongst them and throughout the industry. This resource will also help bolster the image of a world class institution that BU is keen to uphold.

The main strength of the University lies in the diversity and dedication of its student body. The technical skills within the community are extremely capable of delivering a world class solution to the university.

A very serious threat that will be mitigated by this project is the perception that BU is not taking its students seriously by shortchanging them in terms of resources that are placed at the students disposal. The Project Management Association ought to have a first rate site since so many people in the program are actually professional developers. The danger in not having a fantastic site is that the program will fail to build credibility and slide into mediocrity.

Value-Added Benefits to the Client

The creation of a world class portal for the BU Project Management Association will not only create an excellent source of intellectual material for the use of the students, but will also greatly enhance to reputation of the program and the school. The results will be measured by the activity on the blogs and discussion boards of the new portal. The job listings that will begin appearing on the job boards will not be those from the PMI institute but those of actual employers who will be suing the BU site to recruit BU graduates.

Another measurement will be the mailing list subscriptions and responses to onsite surveys from students. BU is an organization that like any other organization lives and dies through marketing its services to the world. An effective means of communication with your students and alumni is a great way to utilize viral marketing to gain a better foothold in the academic marketplace.