Business Case for Purchasing Method

Tags

business plan, template

You must be logged in to download this document

be first to review

Business Case for purchasing the Project Management Kit ©2003 Method123 Ltd. All rights reserved. 1 Executive Summary Method123® is a methodology for undertaking projects. Their Project Management Kit contains more than 50 pre-completed document templates to help reduce the time taken to produce project documentation. By purchasing the Project Management Kit, we can enhance the quality of our deliverables, reduce costs and increase the likelihood of delivering our projects successfully. The total cost of a Corporate multi-user license for x number of users is $x It is recommended that we purchase the Project Management Kit from www.method123.com 2 Business Problem 2.1 Business Analysis Our company specializes in delivering for our customers. As we are focused on achieving a high level of customer service, we often have improvement programs underway. Each improvement program is undertaken in the way of a ‘project’. We often undertake many projects at the same time, many of which are critical to maintaining our competitive edge in the marketplace. Managing multiple improvement programs with multiple projects and multiple people involved in delivering them can be a high risk activity. We need a proven, best-practice method for delivering projects efficiently to ensure that we gain the requisite business benefits for our organization. We need standard project processes and templates to improve the way within which projects are undertaken, as well as a wide range of pre-completed templates to reduce the time taken to complete project documentation. 2.2 Problem Analysis By not adopting a standard set of processes and templates, projects often experience: • “Scope creep” • Unexpected costs • Reduced quality of deliverables • Exceeded timeframes and unachieved milestones • Mixed communication and higher staff turnover • Unexpected issues which impact delivery • Blowouts with project budgets • Under-performing suppliers • Unachievable delivery dates • Unhappy customers. To minimize the risk of our projects facing the same symptoms, we need a standard approach to undertaking projects. If we are able to promote a common project lifecycle within our organization with standard processes for all projects, then we can improve our project delivery efficiency and therefore increase our likelihood of success. ©2003 Method123 Ltd. All rights reserved. Standard project processes we need to implement include: • Change Management • Risk Management • Issue Management • Time Management • Cost Management • Quality Management • Procurement Management • Acceptance Management • Communications Management. To ensure that these processes are adopted within our organization, we need a suite of document templates to describe and enforce them. Document templates save us from reinvenntingthe-wheel by clearly outlining how each respective Process is undertaken with Forms for completion and Registers (or Logs) for recording status information. In summary, we need to purchase a Project Management methodology which contains: • A clear, easy to understand, Project Lifecycle • A set of well defined project management processes (as described above) • A detailed set of project templates supporting each management process. 3 Available Options After extensive research, we have found that: • While the are a vast range of project document templates available for free on the internet, very few have been written by experienced Project Managers • Very few templates have been written in a clear, professional and easy to read format • Few providers offer a Project Management methodology as well as detailed document templates to support the entire project lifecycle. Most providers offer a range of miscellaneous project templates which don’t fit together to form a project lifecycle • Most methodologies and templates are written to fit one type of industry, for instance Information Technology (IT). Few providers actually offer a generic methodology to suit all project sizes, types and industries. Given the above constraints, we have identified 3 practical solution options: 1. Implement the Method123® Project Lifecycle by purchasing their Project Management Kit. See www.method123.com 2. Implement the principles set out by the world-wide Project Management Institute (PMI®) as defined within A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). See www.pmi.org 3. Implement the principles and practices set out by Prince2®. See www.prince2.co.uk ©2003 Method123 Ltd. All rights reserved. 3.1 Options Analysis Option Description Advantages and Disadvantages Cost 1 Adopt Method123® • Method123® is based on the principles defined within the PMBOK® • Their project lifecycle is suitable for all types of companies, industries and project sizes • Every activity within the lifecycle has a comprehensive document template. More than 50 templates are provided, covering every aspect of the project lifecycle • Their templates are incredibly detailed with specific instructions, helpful hints, real life examples, charts and tables. • See www.method123.com for Corporate pricing 2 Adopt the PMBOK® • The PMBOK® is the world-wide standard for Project Management • It includes a set of principles and processes for undertaking all project types • The principles and processes are very generic and therefore only act as guidelines, rather than specific project procedures • The methodology does not come with a detailed set off project templates. • The PMBOK® is provided to members of the PMI®. See www.pmi.org for membership fees. • NB The PMBOK®is a brief handbook and does not contain any project templates 3 Adopt Prince2® • Prince2® is the UK standard for IT Project Management • Like the PMBOK®, it includes a generic set of principles for undertaking projects • The standard was written specifically for IT projects and does not cater for projects of all types, sizes and industries • The methodology comes with a small number of project templates with cater for only part of the project lifecycle. The templates are relatively generic and do not include procedural instructions for completion. • See www.prince2.co.uk for Corporate pricing • Prince2® Corporate licenses are between 300% -500% more expensive than Method123® • NB Prince2® contains only a small number of project templates ©2003 Method123 Ltd. All rights reserved. 4 Recommended Approach 4.1 Recommended Option Based on the Options available, it is recommended that Option 1: Adopt Method123® is approved. Method123® is also based on the principles defined within the PMBOK® and has a wide variety of detailed project templates covering the entire project lifecycle. 4.2 Implementation The following steps are recommended to implement Method123® within our organization: • Identify the number of user licenses (based on the number of people requiring the templates to create customized project documentation) • Purchase the Project Management Kit from www.method123.com • Identify a central location for storing the Project Management Kit templates • Communicate the location of the templates to our users • Inspire project teams to follow the Method123® lifecycle. 5 Appendix 5.1 Supporting Documentation The following sources were used to collate this document: • Free Project Management Guide available from www.method123.com • Free Risk Kit templates available from www.method123.com • Research on the principles set out by www.pmi.org and www.prince2.co.uk • Searches for other “Project Management Templates” using Google and Yahoo.