8.1 Introduction
The following pages will identify how we are approaching the project, our standards, procedures and criteria set as a company and also what we expect from the clients and what the clients can expect from us. The following pages will give you an insight in to how we run as a company.
Standards and Procedures
As a company you can expect us to follow and provide the following Standards and Procedures
- Thorough Methods of Design
- Client Design Consultation
- Extensive Testing
- High Level of Performance
- High Level of Maintenance
- Detailed Training Sessions
- Regular Communication
- Frequent Updates
Reporting Periods
We will keep our client informed of our progress at each stage. If for any reasons we find ourselves in any of the situations below we will report back instantly to the client for a plan of action on how best to address the situation.
- Over Budgeting
- Missed Deadlines
- Problems with the Requirements
- Change to the Requirements
Communication
As I have previously stated that we intend to have regular contact with the client. This shall be done through the project manger. Prior to the project being implemented we propose to have three meeting with the client. These will take place along the life cycle of the project. The first will be at the analysis stage and then at the design and testing stage consecutively.
The manager will also be sending progress reports via the email. The client will have a list of contact names and address of all members on the team. This will be provided so that they can contact any individual for a personal update or query.
Training & Help
We will be offering the user training facilities in three various ways. These will be achieved via the following methods
- On-line Help & Tutorials
- Day Training Courses
We have briefly explained how each training module will be implemented and used below.
On-line Help Files & Tutorials
Help files will be loaded onto the web page and will be accessible via simple pull down menus. The user will be able to scroll through a menu alphabetically allowing them to search for the topic they wish to look into.
The on-line tutorials offered would take the user through the site and show them how to navigate and use facilities on site.
The files themselves will not be long-winded and every attempt will be made in order to keep them basic and to the point.
Day Training Sessions
The training sessions will be available to the client by a member of our team. This will be more helpful as the user will be able to get hands-on help on with every topic. The criteria of the training will teach the user how best to use the site and it's underlying design features.
Training sessions will be held in-house on a 1-day basis and conducted by a member of our team. External sessions will also be available but at a greater cost or at the clients discretion.
Maintenance
We offer a 5-year maintenance contract to our clients. This will involve updating, upgrading and troubleshooting any aspects on the product. If the client does agree to the maintenance contract, we will offer training as a bonus for the duration of the contract.
Copyrights
Copyrights are basically exclusive rights set by the law for the owner. These laws are designed to protect an individuals work, from being stolen or copied. If such an occasion should arise the individual is within his/her rights to demand money or any royalties. It is illegal to take copyrighted material, without the owners' consent, and can lead to criminal p r osecutions and legal implications.
Copyright Standards
This company employs the following copyright standards.
- Check material copyright status
- Contact owner for access rights
- Always wait for confirmation from owner before using material
- Pass confirmation letter/email to finance department
Copyright standards for our Product
All information/material that we produce or use in our product will be placed under a copyright contract via an external copyright organisation.
For charges, please refer to the financial report.
Financial Management and Accounting
The budget for this project has been specified as �35,404.66, it is expected to finish in 61 days from the starting date. The budget has been drawn up after all costs have been identified to us, the consortium. (Refer to pricing section for breakdown).
The overall control of the budget will be the sole responsibility of the Finance Director. He will break down the budget and allocate a certain proportion to the different phases/stages being implemented.
The method that is going to be used to monitor the budget will be a cost centre method, where each phase has a allocated cost centre e.g. P1. For this cost centre/phase there will be a predicted forecast of how the money will be spent and a actual forecast, from where the finance director will be able to cross reference the two and make adjustments accordingly.
Boundaries
The boundaries in which we will be running in are as follows:
The web page will deal with information concerning the year 2000 and five years thereafter i.e. 2000 - 2005. The reasons for this being that we can not analysis what is going to happen after 2005, as you can not determine what could, or will change past that period. Changes taking place within society today are so rapid that the ordinary persons such as you or I will not acknowledge them straight off.
The time scale we have is one important boundary, which we must try to meet, if it is not met it could have drastic effects on us. If what we have proposed is not ready in the time scale provided we could be liable to pay fees for every day that we are over due, which could be very costly to us as a company and would not do our reputation very good.
The time scale is probably the most important boundary to us and to most other companies/businesses.
Another issue/boundary is how far we are actually going take the project i.e. defining the scope. It is possible in what we are doing to get carried away and investigate into all kinds of issues concerning the year 2000, but from the market research we have done we have determined what the public wants information on, i.e. education, government etc. (refer to Appendices 2)
How much detail are we going to go into? The Internet provides vast amounts of information on just about everything but the information provided is sometimes too much. Users do not know where to start looking for what they need, what we are proposing to do is have a web page which cover all topics listed and display only concise and factual information thus getting rid of all waffle. This should help the users assess information faster and located what they want in a minimum amount of time.
The financial boundary is also of great importance. We must make sure that we do not exceed the budget set by our client and that all costs including man hours taken to design the page are included in this. To overcome this we must organise our resources so that they are being used to their full extent.
The area that we will be covering is also another boundary, at current we are only covering the U.K., but we could, if the need was to arise, cover Europe and the rest of the world.
The above is a description of the boundaries which we have identified whilst doing this project. Along with the boundaries are solutions as well as the consequences, which we could face if we step beyond these boundaries.
Goals
The goals for this project and our consortium, which we hope to achieve, are as follows
- Provide fast and efficient information
- Multi-modal system
- Advanced technical interface
- Concise and factual information on each topic
- Meet our target deadlines
- Offer the client a user friendly site
- Clear and precise HELP system
The goals listed are our primary objectives that will help make our web page better than our competitors, which hopefully will draw more users to our site.
Time
The time scale which we have to complete this project is 2 months from the starting date (7/10/98) - (8/12/98). If due to unforeseen circumstances the project is delayed in any way, a new finish date will be negotiated i.e. 23/01/98. This will be only implemented in an emergency situation only. If the original date can be met by working weekends and evening this will be done in order to meet the original date.
Costs
The costs of setting up a web page can vary drastically depending on the kinds of features being implemented. We as the consortium have set a budget for the project at
�35,404.66, but if we experience any troubles and can not complete the project in the budget proposed, then we have an another emergency budget of �40,404.66 being proposed. This budget has been calculated so that all possible risks have been taken into account.
Quality
The quality of the product is quite a hard thing to define because we are not dealing with a physical product but a service. The Criteria we have set up to monitor the quality of the product is as follows:
- Usability
- Ease of navigation
- Meeting client requirements
- Correct information being displayed
- Does it do? What it is meant to do?
- Is it an easy interface to use?
- How concise textual is it?
The majority of our feedback will be from the client and selected "guinea pigs" that will be performing tasks that any normal user would do. The feedback would be in a form of a questionnaire.
Risks & Contingency Plans
During the course of this project, we are liable to fall prey to risks that can affect the team and thus the project in-hand. Below is a table showing the risks that we may encounter and also a contingency plan for each risk. This allows us to keep on schedule with our deadlines and not over step our proposed finish date.
| RISKS
| CONTINGENCY
|
| Illness,Death
| Consultation with group manager. Hire new staff via contract with agency.
|
| Server crashing/going down
| Have the website on both the Kingston server and with FortuneCity.
|
| Team conflicts
| One to one sessions with group manager.
|
| Client backing out
| Devise a contract with the client before beginning the project with a clause stipulating "the client can not back out"
|
| Missed deadlines
| The project manager will maintain a progress report on all areas of the project. If a task is falling behind he will be able to detect it beforehand and take the necessary action to rectify the situation
|
| Project falls over budget or runs over the deadline date
| Have a back-up date and project cost amount in the contract to specify an emergency date or cost for completion of the project, if the risk should occur. This will be agreed prior to beginning the project
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