Performing Effective Project Management

Imagine that you are employed as an IT project manager by a fast-food organization. This organization operates many fast-food shops within the region and would like to promote its brand by creating a mobile application that will provide its customers with the ability to view the nearest fast-food shop location within their geographical area.

As a member of the software development team, you estimate a total project cost of $175,000. You have designated control points to measure project progress. At control point 2, the following data is available:

Budget Cost of Work Performed: $34,000.
Actual Cost of Work Performed: $37,500.
There are various stakeholders that are interested in the progress of the project. These stakeholders include the marketing management team (internal customers), software designers, programmers, testers, and upper management. The software development team has attempted to release a mobile application of this magnitude in the past; however, lack of sponsorship, mobile development expertise, and technical infrastructure has limited the team’s success.

Instructions
Write a 3 page paper in which you:

Identify at least four attributes of the mobile application development project that can be measured and controlled and evaluate how each is a critical factor for the success of the project.
Generate a project plan summary of the various project milestones. Develop a WBS that details work packages required to complete the project scope.
Develop a workflow model that can be used to inspect and detect defects during the acceptance of this mobile product through the use of graphical tools in Microsoft Word or Visio or an open-source alternative such as Dia. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
Describe how the defects detected during the acceptance of the mobile application should be reported and explain the circumstances in which a defect may not require reporting.
Analyze the communication needs of the different project stakeholders. Explain the types of project status reports that would be useful to each.
Compute the cost variance, schedule variance, cost performance index, schedule performance index, and estimated actual cost using the information presented at control point 2. Interpret the project schedule and budget status from the calculations.
Explain how the work package, binary tracking, and earned valued reporting can be used effectively during the maintenance phase of the software life cycle if various change requests may be assigned to individuals and processed on an individual basis.
Develop a risk register that will document all of the estimated risks. Assign one risk management technique for each risk and explain the basis for your selection.