Develop a project-scope document when initiating an administrative computing system project. To do so, you may need to:

1.0 Determine if you need to develop or buy an administrative system

Address these high-level issues:

• What is the business problem or opportunity to be addressed?
• If there is an existing system in place, where does it fall short? What are its strengths?
• What benefits would a new business system bring and what procedural improvements might result?
• Are there other systems on campus that may be doing similar functions or processing similar data?
• Is it possible to salvage parts of an old system?
• What are the critical success factors for the department's business and how does the proposed system relate to these factors?

2.0 Identify the primary stakeholders in the proposed system development

Considerations:

• Who would be likely to fund a project?
• Who are the primary users?
• Who are the secondary users?
• Will University policy be affected by the proposed project?
• Who are the business experts who will define the business rules?
• What departments and external entities will be impacted by the proposed system?

3.0 Begin to define the scope constraints of the system of the system

Plan to refine this definition as the project progresses. Documentation may include:

• Business problem to be solved
• Business functions to be included
• Business functions that will not be included
• Opportunities for re-engineering
• Security requirements
• Required time-frame to implementation
• Estimated resources requirements
• Estimated budget
• Risks (include obstacles to implementing a new system)
• Mitigating actions
• Cost/benefit analysis
• Preliminary project plan with time estimates and resource requirements

4.0 Identify a sponsor for the project

The sponsor will be responsible for:

• Approving the scope of the system development project
• Securing the requested budget
• Acting as a liaison to external staff/departments
• Providing resources as required for success
• Defining the governance of the project

5.0 Identify the project team

While the team can be augmented by consultants if core-competencies are not available (for example re-engineering expertise), members of the team may include the following:

• Project manager to manage the core team
• Business experts to provide the business requirements and rules; test the system as it is developed; define training requirements
• System architect to provide technical oversight
• Quality assurance to ensure quality throughout the project
• Software developers to analyze, design, and build the system
• Consultants as appropriate

6.0 Develop a project plan

• Develop an initial project plan which accurately reflects critical milestones, the resource plan, and budget constraints