Project Kickoff 8/2000

Click here for a detailed Work Plan from this case study.

The client is a child care provider with 20 locations on the East Coast.
- They are venture capital funded.
- No internal IT staff- it is all outsourced
- The current Headquarters has 50 employees, and branches have 1-2 full-time, and 2-10 part-time employees.

Billing (invoicing & payment) is the immediate need:
- They currently use a manual process of typing up each transaction, which has put them 45 days behind.
- Different forms of service are provided (normal care, transportation, additional care, extra hours, extra meals)
- Customers pre pay for services each month, and pay for extra services at the end of the month
- Most payment is in the form of check, however, the client wants customers to pay by credit card or through direct deposit.

A Big 5 firm initially attempted to build their system:
- They tried to implement a Lotus Notes system for 3 years and only completed 50%.
- The client has spent $400,000 on an unsuccessful system, and $70,000 for a detailed systems design document.
- The client is very unhappy and frustrated with the situation.

It is our job to clean up this mess:
-We need to quickly deliver an effective solution. Given the history of the failed system, and mental state of the client it is important for us to show quick progress at an affordable cost.

Project Charter

Project Objective: The Internet Billing System project team will develop a Internet based billing system to retrieve and capture payment and any associated information.

The Internet Billing System members will:

- Not discuss information concerning this project with anyone outside of the project team, aside from approved interaction with the client.

- Meet weekly as a team and with the client. Rough meeting agendas will be established before meetings.

- The meeting developments and communication will be documented and a copy will be sent to the client for verification (the day of the meeting).

- The work plan and associated documentation will be updated after each meeting as necessary.

- All significant developments and changes to the requirements document, work plan, and project timeline will be approved by the project manager.

- Documentation will be stored in an all encompassing project binder.

Project Team Composition:

Project Manager
I will serve as the Project Manager for this system's development. It will be my job to ensure the smooth progression and completion of the system, within the given budget and time constraints.

Systems Analyst
The systems analyst will serve as the technical lead on the project. They will help to identify the most effective and cost efficient technical solutions. Our systems analyst will develop ideas and suggestions on how technology can improve the client's current business processes. This person will have a broad understanding of a wide range of technology issues (network, software, hardware, programming, Web, databases).

Software Programmer
This team member will be doing the majority of the scripting and software development for the new system. It will be important for this person to quickly develop prototypes, that will help to; foster feedback, speed the process, and show progress for the client.

Change Management Analyst
They will focus on management issue surrounding the installation of the new system. End-user training and support, two often overlooked pieces to system development, will be handled by this analyst. In addition, this system will probably not have the most technically savvy end-users. This group member will be particularly important due to the rapid system development and deployment needed by the client. No matter how successful the system, if the end-user does not support the system it will ultimately be a failure.