180 likes | 581 Views
Chapter 2 Needs Identification. Learning Objectives. Review the project life cycle identifying needs proposing a solution performing the project terminating the project Focus on needs identification Identify needs and select projects Develop RFPs The proposal solicitation process. 2.
E N D
Learning Objectives • Review the project life cycle • identifying needs • proposing a solution • performing the project • terminating the project • Focus on needs identification • Identify needs and select projects • Develop RFPs • The proposal solicitation process 2
Real World Example • Vignette: Successful Messaging Services in Poland • Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) is Poland’s leading wireless services provider, and maintains Era, the largest mobile network in Poland. • Powered by Sun Internet Mail Services (SIMS), PTC introduced Eranet, a messaging system designed to notify mobile subscribers by cell phone text messages when they have new e-mail. • Expanded offerings to customers by delivering two-way SMS services. • A detailed needs assessment was a key to its success • Sun Services helped to map out requirements for the Eranet project from the beginning and remained involved at every stage. • They developed an implementation plan, first determining needs and then designing effective solutions. • Project was completed in just 12 months – 50% earlier than anticipated. • With the implementation of the new Sun e-mail software, PTC was able to grow its subscriber base by approximately 80 percent in one year, with the anticipation of further growth. 3
Real World Example • Vignette: Red Light, Green Light • Catherine Aczel Boivie joined Pacific Blue Cross in 2003 as VP of Information Technology. • She and the CEO agreed on two principles: (1) Technology has no value alone, and (2) technology management needs to focus on enabling business as opposed to operations. • Pacific Blue Cross created a Balanced Scorecard that displays and measures the organization’s performance from six perspectives: qualitative, quantitative, infrastructure, clients, people, and community-related goals. • She introduced the project management office (PMO) function. • Traffic Light Report: allows PMO to report project status • In the 2nd year, she introduced a gating process • Boivie is confident that the project management processes she put in place will help ensure advancing business goals, on time and within budget. 4
Needs Identification • It is the initial phase of the project lifecycle • Starts with recognition of a need, problem, or opportunity • Ends with the issuance of a request for proposal (RFP) • Customer identifies a need, a problem, or an opportunity for a better way of doing something • Sees benefit in undertaking a project to result in improvement 5
Needs Identification (Cont.) • Prior to preparing an RFP: • Recognize a need, problem, or opportunity • Clearly define the problem or need • Quantify the problem • Determine the budget • Select the project(s) with the greatest benefit for the cost expended 6
Project Selection • Involves evaluating various needs or opportunities, and then deciding which of these should move forward as a project to be implemented • Steps in project selection: • Develop a set of criteria against which each opportunity will be evaluated • List the assumptions • Gather data and information for each opportunity • Evaluate each opportunity against the criteria 7
Project Selection (Cont.) • Group consensus lead to better quality decision and higher acceptance of the decision • Effective approach – selection committee to develop a set of evaluation criteria • In most cases selection based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative evaluation 8
Preparing a Request for Proposal • State, comprehensively and in detail, what is required, from the customer’s point of view • Enable contractors or a project team to understand what the customer expects so that they can prepare a thorough proposal • The need may be communicated informally—and sometimes only orally 9
Preparing a Request for Proposal (Cont.) • Guidelines for drafting a formal RFP to external contractors: • statement of work (SOW) • customer requirements • deliverables • customer-supplied items • approvals required by the customer • type of contract 10
Preparing a Request for Proposal (Cont.) • the payment terms • the required schedule for completion • instructions for the format and content of the contractor proposals • due date for proposals • evaluation criteria • occasionally will indicate the funds the customer has available 11
Soliciting Proposals • Methods: • Identify a selected group of contractors in advance and sending each an RFP • Advertise in certain business newspapers • Process considered a competitive situation 12
Soliciting Proposals (Cont.) • Don’t provide information that is not provided to all contractors • May hold a bidders’ meeting to explain the RFP and answer questions • Not all use RFP 13