SIGMA Consulting's core business goal is to provide world-class project management consulting services to various organizations. The CEO, Joe Fleming, believes the firm can streamline operations and increase business by providing information related to project management on its intranet site, making some information and services accessible to current and potential clients.

Business Objective

SIGMA Consulting's strategic goals include continuing growth and profitability. The Project Management Intranet Site Project will support these goals by increasing visibility of the firm's expertise to current and potential clients by allowing client and public access to some sections of the intranet. It will also improve profitability by reducing internal costs by providing standard tools, techniques, templates, and project management knowledge to all internal consultants. Since SIGMA Consulting focuses on identifying profitable projects and measuring their value after completion, this project must meet those criteria.

Current Situation and Problem/Opportunity Statement

SIGMA Consulting has a corporate Web site as well as an intranet. The firm currently uses the Web site for marketing information. The primary use of the intranet is for human resource information, such as where consultants enter their hours on various projects, change and view their benefits information, access an online directory and Web-based e-mail system, and so on. The firm also uses an enterprise- wide project management system to track all project information, focusing on the status of deliverables and meeting scope, time, and cost goals. There is an opportunity to provide a new section on the intranet dedicated to sharing consultants project management knowledge across the organization. SIGMA Consulting only hires experienced consultants and gives them freedom to manage projects as they see fit. However, as the business grows and projects become more complex, even experienced project managers are looking for suggestions on how to work more effectively.

Critical Assumption and Constraints

The proposed intranet site must be a valuable asset for SIGMA Consulting. Current consultants and clients must actively support the project, and it must pay for itself within one year by reducing internal operating costs and generating new business. The Project Management Office manager must lead the effort, and the project team must include participants from several parts of the company, as well as current client organizations. The new system must run on existing hardware and software, and it should require minimal technical support. It must be easily accessible by consultants and clients and be secure from unauthorized users.

Analysis of Options and Recommendation

There are three options for addressing this opportunity:

1. Do nothing. The business is doing well, and we can continue to operate without this new project.

2. Purchase access to specialized software to support this new capability with little in-house development.

3. Design and implement the new intranet capabilities in-house using mostly existing hardware and software.

4. Based on discussions with stakeholders, we believe that option 2 is the best option.

Task 1: Write a project charter that includes, background of the project, project objectives, main project success criteria, roles and responsibility of project stakeholders, and risk and dependencies.

Task 2: Design a Gantt Chart schedule that includes, work break-down structure (WBS), start and end date of each task, responsible person to perform the task and proceeding task/s. It is important to mention that WBS is required for all the stages (i.e., Integration and Request, Project Planning, Project

Execution, and Implementation and Support) mentioned in the case scenario. Moreover, you must include the relevant sub-stages necessary to complete the project. It is compulsory that students use Microsoft Project to complete WBS, allocate time and resources.

Task 3: Discuss a risk assessment plan. This must include identifying possible risks, performing qualitative and quantitative risk analysis and planning for risk responses. To identify risks, you must apply common risk identifying techniques (for example, brainstorming, Delphi technique, interview, SWOT analysis, fish bone diagram etc.). For detail understanding, you might conduct a brief research on common methods and techniques on project risk identification and risk analysis. For the simplicity, you need to apply risk assessment plan at only one stage of the project (i.e., Integration and Request, Project Planning, Project Execution, and Implementation and Support).