Development of a Test and Trace application for the NHS
1. Introduction
The purpose of the assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to try out the various project management techniques and apply them to a case study.
The assignment is based on the joint case study that has been designed to address the assessment needs of both INF6110 and INF6001.
There is one component to the assessment: one individual report (100%). The marking criteria can be found on Blackboard.
2. Learning Outcomes
The assessment covers the following learning outcomes of the module:
1) Demonstrate awareness of the need for effective management of IS projects;
2) Understand and use techniques for estimating IS and IT activities;
3) Produce a project plan which indicates deliverables and milestones.
3. Assessment Instructions
There is only assessment. A template if provided for your report and you HAVE to use it. The coursework brief needs to be read together with the Joint Case Study documents and the Marking Criteria sheet.
4. The Individual Report (100%, 2,000 words, +/10%)
Based on the joint case study, you will need to make a plan for the project to be implemented using a hybrid approach that combines the waterfall and agile approaches. You will prepare an individual report, proving the following:
• Executive summary (5%) – Briefly introduce the case and summarise the main aspects of your project plan for the client.
• Project plan (30%) – Based upon the case study, provide a plan for the phases, activities and tasks in the project, providing explanations where necessary. Provide an estimate of how long each task will take.
• Milestones & Deliverables (30%) – Outline a set of milestones and deliverables for the project, providing explanations where necessary. Make sure you link your milestones to your project plan and that the deliverables relate to the activities and tasks.
• Discussion of implementation (20%) – With support from literature, discuss how you would implement this project, answering the following:
o What are the advantages and disadvantages and the associated risks for NPHT of outsourcing the project to Code Dynamix?
Make sure that any important decisions you take within your project plan are clearly presented, discussed and justified (10%) and that the report uses clear language (5%). Make sure you include a readable project schedule in your submission as outlined in Practical 1.
5. General Advice
• Use the Template for the assignments (section 6)
• Prepare your report with the word count in mind. You will need to add a cover page where you will include your student ID and the word count of the submission.
o If you fail to include the word count, or if the word count is not respected, a penalty is automatically applied (there is a +/- 10% buffer to the word limit).
o If your report is well below this word count, it means that it is underdeveloped. It is well above it, it means that it includes repetitions or that some of the material may be outside the scope of the report.
o What’s included in the word count: everything except tables, figures, the cover page, the reference list, and any appendices.
o The wordcount shown in the template for the different sections is indicative: you can go up or down as long as the overall wordcount is respected.
• You need to submit your report by the relevant deadline (see the Blackboard for the deadline). If you don’t submit by the deadline, a penalty is automatically applied.
o All penalties (for deadlines, word counts and unfair means) are included in detail in the Student Handbook.
o You need to submit via Turnitin – you will need to follow the on screen instructions. When you have finally submitted, you will receive an email notification. If you do not receive the email notification, you have not submitted. You will need to try again. Do not leave your submission until the very last minute because the system may get congested, may be down or the uploading (especially if it is a large file) may finish after the deadline has expired – this will count as late submission!
• Make sure your diagrams, images, tables etc. are readable. If these do not comfortably fit within a single page, consider splitting them across 2-3 pages.
o For the Gantt chart in particular, consider splitting it up horizontally, NOT VERTICALLY! (the tasks need to be seen together with the bars in the calendar view to be considered a Gantt Chart).
o For the WBS (and the Gantt Chart) consider placing them on a landscape orientation.
• Read the marking criteria carefully – they explain how you will be marked.
• Read section 4 carefully – it explains what the report needs to contain. Pay attention to the template and follow it diligently. It will guide you and help you make sure you are not missing important parts of the report.
6. Template for Assignments
INF6001 INFORMATION SYSTEMS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Individual Report
Student ID: [Insert Student ID]
Word count: [Insert word count]
1. Executive Summary (indicative: 250 words – 5%)
Briefly introduce the case and summarise the main aspects of your project plan for the client.
2. Project Plan (indicative: 650 words – 30%)
Based upon the case study, provide a plan for the stages, activities and tasks in the project, providing explanations where necessary. Provide an estimate of how long each task will take.
2.1. Work Break Down (WBS) Structure (10%)
Here focus on combining the Project Management Lifecycle and the Information Systems
Lifecycle, and on having the same level of detail across phases as much as possible.
2.2. Gantt Chart (20%)
You can use any software you wish or you deem more convenient to prepare this, including but not limited to MS Excel, Gantter, Project Libre, MS Project, Gantt Project etc.
• You are NOT expected to attach resources on your Gantt Chart.
• Do NOT attempt to fit your Gantt Chart in a single A4 page. Try to fit a phase (initiation,
planning, execution etc) of your Gantt Chart in a single page and choose to include the
chart in a landscape format page (horizontal orientation).
3. Milestones and Deliverables (indicative: 500 words – 30%)
The table below is the table you NEED to use for presenting milestones and deliverables and the linkages among them. The table is used to present the relationships between the milestones and deliverables, with milestones being the unequivocal completion criteria for the said deliverables (also, the different deliverables that feed towards a single milestone can be used for measuring the progress). The discussion should explain how each milestone has been chosen in relation to the project plan and why it is useful in relation to the deliverables. You need to be critical and analytical i.e., you MUST NOT repeat what already present in the table but extend that information.
Add as many rows as required.
4. Discussion of Implementation (indicative: 600 words – 20%) You need to use sources from the literature and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a contractor for outsourcing the project. What are the potential issues? What are the risks? How does NPHT benefit from this arrangement? The brief has a lot of information on this and it may help you think why NPHT chose outsourcing in the first place.
5. References (beyond the word count)
Here add your references in APA format according to the Information School guidelines. Further information can be found in your Student Handbook and the Library’s online resources. You may wish to use an (online) free to use, open source reference manager to organise your resources if you use a lot of them or if you are unsure how the APA format should look like.
