Project Integration Management - Green Computing Research Project

You work for We Are Big, Inc., an international firm with more than 100,000 employees in several countries. A strategic goal is to help improve the environment while increasing revenues and reducing costs. The Environmental Technologies Program just started, and the VP of Operations, Natalie, is the program sponsor. Ito is the program manager, and there is a steering committee made up of 10 senior executives, including Natalie, who oversees the program. Several projects operate within this program, including the Green Computing Research Project. The CIO and project sponsor, Ben, has given this project high priority and plans to hold special interviews to hand-pick the project manager and team. Ben is also a member of the program steering committee. Before coming to We Are Big, Ben sponsored a project at a large computer firm to improve data center efficiency. This project, however, is much broader. The main purpose of the Green Computing Research Project is to research possible applications of green computing, including the following:

• Data center and overall energy efficiency
• Disposal of electronic waste and recycling
• Telecommuting
• Virtualization of server resources
• Thin client solutions
• Use of open source software
• Development of new software to address green computing for internal use and potential sale to other organizations

The budget for the project is $500,000, and the goal is to provide an extensive report, including detailed financial analysis and recommendations for which green computing technologies to implement. Official project request forms for the recommended solutions will also be created as part of the project.

Ben decided to have five people working full-time on this six-month project and to call on people in other areas as needed. He wanted to be personally involved in selecting the project manager and to have that person help him select the rest of the project team. Ben wanted to find people already working inside the company, but he was also open to reviewing applications for potential new employees to work specifically on his project as long as they could start quickly. Because many good people were located in different parts of the world, Ben thought it made sense to select the best people he could find and allow them to work virtually on the project. Ben also wanted the project manager to do more than just manage the project. The project manager would also do some of the research, writing, and editing required to produce the desired results. Ben was also open to paying expert consultants for their advice and to purchasing books and related articles as needed.

FOR GUIDANCE-

Read through the textbook (Schwalbe, K.) “JWD Consulting’s Project Management Intranet Site Project” as a guide.

Tasks

1. Prepare a weighted decision matrixusing the attached template xls. Ben will use this matrix to evaluate applicants for project manager for this important project. Develop at least five criteria, assign weights to each criterion, assign scores, and then calculate the weighted scores for four fictitious applicants.

2. Include the spreadsheet and bar chart with the results.

3. Write a one-page paper that describes the weighted decision matrix and summarizes the results.

4. Prepare a project charterusing attached project charter template (charter.doc) and examples of the project charters in Chapters 3 and 4 as guidelines. Again, assume that the project will take six months to complete and that the budget is $500,000. Assume that part of the approach is to select the project team as quickly as possible.

5. Prepare Change Requestusing the attached template for a change request form (change_request.doc). (Because people will request changes to the project, make sure that you have a good integrated change control process in place. You also want to address change requests as quickly as possible.)

6. Write a one-page short paper that describes how you plan to manage changes on this project in a timely manner. Explain who will be involved in making change control decisions, what paperwork or electronic systems will be used to collect and respond to changes, and other related issues.