Essay: Management Of An Electronic Student Record System - Project Management Report.

The report is developed to focus on the analysis of a particular business scenario and manage the reduction of errors and issues while implementing the system during the project management. The topic will discuss the ways by which strategies are implemented for managing the risks during the project management and even provide a suitable and effective organizational structure for controlling the project effectively. Various tools and techniques will be used for planning the stages followed to complete the project, formulate the strategies for implementing changes and furthermore apply proper pricing and contract strategy too (Abelein and Paech 2012). The case scenario also illustrates the main objectives that are to be achieved such as management of internal and collaborative grants, external grants and consultancies, HM strategic grants and research council grants (Squ.edu.om 2017). 

The purpose of developing this report was to implement an electronic student record system and replace the existing paper works and documents managed for storing student related data and information. To manage the project and provide better services to the students, the project development went through various processes including the understanding of feasibility of the project, assessing the costs incurred and even gathering the necessary requirements for managing the project effectively. A group of team members were involved to make them work in coordination and as an unit for managing the project by breaking down the tasks and implementing the right electronic system for the management of students’ records with ease and efficacy too.

The business case scenario is focused on the management of an electronic system that controls the business operations and processes at Sultan Qaboos University. There were various issues associated with the management of the electronic system at the organisation, i.e., Electronic Student Records Systems or ESRS, which not only created difficulties to manage the student database but also hindered the time management during the accomplishment of project management outcomes. The issues should be overcome as soon as possible for changing the existing paper works and replace those with new electronic paper and documents’ management for sure that the students’ records are kept secured successfully (Alhawari et al. 2012).

Sultan Qaboos University is managed by the Muscat Governorate and manages the educational facilities for the students in Oman. It is a public University that selects candidates to become a part of the organisation after proper approval from the higher authorities after assessing the performances and skills of theirs. The organisation manages various research projects where the students’ details and other related information are stored with the use of Electronic Student Record System. Before that, the expenses were evaluated to make sure that that the management of project was done within he allocated budget (Allen et al. 2013).

Objectives

The present scenario revolves around the management of an Electronic Student Record System that handles the submission and storage of students’ records and other documents related to the information about students who wanted to study at the University. Due to multiple electronic systems, there has been data redundancy, which has deteriorated the database management capability and created issues during the storage and retrieval of data and information.

It is the duty of the manager of research department to implement an integrated electronic system for managing the records of students electronically and even maintain the databases where data and information are stored. To meet the business requirements, the electronic system would manage the materials and sources electronically rather than with the help of any existing paperwork and furthermore preserve the records of students electronically. This would also help in providing relevant references for the various sources of data and allow for enhancing the scope of research (Bharamagoudar, Geeta and Totad 2013).

The strategic values were maintained to ensure that the service users get the best quality services provided by the organisation and their needs could be fulfilled. This would allow for analysing the business issues and grab the scopes and opportunities to manage the value chains properly. By maintaining these values, it would be easy to approve the electronic system for the management of students’ records and even maintain consistency during the data base management related to the storage and retrieval of student data and information whenever needed without any complexity (Burke 2013). The issues like redundancy of data and not storing or retrieving the data could also be overcome. 

The main scopes and objectives of the project are to implement an effective electronic system, i.e., the Electronic Student Record System to ensure that the existing paperworks where students’ records are kept are replaced with new ones though electronically. This would also replace the existing paper related submissions and ensure that the submissions and management of publishing materials, documents, research project proposals and databases is possible electronically. The new system would also support distance learning for the students available for a wide range of courses and even provide online options for managing the registration, paying the cost of course, provide feedbacks and queries and make most of it by providing other options that are available for the students (Cabanillas et al. 2012). 

Table: Project activities

Task Mode	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors
Auto Scheduled	Research Management System Project	1139 days	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22
Auto Scheduled	Developing internal Grants Subsystem	263 days	Tue 12/26/17	Thu 12/27/18
Auto Scheduled	provide requirements	15 days	Tue 12/26/17	Mon 1/15/18
Auto Scheduled	Design system interface	15 days	Tue 1/16/18	Mon 2/5/18	2
Auto Scheduled	developing systems	150 days	Tue 2/6/18	Mon 9/3/18	3
Auto Scheduled	testing systems	50 days	Tue 9/4/18	Mon 11/12/18	4
Auto Scheduled	maintain issues	30 days	Tue 11/13/18	Mon 12/24/18	5
Auto Scheduled	deploy IG subsystems	3 days	Tue 12/25/18	Thu 12/27/18	6
Auto Scheduled	milestone 1	0 days	Thu 12/27/18	Thu 12/27/18	7
Auto Scheduled	Developing collaborative and strategic Grants Subsystem	210 days	Fri 12/28/18	Thu 10/17/19
Auto Scheduled	provide requirements	11 days	Fri 12/28/18	Fri 1/11/19	8
Auto Scheduled	design system interface	16 days	Mon 1/14/19	Mon 2/4/19	10
Auto Scheduled	developing systems	90 days	Tue 2/5/19	Mon 6/10/19	11
Auto Scheduled	Testing systems	30 days	Tue 6/11/19	Mon 7/22/19	12
Auto Scheduled	maintain issues	60 days	Tue 7/23/19	Mon 10/14/19	13
Auto Scheduled	deploy CL/HM subsystems	3 days	Tue 10/15/19	Thu 10/17/19	14
Auto Scheduled	milestone 2	0 days	Thu 10/17/19	Thu 10/17/19	15
Auto Scheduled	developing external and consultancies Grants subsystem	275 days	Fri 10/18/19	Thu 11/5/20
Auto Scheduled	provide requirements	16 days	Fri 10/18/19	Fri 11/8/19	16
Auto Scheduled	design system interface	26 days	Mon 11/11/19	Mon 12/16/19	18
Auto Scheduled	developing systems	150 days	Tue 12/17/19	Mon 7/13/20	19
Auto Scheduled	Testing systems	30 days	Tue 7/14/20	Mon 8/24/20	20
Auto Scheduled	maintain issues	50 days	Tue 8/25/20	Mon 11/2/20	21
Auto Scheduled	deploy EG/CR subsystems	3 days	Tue 11/3/20	Thu 11/5/20	22
Auto Scheduled	milestone 3	0 days	Thu 11/5/20	Thu 11/5/20	23
Auto Scheduled	developing publication and patent registration system	181 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 7/16/21
Auto Scheduled	provide requirements	16 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 11/27/20	24
Auto Scheduled	design system interface	15 days	Mon 11/30/20	Fri 12/18/20	26
Auto Scheduled	Develop publication sections for all categories	150 days	Mon 12/21/20	Fri 7/16/21	27
Auto Scheduled	milestone 4	0 days	Fri 7/16/21	Fri 7/16/21	28
Auto Scheduled		165 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 3/4/22
Auto Scheduled	Develop patent sections for all categories	60 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 10/8/21	29
Auto Scheduled	Testing systems	60 days	Mon 10/11/21	Fri 12/31/21	31
Auto Scheduled	maintenance and solving issues	30 days	Mon 1/3/22	Fri 2/11/22	32
Auto Scheduled	deploy Pub subsystems	15 days	Mon 2/14/22	Fri 3/4/22	33
Auto Scheduled	milestone 5	0 days	Fri 3/4/22	Fri 3/4/22	34
Auto Scheduled	Finalize System	45 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 5/6/22
Auto Scheduled	finalize deployment	10 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 3/18/22	8,16,24,35
Auto Scheduled	verify system	20 days	Mon 3/21/22	Fri 4/15/22	37
Auto Scheduled	publish the system	15 days	Mon 4/18/22	Fri 5/6/22	38
Auto Scheduled	milestone 6	0 days	Fri 5/6/22	Fri 5/6/22	39

The scopes of project is huge and it has created enough opportunities for Sultan Qaboos University to ensure that the registration of students, management of databases and submissions of paperwork are done in a more convenient way without using any paperwork instead. There is immense scope because not only the electronic system helps to manage the submissions of research documents electronically but also allows for handling the databases and ensure storage and retrieval of data and information securely (Díaz et al. 2015).

Scope

Manager – The manager of the project is considered as an important stakeholder because he is associated with the approval of the project considering the expenses that will be incurred along with distribution of tasks to the team leads who will manage the team members.

Employees - The employees here are mostly the individuals who have been associated with the development of the electronic system for the Sultan Qaboos University. The staffs must be skilled and knowledgeable to handle the entire case and make sure that the management of project was done properly. The purpose of the project management is to address the management of records and consider the archives though it is important to note that health related information of the students, information related to financial aspects and few other things will not be present (Dynarski, Hemelt and Hyman 2015).

Service users – The service users are mainly the college students whose records are kept stored in databases and managed. It is also important for the research management team and department to ensure storage and retrieval of data and information in the database properly and make sure that the implementation of the electronic student record system is successful.

Shareholders or investors -  These individuals mainly focus on the making of investments for ensuring that adequate amount of supplies and resources are available during the processes of manufacturing and implementation of the electronic student record system (Ermeling 2012).

The electronic student record system is an effective system for managing the records of students and even provides necessary information about the registration of students along with grading aspects, results of the students and the scores they have obtained. It is assumed that this electronic system would also be able to develop the schedules for the students and track their attendance, furthermore manage the other student related data and information within the University. The system is developed in such a manner that it does not become similar to the learning management system where the course materials, assignments and tests are also managed electronically (Fleming and Koppelman 2016).

Few limitations or constraints were the students could not register to the website of the university and online tests were often hindered due to slow internet connection. The database was also accessible to everyone, which should be prevented as well for ensuring that the data and information were kept secure and any kind of unauthorized access could be prevented.

• To increase the production level of the organisation and generate more revenue
• To provide world class educational facilities to the students and create a positive mindset for influencing their purchasing behaviors too
• To manage the database properly for making sure that the data and information are stored and retrieved properly
• To make sure that the registration of students are done properly and academic data like test results, grading, score and attendance of students is also recorded.

Project Activities

The key performance indicators must be aligned with the strategic goals, vision and mission of the organisation to focus on the value that should be delivered and understand the predefined needs and requirements of the service users. Few of the KPIs of the Sultan Qaboos University included client uptake, diversity of students, outcomes and financial sustainability. Prior to the implementation of the electronic system, the KPIs are research income, outcomes, student revenue, course enrolments, internal cohort mix, strength of brand, engagement of staffs, well being of students, etc (Giuffrida, Kuijsten and Tanenbaum 2012). The satisfaction of service users in terms of the kinds of services delivered is also considered as a major KPI that determines the performance of the organisation.  

The management of risks is associated with the identification of various issues, categorise those in respect of the degree of risk and negative impacts that can be created. The risk analysis and management helps in obtaining the accurate information about the risks, its sources and probable impacts (Sodhi, Son and Tang 2012).  Resource Plan

The resource plan is prepared to evaluate the various kinds of resources such as human resources, financial resources and gain an insight of the leadership followed within the organisation to manage the business operations and processes. It could help in identifying the resources that would be necessary for managing the implementation of the project and allow for strategic and sustainable investments all throughout. The resource planning also helps in managing the budgetary procedures according to the domestic and international operations and capital budgeting. This could allow for managing the annual budgetary process and at the same time create innovative solutions for enhancing the functionality of the electronic student record system at Sultan Qaboos University (Goldhaber, Liddle and Theobald 2013). With the utilization of this electronic system, various information about the students would be assessed, which could also provide better scopes for improving the customers’ services and ensure that the demands and expectations of theirs were fulfilled. 

Table: Project Resource plan

Resource Name

Type

Material Label

Initials

Group

Max. Units

Std. Rate

Ovt. Rate

Cost/Use

Accrue At

Base Calendar

Code

Cost

Project Manager

Work

P

100%

$10.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$13,120.00

System developer

Work

S

300%

$7.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$31,248.00

communication plan developer

Work

c

100%

$6.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$13,728.00

network manager

Work

n

100%

$8.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$6,720.00

testing engineers

Work

t

100%

$7.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$19,208.00

control engineer

Work

i

100%

$7.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$11,368.00

supervisor

Work

s

100%

$9.00/hr

$0.00/hr

$0.00

Prorated

Standard

$11,088.00

The RACI matrix is used to identify the various individuals involved with the management of the project in terms of roles, responsibilities and who have been held accountable, consulted and informed while managing the development and implementation of the electronic student record system (Garel 2013).

Table: Hardware and software components’ list

Resource Type	Resource Name	Duration Years	Quantity	Member
Hardware	Computer system	2 years 5 months	10	George  Motiar Adam Abdullah
Hardware	Information system technology	1 year 4 months	2
Hardware	Printers	3	10
Hardware	Display units	3	10
Software	Database management system SQL server	3	1
Software	Servers	3	2	Pervez James
Hardware	Printer	3 years 6 months	2

Sultan Qaboos University in Oman has utilized its financial and human resources properly to make sure that the implementation of the electronic student record system is successful and most of the outcomes are positive. This would not only improve the production level of the organisation but could also allow for keeping the various details, educational qualifications and skills of the students in terms of academic facilities within the database managed by the University with ease and effectiveness (Hwang and Ng 2013). 

Name	Start	Finish	Remaining Work
Project Manager	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22	1,312 hrs
System developer	Tue 1/16/18	Fri 5/6/22	4,464 hrs
communication plan developer	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22	2,288 hrs
network manager	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22	840 hrs
testing engineers	Tue 2/6/18	Fri 4/15/22	2,744 hrs
control engineer	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22	1,624 hrs
supervisor	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22	1,232 hrs

Hardware and Software components	Quantity	Cost	Total cost
Computer system	10	500 OMR	5000
Information system technology	2	2000 OMR	4000
Printers	10	200 OMR	2000
Display units	10	300 OMR	3000
Database management system SQL server	1	1500 OMR	1500
Servers	2	1800 OMR	3600
Printer	2	100 OMR	200
		Total cost of HW and SW components	15,772 OMR

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors	Resource Names	Cost
Research Management System Project	1139 days	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22			$106,480.00
Developing internal Grants Subsystem	263 days	Tue 12/26/17	Thu 12/27/18			$27,424.00
provide requirements	15 days	Tue 12/26/17	Mon 1/15/18		communication plan developer, control engineer, network manager, Project Manager, supervisor	$4,800.00
Design system interface	15 days	Tue 1/16/18	Mon 2/5/18	2	System developer	$840.00
developing systems	150 days	Tue 2/6/18	Mon 9/3/18	3	System developer, testing engineers	$16,800.00
testing systems	50 days	Tue 9/4/18	Mon 11/12/18	4	testing engineers	$2,800.00
maintain issues	30 days	Tue 11/13/18	Mon 12/24/18	5	control engineer	$1,680.00
deploy IG subsystems	3 days	Tue 12/25/18	Thu 12/27/18	6	control engineer, System developer, testing engineers	$504.00
milestone 1	0 days	Thu 12/27/18	Thu 12/27/18	7		$0.00
Developing collaborative and strategic Grants Subsystem	210 days	Fri 12/28/18	Thu 10/17/19			$13,776.00
provide requirements	11 days	Fri 12/28/18	Fri 1/11/19	8	communication plan developer, Project Manager, supervisor	$2,200.00
design system interface	16 days	Mon 1/14/19	Mon 2/4/19	10	System developer	$896.00
developing systems	90 days	Tue 2/5/19	Mon 6/10/19	11	System developer	$5,040.00
Testing systems	30 days	Tue 6/11/19	Mon 7/22/19	12	testing engineers	$1,680.00
maintain issues	60 days	Tue 7/23/19	Mon 10/14/19	13	control engineer	$3,360.00
deploy CL/HM subsystems	3 days	Tue 10/15/19	Thu 10/17/19	14	communication plan developer, Project Manager, supervisor	$600.00
milestone 2	0 days	Thu 10/17/19	Thu 10/17/19	15		$0.00
developing external and consultancies Grants subsystem	275 days	Fri 10/18/19	Thu 11/5/20			$18,160.00
provide requirements	16 days	Fri 10/18/19	Fri 11/8/19	16	communication plan developer, Project Manager, supervisor	$3,200.00
design system interface	26 days	Mon 11/11/19	Mon 12/16/19	18	System developer	$1,456.00
developing systems	150 days	Tue 12/17/19	Mon 7/13/20	19	System developer	$8,400.00
Testing systems	30 days	Tue 7/14/20	Mon 8/24/20	20	testing engineers	$1,680.00
maintain issues	50 days	Tue 8/25/20	Mon 11/2/20	21	control engineer	$2,800.00
deploy EG/CR subsystems	3 days	Tue 11/3/20	Thu 11/5/20	22	Project Manager, supervisor, System developer	$624.00
milestone 3	0 days	Thu 11/5/20	Thu 11/5/20	23		$0.00
developing publication and patent registration system	181 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 7/16/21			$11,240.00
provide requirements	16 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 11/27/20	24	communication plan developer, Project Manager, supervisor	$3,200.00
design system interface	15 days	Mon 11/30/20	Fri 12/18/20	26	System developer	$840.00
Develop publication sections for all categories	150 days	Mon 12/21/20	Fri 7/16/21	27	communication plan developer	$7,200.00
milestone 4	0 days	Fri 7/16/21	Fri 7/16/21	28		$0.00
	165 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 3/4/22			$26,400.00
Develop patent sections for all categories	60 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 10/8/21	29	communication plan developer, Project Manager, supervisor, System developer	$15,360.00
Testing systems	60 days	Mon 10/11/21	Fri 12/31/21	31	testing engineers	$3,360.00
maintenance and solving issues	30 days	Mon 1/3/22	Fri 2/11/22	32	control engineer, network manager	$3,600.00
deploy Pub subsystems	15 days	Mon 2/14/22	Fri 3/4/22	33	network manager, Project Manager, supervisor, System developer	$4,080.00
milestone 5	0 days	Fri 3/4/22	Fri 3/4/22	34		$0.00
Finalize System	45 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 5/6/22			$9,480.00
finalize deployment	10 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 3/18/22	8,16,24,35	network manager, Project Manager	$1,440.00
verify system	20 days	Mon 3/21/22	Fri 4/15/22	37	network manager, testing engineers	$2,400.00
publish the system	15 days	Mon 4/18/22	Fri 5/6/22	38	communication plan developer, control engineer, network manager, Project Manager, supervisor, System developer	$5,640.00
milestone 6	0 days	Fri 5/6/22	Fri 5/6/22	39		$0.00

Table: Total estimated cost based on the activities

Communication plan is necessary not only to make all the project management team members to become aware of the ways of forming and implementing the electronic student record system but also to ensure that the various stakeholders can communicate with each other to manage the project functionality. With the communication plan, it would be easy for the stakeholders to communicate with each other and discuss the plans and approaches followed to implement the right electronic system for managing the students’ related information and data and keep those secure to improve the educational facilities within the University (Kerzner 2013).

The communication plan is developed for the purpose of discussing the issues faced during the implementation of the electronic system and even reduce the chances of errors while implementing the electronic student record system. It is often seen that due to duplication of data and information related to the students, redundancy occurs. The University previously used papers and documents to keep the information of students stored there but with the new and innovative electronic system, it would be easy and more convenient to record the students’ information. It could be accessed anytime and anywhere as well as retrieve the information whenever required for ensuring proper management of records within the databases (Khan and Quraishi 2014).

One of the most effective way of managing communication between the team members and stakeholders is Email and also through live video conference. The manager of project must take this attempt of engaging all the individuals and create a proper environment by which the communication would be possible among them. This would create ease for making the project pass through the development and implementation phases accurately.

To make a project successful, both internal and external communication are essential and it could not only facilitate the collaboration between various stakeholders but also might improve the overall structure of the organisation (Larson and Gray 2013). It is quite effective for making the project management successful and ensure that the implementation of electronic student record system at Sultan Qaboos University.

Table: Directory of internal communication

Name	Roles	Contact details (Email id)	Extension	Purpose
Abhi Kumar	Manager of the project	abhi_senior [email protected]	2468	Approval of project, understanding the expenses and resource requirements for the management of project
George Phelps	System developer	[email protected]	5167	Understanding the requirements and creating overview of the system to proceed with the project accomplishment
Daniel Christian	Communication plan developer	[email protected]	2989	Managing the communication procedures and arranging meetings and conferences for people to discuss the project related matters (Leach 2014).
Motiar Abdullah	System developer	[email protected]	4463	Understanding the requirements and creating overview of the system to proceed with the project accomplishment
Adam Scott	System developer	[email protected]	4577	Understanding the requirements and creating overview of the system to proceed with the project accomplishment
Michelle Paine	Supervisor	[email protected]	5925	Supervises and monitors the performances of staffs and ensures that progress is done properly all throughout (Martinelli and Milosevic 2016)
Abdullah Rashid	Network management	[email protected]	4238	Manages the network and enables proper connectivity for making the development, testing and implementation of the electronic system deliver good outcomes.
Pervez Gulati	Testing and implementation	[email protected]	1658	The white box and black testing are done.
James Mcavoy	Management of servers	[email protected]	3310	The servers are managed to make the database, mail, printing services function properly (Martinsuo, Korhonen and Laine 2014).

Table : External directory of the suppliers

Name	Role	Email	Contact details (Phone no.)	Purpose
Sky Orbits, Muscat, Oman	Providers of the computer systems, database servers, printers, etc.	[email protected]	28645539	The orders were placed by Sultan Qaboos University which had been considered and the computer parts and systems were delivered for making the project management successful and noteworthy.
Masoor Afzal	Investors	[email protected]	23156682	Made investments for the fruitful accomplishment of the project.

To make sure that the project is managed properly, it is important to make sure that meetings and conferences are managed to manage communication between the project team members with ease and effectiveness (Miller 2013).

Table: Meeting plan

Meetings	Individuals involved	Purpose	Years
Meeting arranged before the development of project	Each and every individuals are involved with proper guidance and analyzing the system requirements by the project manager	Making plans for creating the overview of the project and understanding the feasibility of the project too. Approval of project is done here by the manager.	Jan 2017 – March 2017
Creating an overview of the system	System developer, supervisor, communication developer, network analyst, database and server management individuals	To evaluate the positive outcomes that could be generated by implementing the electronic student record system	March 2017 – Dec 2017
Completion of development of system infrastructure	Project manager, supervisor, system developers, testing individuals	Approval by the supervisor and analyzing whether the resources are available or not to develop the electronic system	Jan 2018
Designing the database	System developers, database ,management teams, server technicians	To keep the records of students properly and make sure that redundancy does not occur	Dec 2018
Management of network servers	Tester, system developers, project manager, supervisor	The networks are checked to evaluate the ways by which networks could be established and the system could be implemented accurately (Mir and Pinnington 2014).	Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
Integrating all the hardware and software components within the electronic system	Hardware and software application testers, system testing engineers, supervisor	To generate good outcomes after implementing the electronic system, it is important to combine the various hardware and software components and manage proper functioning to keep the records of students	Jan 2021- November 2022
Finally accomplishing or finishing the project	All the project team members are included in the final meeting with the accomplishment of project	All the team members are engaged to check whether the system is working properly or not. The project manager is also involved because he approves the system and checks whether it can be implemented within the organisation’s workplace or not (Rodrigo et al. 2012).	Dec 2022

Table: Communication matrix

Stakeholders	Documents provided	Format	Contact name	Due date
Project team members	Report of the project status	Project intranet	George	First month of 2021
Supervisor	Progress of the project	Hard copy	Michelle	First month of 2021
System developers	Status of project	Hard copy	Motiar	First month of 2021
Information technology staffs	Status of project	Hard copy	Adam	First month of 2021
Coders and programmers	Specifications of software and applications	Email	James	First month of 2021
Trainers	Training and communication plan document	Email	Abdullah	First month of 2021
Database and server management staffs	Database report and network servers	Hard copy	Pervez	First month of 2021

Based on the task list, it could be understood that focus groups manage the targets and their needs which were needed to be fulfilled with the implementation of the electronic student record system. The surveys are done as well while the research analysis and evaluation are done to create varied options for designing the electronic system properly. Marketing strategies and plans are developed to focus on marketing the products and services and ensure that the system manages the records of students accurately (Sodhi, Son and Tang 2012).

The milestones are considered as project deliverables that are evaluated to bring out the most positive outcomes by implementing the electronic system within the University. If the milestones are not reached properly, then it can result in slowing down the progress of project and deteriorating the project outcomes. The milestones are reached based on the resources and how those have been allocated for making the project management effective (Squ.edu.om 2017).

To evaluate the critical path is an important aspect of managing the project and determine the sequence followed for managing the network activities for proper flow of data and information during the project management. The critical path helps in determining the shortest time taken for completing the project effectively (Subramaniam and Hassan 2013).

Table: Critical tasks or activities

Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish
Research Management System Project	1139 days	Tue 12/26/17	Fri 5/6/22
Developing internal Grants Subsystem	263 days	Tue 12/26/17	Thu 12/27/18
provide requirements	15 days	Tue 12/26/17	Mon 1/15/18
Design system interface	15 days	Tue 1/16/18	Mon 2/5/18
developing systems	150 days	Tue 2/6/18	Mon 9/3/18
testing systems	50 days	Tue 9/4/18	Mon 11/12/18
maintain issues	30 days	Tue 11/13/18	Mon 12/24/18
deploy IG subsystems	3 days	Tue 12/25/18	Thu 12/27/18
milestone 1	0 days	Thu 12/27/18	Thu 12/27/18
Developing collaborative and strategic Grants Subsystem	210 days	Fri 12/28/18	Thu 10/17/19
milestone 2	0 days	Thu 10/17/19	Thu 10/17/19
developing external and consultancies Grants subsystem	275 days	Fri 10/18/19	Thu 11/5/20
provide requirements	16 days	Fri 10/18/19	Fri 11/8/19
design system interface	26 days	Mon 11/11/19	Mon 12/16/19
developing systems	150 days	Tue 12/17/19	Mon 7/13/20
Testing systems	30 days	Tue 7/14/20	Mon 8/24/20
maintain issues	50 days	Tue 8/25/20	Mon 11/2/20
deploy EG/CR subsystems	3 days	Tue 11/3/20	Thu 11/5/20
milestone 3	0 days	Thu 11/5/20	Thu 11/5/20
developing publication and patent registration system	181 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 7/16/21
provide requirements	16 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 11/27/20
design system interface	15 days	Mon 11/30/20	Fri 12/18/20
Develop publication sections for all categories	150 days	Mon 12/21/20	Fri 7/16/21
milestone 4	0 days	Fri 7/16/21	Fri 7/16/21
	165 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 3/4/22
Develop patent sections for all categories	60 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 10/8/21
Testing systems	60 days	Mon 10/11/21	Fri 12/31/21
maintenance and solving issues	30 days	Mon 1/3/22	Fri 2/11/22
deploy Pub subsystems	15 days	Mon 2/14/22	Fri 3/4/22
milestone 5	0 days	Fri 3/4/22	Fri 3/4/22
Finalize System	45 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 5/6/22
finalize deployment	10 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 3/18/22
verify system	20 days	Mon 3/21/22	Fri 4/15/22
publish the system	15 days	Mon 4/18/22	Fri 5/6/22
milestone 6	0 days	Fri 5/6/22	Fri 5/6/22

Table: Float/slack, baseline and Slipping tasks

Total Slack	Baseline Start	Baseline Finish
0 days	Tue 11/3/20	Thu 11/5/20
0 days	Thu 11/5/20	Thu 11/5/20
0 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 7/16/21
0 days	Fri 11/6/20	Fri 11/27/20
0 days	Mon 11/30/20	Fri 12/18/20
0 days	Mon 12/21/20	Fri 7/16/21
0 days	Fri 7/16/21	Fri 7/16/21
0 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 3/4/22
0 days	Mon 7/19/21	Fri 10/8/21
0 days	Mon 10/11/21	Fri 12/31/21
0 days	Mon 1/3/22	Fri 2/11/22
0 days	Mon 2/14/22	Fri 3/4/22
0 days	Fri 3/4/22	Fri 3/4/22
0 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 5/6/22
0 days	Mon 3/7/22	Fri 3/18/22
0 days	Mon 3/21/22	Fri 4/15/22
0 days	Mon 4/18/22	Fri 5/6/22
0 days	Fri 5/6/22	Fri 5/6/22

Most of the tasks that are present during the project management have been critical activities and so there is no slack experienced. Due to this, there is no need for a change management plan.

Contracts are agreed between the two parties for agreeing to the context of managing the project and ensure that both the parties obtain good results in terms of profit. Investments are done and all the resources are gathered with the approval of the project manager so that the project progresses properly and the most effective outcomes are generated easily (Unger et al. 2012).

The pricing strategies are used to assume the budget and cost that might be incurred while managing the project. The pricing strategies are also followed to make sure that the resources are obtained at the right prices and the entire project management does not exceed the allocated budget or go beyond the time frame allocated (Eskerod and Huemann 2013).

Reflection and Conclusion

The most important thing that I have learnt from the report is to manage the various procedures associated with the management of a project effectively. I understood that not only a single individual can manage a project, but it requires a proper team consisting of skilled and knowledgeable project management staffs to work in coordination and make the implementation of the electronic system successful and noteworthy. The report was developed to focus on the development of an electronic student record system at Sultan Qaboos University and go through the various processes for keeping the records of students stored as well as retrieve those whenever needed. To undertake the project and make it successful, multiple individuals have been involved for managing the different stages all through the project management. The entire project had been completed within 4 years and the workers were assigned with tasks properly for making them perform efficiently and ensure the project derives good outcomes. 

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