Scenario

You have been asked to be the project manager for the development of an information technology project. The system to be developed will allow a large company to coordinate and maintain records of professional development of its employees. The company has over 30,000 employees in four sites: Florida, Colorado, Illinois, and Texas. The system must allow employees to locate and schedule professional development activities that are relevant to their positions. Sophisticated search capabilities are required, and the ability to add scheduled events to the employees’ calendars is desired. The system needs to support social networking to allow employees to determine who is attending conferences and events. This will promote fostering relationships and ensure coverage of important conferences.

Once an activity has been completed, employees will use the system to submit the documentation. The system should support notifications, allowing managers to receive notice whenever their direct reports have submitted documentation. The system should also notify employees if their deadlines to complete professional development requirements are approaching and are not yet satisfied.

The traditional or waterfall life cycle model uses project management to manage the development of a system through requirements, design, development, testing, and delivery. The phases are completed sequentially. Information technology (IT) projects have introduced alternative life cycles, such as the iterative or agile approach. Using the Internet, course materials, and the given scenario, answer the following questions 600 words.

• For the given scenario, which project management approach would you recommend?
  • Would you use a traditional approach or a type of agile approach?
  • Explain the reasons for your choice.
• When evaluating a proposal for acquisition and sourcing, are there considerations that are unique in the case of an IT project versus a non-IT project?
• If a project impacts the way that the company or organization conducts business, explain your approach for getting support from those that are impacted.