Group 04 Nacor Industries RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System
|
NAME |
POSITION |
|
Jose Eugenio Quesada |
PROJMAN Professor |
NAME |
POSITION |
|
Mr. Alvin C. Limpin |
Project Adviser |
NAME |
|
Ruth R. Morallos |
|
Allan Vincent Olayta Nefalar |
|
Kieyl De Castro Ponce |
|
Patrick Alvarez Cortez |
|
Vincent Ablanido Nacor |
|
Bryan Denylle Geneta |
APC, being an IT focused school, has a need for a unit/department/group who would take care of IT equipment and get it ready for classes. The group "prepared" the IT equipment in the back office without needing to involve the students and the faculty. The objective was to keep the IT facilities ready for use during classes and practically anytime needed.
ITRO mainly maintains IT-involved equipment, so knowing how computers work was very important. The same is true in making sure software was always updated, which includes license management and maintaining software compatibility. The ITRO also plays a crucial role in managing costs, making sure the software gets appropriate hardware support to run it.
ITRO mainly maintains IT-involved equipment, so knowing how computers work was very important. The same is true in making sure software was always updated, which includes license management and maintaining software compatibility. The ITRO also plays a crucial role in managing costs, making sure the software gets appropriate hardware support to run it.
Aside from these main tasks for ITRO, here are also some of the specific works that is managed by this department:
- - APC Portal handling
- - ID making
- - Network ITRO Administration
- - ITRO Administrative technological issues
- - Computer hardware issues
- - Computer laboratories issues
- - Cloud laboratories
- - Software Development and maintenance
In summary, the ITRO is the team who makes sure APC's mission/vision statements and plans are achieved.
Project: RAMS Corner – ITRO Ticketing Service System For the betterment of the ITRO and the whole school as well the team offers to create a web-based application that would make use of ticketing method similar to that of Discord and other outsourcing companies—to be used on any browser accessible through a desktop computer or a laptop—that would not only help the students and teachers get an equal chance to be given audience by the ITRO, but also to provide automated answers to frequently-asked-questions through a dedicated Knowledge Base that would be done by asking the ITRO about their clients’ commonly-asked questions before the development phase. This will make self-troubleshooting easier and much more convenient. Furthermore, the ITRO as Admins could set the prioritization for certain emails based on how they see it in terms of urgency. This way, those who need urgent help would not find themselves lost waiting for a reply with their hardware/software issues left unattended. The goal is to have the system run smoothly with all functions intact, during the early development stages, until fully rolling it out after polishing the prototype that would be approved. So that at least two or three people from each classroom could report immediately to the ITRO if they happen to need assistance.
The Asia Pacific College ITRO Department lacks a system that would help them address the school’s technical-related problems. They only use email system which oftentimes. ITRO personnel tend to miss out on the students, teachers, or staff emails regarding the problem they encountered. This might lead to a bigger problem since there are problems that need attention and action.
The Nacor Industries’ RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System will make a significant change in the ITRO Department. Some of the changes that will immediately take effect is the current system that they are using.
Tools:
Once the RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System is up and running. It will replace the old email system that the Department is currently using. This will require training for the ITRO personnel because the software is new and fresh. The training will provide much smoother work as they will navigate each button and functions continuously and they won’t need to guess the functions of a specific button.
Processes:
The new system made will boost the ITRO’s productivity as the system will ask its users for full details of the problem they encountered. This will reduce the time of the personnel trying to figure out what the users are trying to convey. It will reduce the manual assigning of tickets as the system will automatically assign personnel to resolve the problem.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The department is divided into two groups. One that handles all hardware-related problems and another for all software-related problems. With the new system, all the ITRO personnel can focus on the fields of their expertise. In this way, the job gets to be done in a short time as the personnel who handle the problem know what they are doing resulting in a smooth resolution for the users.
Hardware and Software:
The department is divided into two groups. One that handles all hardware-related problems and another for all software-related problems. With the new system, all the ITRO personnel can focus on the fields of their expertise. In this way, the job gets to be done in a short time as the personnel who handle the problem know what they are doing resulting in a smooth resolution for the users.
The department is divided into two groups. One that handles all hardware-related problems and another for all software-related problems. With the new system, all the ITRO personnel can focus on the fields of their expertise. In this way, the job gets to be done in a short time as the personnel who handle the problem know what they are doing resulting in a smooth resolution for the users.
Phase 1:
- The development team would pull a handful of the existing accounts within the project stakeholders through their APC outlook emails for isolated testing purposes.
- If the test cases were all satisfactory, then the backend developer would proceed to pull all existing accounts and build their own accounts with pre-determined credentials to be modified later by each of the stakeholders and fill the Knowledge Base with past issues raised and solved by the ITRO.
- With the acknowledgement of the ITRO Head, Mr. Jojo Castillo, the ITRO are encouraged to promote the newly developed web-application by informing their clients of its existence through pre-established communication channels such as their APC emails or through a formal press release.
- With the acknowledgement of the ITRO Head, Mr. Jojo Castillo, the ITRO are encouraged to promote the newly developed web-application by informing their clients of its existence through pre-established communication channels such as their APC emails or through a formal press release.
RAMS Corner Ticketing System is a web-based application that would make use of a ticketing method similar to that of Discord and other outsourcing companies that would not only help the students and teachers get an equal chance to be given audience by the ITRO, but also to provide automated questions to frequently-asked-questions through a dedicated knowledge base that would be done by surveying them before the development phase. Making troubleshooting easier and much more convenient.
The business objectives for this project are to direct support of our team’s strategic plan to provide an alternative work environment for the ITRO and improve their workflow efficiency.
- -Complete implementation of the RAMS Corner Ticketing System within the next 90 days (about 3 months) to replace the current email-based system.
- -Shorten time duration of ITRO’s interactions with their clients by 85% after the app deployment.
- -Minimize the number of inquiries that does not reach the ITRO by at least 70%—within the next month after the full app deployment.
The objectives which mutually support the milestones and deliverables for this project have been identified. In order to achieve success on the ISA project, the following objectives must be met within the designated time and budget allocations:
- -Finish the improvement of the app’s user interface within the next 50 days (about 1 and a half months)
- -Retrieve all the necessary data of the ITRO and their clients for the database within the next 60 days (about 2 months)
- -Present a working prototype with at least 85% of its functions realized within the next 50 days (about 1 month and 2 weeks)
- -Present the beta version of the application with all its functions intact within the next 100 days (about 3 and a half months)
- -Conduct an isolated deployment of the application within the next 100 days (about 3 and a half months)
- -Deploy the application for the use of ITRO and their clients within the next 120 days (about 4 months)
Listed below are the team’s project assumptions revolving regarding the deployment of RAMS Corner Ticketing System.
- The ITRO, as well as their clients have access to the internet through APC RAMS Wi-Fi (or personal data/ISP) along with the necessary devices to use the web application.
- The ITRO Staff would be trained in using the new web application.
- The web application will be developed without any major technical issues or roadblocks.
- The web-app will be deployed by the client using their resources with sufficient processing power, memory, and storage.
- The web application will be developed within the given timeline.
- The APC faculty and students would utilize the new system instead of the email-based reporting system.
- The ITRO would properly launch and promote the new system.
- The email notification system will work without any issues.
Listed below are the possible project constraints revolving around RAMS Corner’s design and implementation which involves—but are not limited to--the following:
- Data Privacy
- Upon takeover, the ITRO would be the one fully responsible for the web-application, and any other authorization regarding the APC faculty and the user’s credentials.
- Deployment Budget
- The ITRO would be the ones in charge of the system’s deployment within their budget, along with any other preceding financial needs that the app might incur.
- Manpower / Workforce
- The web-application has been made with the limited manpower that the ITRO currently has, however, their lack of workforce should be dealt with to have more hands-on deck to ensure that there would always be an eye out to see the updates within the system.
- Training / System Migration
- The ITRO staff are bound to learn and familiarize themselves with the new system to utilize it to its fullest extent along with its features and functionalities.
Summary Milestone Schedule |
|
Project Milestone |
Target Date |
Project Idea |
03/24/2022 ) |
Project Proposal Approval |
05/12/2022 |
Project Management Plan Approval and Sponsor Acceptance |
07/11/2022 |
System Design Approval |
07/11/2022 |
Low/High-Fidelity Wireframe Approval |
12/13/2023 |
Verified Use Case Requirements |
12/13/2023 |
Successful Testing |
08/24/2023 |
Discovery and Feedback |
09/13/2023 |
Table 3 Summary Milestone Schedule per Phases
A. The ITRO follows the following mission and objectives for each of the ITRO sub-department:
-
Objectives of the Infrastructure Team:
- Provide IT hardware, cloud services, technical support services, where and when needed by the members of the APC Communality
- Maintain the equipment ready for use by everyone.
-
Objectives of the Development Team:
- Develop software needed by the organization for its efficient operations.
- Maintain these applications to go with the times including any process changes.
- -Mostly, it is the growing trend and increase in volume of the demand for cloud-based technologies.
- -People: ITRO only has a few staff. These staff are highly skilled in terms of technology handling.
- -Process: Follows specific receive-process-deliver steps in completing a request/solving a problem. No data gathering tools are used for better decision-making.
- -Technology: Equipped with latest technology tools
- -Launch an app that is specifically used to manage the problems and inquiries of APC Community
- -Lower the requests/inquiries that are frequently asked to the ITRO by 10% very year
- -Increase the percentage of the people who are accommodated by 20% within a year
- -Keep track of the interaction between ITRO and its clients as a basis for decision-making and for record-keeping
- -Develop a web application that is accessible both in desktop, laptop, or smartphone, with or without connectivity issues, with an uptime of 95% a year
- -Include a library for solutions as a feature of the web app to lower the percentage of receiving redundant request
- -Create Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the problems/request raised to the ITRO according to its impact and severity to an individual, a group of individuals or the whole APC Community
- -Data analytics
The cost and benefits section will provide an overview of the analysis of the expenditure versus the benefits that the ITRO can incur from the RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System Project. The expected primary benefits will include work efficiency, transparency, accountability, and improved customer service.
Listed below are the identified specific intangible benefits that the ITRO can gain from this project:
- Efficient Issue Management: RAMS Corner will allow the users to submit their issues or requests, and the ITRO Staff can prioritize and address them accordingly. This ensures that all requests are properly attended to in a timely manner.
- Streamlined Communication: RAMS Corner will have centralized communication between the APC Residents and the ITRO. Clients can submit tickets with detailed information about their issues, and ITRO Staff can respond and provide updates within the system. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails or phone calls (in which they are currently using), making communication more streamlined and reducing the chances of miscommunication.
- Accountability and Transparency: Using the report generation of RAMS Corner, it will become easier to track the progress of each request, be it by the status, prioritization, or the person assigned to the ticket. The system records all actions taken on a ticket, including who is working on it and when updates were made. This improves accountability within the ITRO and allows ITRO Head to have a clear overview of the team's workload and performance.
- Efficient Problem Resolution: By having an automated categorization and prioritization of issues based on their severity or impact, the ITRO can set service level agreements (SLAs) for different types of tickets, ensuring that critical issues are resolved immediately. This helps in managing resources efficiently and ensures that IT Staffs can focus on resolving issues effectively.
- Knowledge Base Creation: Over time, from the ITRO’s current system (the email-based), ITRO has accumulated a wealth of information about common IT problems raised by APC Residents as well as their solutions. This can become a foundation for the knowledge base that can be used to create a library of self-troubleshooting articles or FAQs, which can be made available to both the ITRO and their clients as a resource for troubleshooting common issues. This reduces the workload on ITRO staff and empowers users to find answers to their queries independently.
- Data-driven Insights: By using the data analytics collected within the RAMS Corner, the ITRO Head can gain insights as to what are the recurring issues, service trends, and resource requirements. This information can be used to identify areas for improvement, optimize allocation of resources, and make data-driven decisions for enhancing the ITRO Services.
- Customer Satisfaction: RAMS Corner enhances customer satisfaction by providing an efficient customer support experience. Clients receive timely updates on the progress of their tickets, and ITRO Staff can provide better support by having access to complete ticket histories, knowledge base, and related information. This will allow them to resolve issues faster and more effectively that leads to improved customer satisfaction.
- Planning, analysis and design, development, and implementation cost is approximately PHP 870,397.58
- During the testing phase, the team will need hosting services, which will cost PHP 3,948.00. Although this can be lowered or removed if the ITRO will use in-house servers in the actual deployment
Within the entirety of the timespan attributed to the development of the project, it is important to note that the only expenses that the client—APC-ITRO—would consider will only be the salaries for each member, along with the hosting and security expenses, and the depreciation expenses. Utilities and devices used will be made from the project team’s own devices, and the work environment will be from their own homes, if not within the premises of Asia Pacific College, making it more cost-effective and beneficial for the client as opposed to hiring other professionals nor subscribing to pre-existing services available online.
RAMS Corner Ticketing System is a web application that aims to modernize and introduce a more efficient and manageable workflow for the ITRO to replace their current email-based reporting system. The software to be developed could be accessed by them, and their clients through the use of any device supporting browsers with a web/desktop interface.
The business objectives for this project are to direct support of our team’s strategic plan to provide an alternative work environment for the ITRO and improve their workflow efficiency.
- -Complete implementation of the RAMS Corner Ticketing System within the next 120 days to replace the current email-based system.
- -Shorten time duration of ITRO’s interactions with their clients by 85% after the app deployment
- -Minimize the number of inquiries that does not reach the ITRO by at least 70%—within the next 4 month after the full app deployment
RAMS Corner Ticketing System is a web-based application that would make use of a ticketing method similar to that of Discord and other outsourcing companies that would not only help the students and teachers get an equal chance to be given audience by the ITRO, but also to provide automated answers to frequently-asked-questions through a dedicated knowledge base that would be done by surveying them before the development phase. Making troubleshooting easier and much more convenient.
The objectives which mutually support the milestones and deliverables for this project have been identified. In order to achieve success on the ISA project, the following objectives must be met within the designated time and budget allocations:
- -Finish the development of the app’s user interface within the next 30 days
- -Retrieve all the necessary data of the ITRO and their clients for the database within the next 30 days
- -Present a working prototype with at least 95% of its functions realized within the next 35 days
- -Present the beta version of the application with all of its functions intact within the next 70 days
- -Conduct an isolated deployment of the application within the next 80 days
- -Deploy the application for the use of ITRO and their clients within the next 120 days
This project must meet the following list of requirements in order to achieve success.
- -The application must be tested by the team within the vicinity of Asia Pacific College with the presence of the project beneficiary.
- -Solution must be implemented without disruption to operations
The following constraints pertain to the ISA project:
- -All security hardware and software must be compatible with ITRO’s current platforms
- -Every work and tasks to be filled upon the application’s development
- -All hardware and software accessible to the team are limited only to the ones they own themselves or those readily available at the Asia Pacific College
The following is a list of assumptions. Upon agreement and signature of this document, all parties acknowledge that these assumptions are true and correct:
- -This project has the full support of the project beneficiary, stakeholders, and all parties associated
- -The purpose of this project will be communicated throughout the ITRO prior to deployment
RAMS Corner Ticketing System will be designed, developed, and tested by Nacor Industries to deliver an alternative working environment for the ITRO to modernize and improve their workflow efficiency. All project-related work will be independent of daily and ongoing operations and all required testing will be done either within the APC school grounds or the team’s individual workplaces. Nacor Industries would also not be obliged to comply with or entertain all changes made or requested for the application after the end of the said subject’s duration, unless done so voluntarily.
The following denotes all the risks that have been identified upon the possible implementation of the RAMS Corner Ticketing System. To ensure the success of the project and to minimize the threat and possibilities of any of the following to occur, the team will be sure to mitigate and create an effort to minimize its effects.
- -Potential disruption to operations during solution deployment
- -Possible hardware/software specific bugs that may occur upon system access
- -Incompatibilities with the pre-installed software/hardware within the ITRO and their clients
- -Probable refusal or lack of knowledge of some ITRO Clients about the newly implemented system
The following deliverables must be met upon the successful deployment of the RAMS Corner Ticketing System. Any changes to these deliverables must be approved by the project beneficiary.
- -Fully deployed and accessible web application for ITRO and their clients
- -Technical reports for the first weeks of deployment must be made to ensure the integrity of the web-application
- -Post-deployment surveys would also be given to the ITRO and their clients to assess the satisfaction rate as well as to receive any feedback regarding the concerns and recommendations regarding the application.
The project Summary Milestone Schedule is presented below. As requirements are more clearly defined this schedule may be modified. Any changes will be communicated through project status meetings by the project manager.
</tr> </tr>Summary Milestone Schedule |
|
Project Milestone |
Target Date |
Project Idea |
03/24/2022 ) |
Project Proposal Approval |
05/12/2022 |
Project Management Plan Approval and Sponsor Acceptance |
07/11/2022 |
System Design Approval |
07/11/2022 |
Low/High-Fidelity Wireframe Approval |
12/13/2023 |
Verified Use Case Requirements |
12/13/2023 |
Successful Testing Release 1 |
07/31/2023 |
Successful Testing Release 2 |
08/03/2023 |
Successful Testing Release 3 |
08/07/2023 |
Successful Integration Testing |
08/11/2023 |
Successful User Acceptance Testing |
08/15/2023 |
Successful Performance Testing |
08/17/2023 |
Successful Production Readiness Testing |
08/22/2023 |
Successful Parallel Testing |
08/24/2023 |
Discovery and Feedback |
09/13/2023 |
The image below pertains to the detailed summary of the budget allotted for the RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System. This includes the proposed budget for labor, hardware, hosting, and unit costs. This budget is necessary for the completion of the project.
Figure 3: RAMS Corner Budget Summary – Laptop Depreciation Cost
Figure 4: RAMS Corner Budget Summary - Labor Cost/Unit Cost
Figure 5: RAMS Corner Budget Summary - Estimated Project Cost
RAMS Corner Ticketing System’s success will be achieved when fully fleshed-out software is published and is installed within the devices of the ITRO Office and their clientele within the time and cost constraints indicated in this charter. To further assess the success of the project, post-deployment surveys would be done in order to gauge the effectivity of the solution, along with any other possible recommendations or suggestions that might be useful for the betterment of the system which would be determined by the Project’s Beneficiary, Mr. Jojo Castillo, the ITRO Head, who will authorize the completion of the project.
The Project Sponsor is the one responsible for the initiation and the funding of the whole project. Meanwhile, the responsibility of the Project Manager is the overall planning, execution, and project delivery, all according to how the project should run based on the Project Management Plan. The Scrum Master will be the one to facilitate the execution of the Agile methodology used in the Project Lifecycle. Lastly, the documentation team is the group responsible for maintaining the project documentation – which includes the meeting minutes, plans, technical documentation, and any other relevant records. Documentation Team, together with the Project Sponsor, Project Manager, and Scrum Master must ensure that all documentation is up to date, organized, and accessible by all the Stakeholders. Any changes, updates, and approvals should be included in the writings and be signed mainly by the Project Sponsor and Project Manager.
The lifecycle approach that the team is using for this project is the hybrid of Waterfall Methodology and Agile Methodology. Waterfall Methodology is utilized to make sure that the project development follows specific steps that are within the budget all through out until the project completion. On the other hand, Agile is utilized to make sure that the completion of steps from Waterfall will be iterated and discussed with the stakeholders by two-week sprints. In this way, the team will have visible deliverables where the stakeholders can give periodic suggestions or recommendations for alterations and approvals, thus, will help a more efficient and effective use of resources available.
This methodology will follow these steps:
- Initiating the Project
- Planning
- Systems Analysis and Detailed Designing
- System Prototyping and Development
- Testing
- Deployment and Control
- Closeout
- The web-app is built using Laravel framework.
- The web-app utilized MySQL for the database to store and retrieve data from user profiles and ticket contents.
- The accounts would be pulled from the pre-existing pool of credentials of the Asia Pacific College through their Microsoft APC email accounts.
- Microsoft Outlook would be the primary email service used by the system’s emailing notification feature.
- The web-app is built upon a Microsoft Windows-based system but can be run and accessed on any desktop or mobile device with any operating system.
- The data processed within the system include—but are not limited to—user credentials, ticket contents, KB contents, and messages sent within each ticket per update.
- The web-app serves as an extension of the ITRO to promote digitalizing their processes.
- There are no specific implementation constraints identified.
- The data will be held privately by the ITRO and could only be shared within the premises and authorization of their office.
The Stakeholder Management Strategy for the project is a crucial aspect of effective project management. It involves identifying and engaging with all relevant stakeholders to ensure their interests, concerns, and expectations are considered and addressed throughout the project's lifecycle. In this section, we will discuss the goals and objectives of the Stakeholder Management Strategy and highlight its significance in project success.
Proper stakeholder management is essential as it helps in gaining support and buy-in from stakeholders, while also proactively addressing any potential resistance, conflict, or competing objectives. By actively involving stakeholders, we can minimize risks and maximize project success by aligning their interests with the project's objectives.
In this section, we will outline the key goals and objectives of the Stakeholder Management Strategy, which will serve as a guiding framework for effectively managing stakeholders throughout the project's duration.
Strategies that could be implemented to improve the stakeholder management for the RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System:
- Communicate regularly and transparently: The team Nacor Industries will establish an open and transparent communication channel with stakeholders. Provide regular updates on project progress, risks, and changes. Be clear, honest, and consistent in communication to build trust and maintain positive relationships with the stakeholders.
- Involve stakeholders in decision-making: Involving stakeholders in the decision-making of the project RAMS Corner can foster their ownership and commitment to the project. Seek their input, feedback, and suggestions when making important decisions, and incorporate their perspectives as appropriate.
By implementing these strategies, our team can improve stakeholder management and cultivate positive relationships with stakeholders, leading to greater project success and organizational effectiveness for the Project RAMS Corner.
Identified Stakeholders:
- 1. Project Sponsor -
- 2. APC ITRO -
- 3. APC Students, Faculties, and Staffs -
Identified Key Stakeholders: 1. ITRO Department Office of Asia Pacific College Headed by Mr. Jose Castillo
- One of the key stakeholders in the Project entitled RAMS Corner Ticketing System is the ITRO Department Office. Especially since the department office happens to be the project's client, which is under the supervision of Mr. Jose Castillo. After the whole project development is complete, the ticketing software as the byproduct of the project will be utilized by the ITRO. The head of the ITRO Department Office, Mr. Jose Castillo, is the representative of the department that facilitates communication between the project team including all the discussions, meetings, and updates. With his great knowledge in the technical field of information technology, he managed to bring great impact and influence towards the decision making with regards to the development during the course of the project.
Figure 6: Stakeholder Analysis
Towards the start of the project, the team, Nacor Industries has already set a list of scope and limitations that would enable the group to focus on the tasks at hand and not be swayed nor distracted by minor issues nor inconveniences prior, during and after the development phase. This Scope Management Plan aims to identify and elaborate the necessary processes used to define, control, approach, delegate, and verify the project’s scope which involves—but are not limited to—the following:
1. Requirement Collection;
- This process would be done through collective and regular meetings with the group and the client through a Scrum-Fall methodology-based workflow. This ensures that the needed data and resources would be gathered and verified simultaneously while also allowing freedom for the team in case of revision, as referenced in the figure below:
Figure 7: Scrum Fall Methodology
2. Scope Definition;
- Involves the checking of all the necessary documents such as contracts, agreements, and statements of work to ensure that they align with the project's goals, objectives, and constraints.
- The WBS is comprehensive and accurate visual representation of the tasks and goals that the team came up with through various sessions and meetings which entails all the work packages required to complete the project.
- This would be done through performing a walkthrough of the project deliverables with stakeholders to ensure that they meet their needs and expectations. Furthermore, it will allow stakeholders to provide feedback and make suggestions for improvement as indicated accordingly through the team’s Scrum-Fall Methodology.
- Controlling the project’s scope is needed to reflect any changes in the project's goals, objectives, or constraints. Prior to any changes the team would make sure that the stakeholders are aware of the project's scope.
The scope of the web application, RAMS Corner: Ticketing System is pre-determined in Scope Definition, Project Scope Statement, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and WBS dictionary. The primary objective of the project is to develop the said application for the client, APC-ITRO, and provide a platform for them to use in lieu of their current email-based reporting system. The scope of the project revolves mainly around the main project documentation and the creation phase would include the planning of the system’s functionalities, design, actual development, test cases for usability and performance, along with the provision of user manuals, training, and support for the stakeholders and clients.
In order to promote organizational harmony and present a systematic and effective development procedure, each member of the team, Nacor Industries, along with other stakeholders has been assigned with roles according to their interests and areas of expertise, with the roles being listed below:
| Roles | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Project Manager |
|
| Product Owner |
|
| Scrum Master |
|
| Documentation Team |
|
| QA Tester |
|
| Junior Developer |
|
| Project Sponsor |
|
The project, RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System, is designed for the use of the (1) APC organization; (2) APC staff and faculty members, (3) APC students, will help the ITRO in their workflow in identifying problems within the building. This ticketing system that the team is developing allows the ITRO Admins to have more control over how it tracks and resolves the ITRO Client complaints. The team’s ticketing software has a set of processes that enable the ITRO to efficiently oversee incidents and service requests logged or reported by its ITRO clients which involves—and is specifically limited to—the following:
- - Infrastructure-Based
- - Desktop Support
- - Server/Cloud Services Support
- - Audio/Video Equipment Support
- - Software-Based
- - Backend Development Support
- - Business Analysis/QA
- - Data Analysis
- - Software Development Support
Product Scope Description
The project team's goal is to develop a deployable IT ticketing system that will be complete and functional as a requirement for the team’s Project-Based Learning (PBL) course with the following features stated below:
-
Dashboard
- The dashboard is meant to provide information and updates at a glance, customized to each user and user type.
-
ITRO Client:
- A simpler version which aims to give ample information about the possible concerns of the client at a glance which includes ticket status, number of tickets sent, and KB shortcuts.
-
ITRO Admin/ITRO Staff:
- The admin and staff dashboard has a more technical and professional look but has the same functions related to their concerns that involves—but are not limited to—the following: received tickets, assigned tickets, statuses of tickets concerning them, ticket summary, active clients, and agents, etc.
-
ITRO Client:
- The dashboard is meant to provide information and updates at a glance, customized to each user and user type.
-
Notifications
- The notifications pane would be available to every user type and would provide them with the latest updates regarding their tickets and other issues that may be of concern to them.
-
Ticket Table
- The ticket table lists all of the tickets received by the ITRO, along with their current status and details which entail the date and time it is created, along with its prioritization, assignment, etc.
-
Knowledge Base
- The Knowledge Base is a collection of common IT problems and their resolutions that would aim to empower the users and give them the ability to troubleshoot their problems by themselves.
-
ITRO Admin:
- Could view, add, modify, hide, and approve KB entries to be viewed by the ITRO Clients.
-
ITRO Staff:
- Could view, add, modify, or hide KB entries from the ITRO Clients.
-
ITRO Client:
- Could view the knowledge base for self-troubleshooting.
-
ITRO Admin:
- The Knowledge Base is a collection of common IT problems and their resolutions that would aim to empower the users and give them the ability to troubleshoot their problems by themselves.
-
Generate Reports
- This feature was made exclusively for the ITRO Admin/Staff interface so that they may be able to view the data regarding the tickets sent depending on their choice of date frame that could be downloaded in PDF format.
-
Tags
- This feature allows the users tagged through the CC section of the tickets to be notified about any updates and progress made to the tickets.
-
My Personal Tickets
- This pane allows the users to see the tickets that they’ve sent personally.
Acceptance Criteria
Success for the project will be measured on three factors: deliverables, quality of work and deployment, if these three would be deemed to be complete by the stakeholders, project client, project advisor, and class advisor, then the project would be considered a success.
Project Deliverables
Upon successful project completion, the team would be able to provide the fully-functional and finished system, along with the source code through GitHub with the Software Requirement Specification along with several other project documentations which include—but are not limited to the following:
- User Manual
- Business Case
- Stakeholders Management Strategy Plan
- Scope Management Plan
- Cost Management Plan
- Time Management Plan
- Human Resource Management Plan
- Communication Management Plan
- Procurement Management Plan
- Project Status Reports Distribution plan
- Change Request Documentation
- Project Execution Monitoring Report
- Implementation Plan
- Change Management Plan
- Project Status Reports
- Transition-Out Plan
- Project Turn-Over Plan
- Post Project Review Plan
-
Data Privacy
- Upon takeover, the ITRO would be the one fully responsible for the web-application, and any other authorization regarding the APC faculty and the user’s credentials.
- Deployment Budget
- The development team would not ask for any form of payment, and the ITRO would be the ones in charge of the system’s deployment within their budget, along with any other preceding financial needs that the app might incur.
- Manpower / Workforce
- The web-application has been made with the limited manpower that the ITRO currently has, however, their lack of workforce should be dealt with in order to have more hands-on deck to ensure that there would always be an eye out to see the updates within the system.
- Training / System Migration
- The ITRO staff are bound to learn and familiarize themselves with the new system to utilize it to its fullest extent along with its features and functionalities.
- The ITRO, as well as their clients have access to the internet through APC Rams Wi-Fi (or personal data/ISP) along with the necessary devices to use the web application.
- The ITRO Staff would be trained in using the new web application.
- The web application will be developed without any major technical issues or roadblocks.
- The web-app will be deployed by the client using their resources with sufficient processing power, memory, and storage.
- The web application will be developed within the given timeline (the entirety of PBL1).
- The APC faculty and students would utilize the new system instead of the email-based reporting system.
- The ITRO would properly launch and promote the new system.
- The email notification system will work without any issues.
- The team will use Laravel, an open-source PHP web framework for developing web applications.
- The team will use MySQL as their database for the web application.
- The ITRO would provide the developers with accurate information about their office and services.
- The users need access to the internet and the necessary devices to use the web application.
- The web application needs to be hosted on a reliable and secure server provided by ITRO.
- The web application should have access to a reliable and fast internet connection.
- The email notification system should have access to a reliable and fast internet connection.
- Microsoft Outlook should function accordingly in order to send the email-based notifications.
- The web browser/s upon which the application would be opened should be free of viruses or malware and is reliable.
1. RAMS Corner : ITRO Ticketing Service System
1.1 Initiation
1.1.1 Initial Planning/Brainstorming
1.1.2 Client Selection
1.1.3 Project Kick-off meeting
1.1.4 Milestone: Project Idea
1.2 Planning
1.2.1 First Project Meeting with Members
1.2.2 First Project Meeting with Client
1.2.3 Project Proposal Initial Creation
1.2.4 Second Project Meeting with Members
1.2.5 Second Project Meeting with Client
1.2.6 Initial Project Proposal Editing
1.2.7 Initial Project Proposal Proofreading
1.2.8 Third Meeting with Members
1.2.9 Third Meeting with Client
1.2.10 Deliverable: Project Proposal
1.2.11 Project Proposal Revision
1.2.12 Fourth Meeting with Members
1.2.13 Fourth Meeting with Client
1.2.14 Milestone: Project Proposal Approval
1.2.15 Kick-off meeting for project management planning
1.2.16 Project Management Plan Drafting
1.2.16.1 Business Case
1.2.16.2 Project Charter
1.2.16.3 Stakeholder Analysis
1.2.16.4 Stakeholder Management Analysis
1.2.16.5 Cost Management Analysis
1.2.16.6 Cost Management Plan
1.2.16.7 Schedule Management Plan
1.2.16.8 Scope Management Plan
1.2.16.9 Work Breakdown Structure
1.2.16.10 Work Packages
1.2.16.11 Human Resource Management Plan
1.2.16.12 Quality Management Plan
1.2.16.13 Risk Management Plan
1.2.16.14 Communications Management Plan
1.2.16.15 Procurement Management Plan
1.2.16.16 Implementation Plan
1.2.16.17 Change Management Plan
1.2.17 Project Management Plan Editing/Proofreading
1.2.18 Fifth Meeting with Members
1.2.19 Fifth Meeting with Client
1.2.20 Deliverable: Project Management Plan
1.2.21 Project Management Plan Revision
1.2.22 Sixth Meeting with Members
1.2.23 Sixth Meeting with Client
1.2.24 Milestone: Project Management Plan Approval
1.2.25 Milestone: Sponsor Acceptance
1.3 System analysis and Detailed Design
1.3.1 Kick-off meeting for System analysis and Detailed Design
1.3.2 System Analysis and Detailed Design Drafting
1.3.2.1 Event Table
1.3.2.2 Use Case Diagram
1.3.2.3 Use Case Full Description
1.3.2.4 Context Diagram
1.3.2.5 Data Flow Diagram
1.3.2.6 Entity Relationship Diagram
1.3.2.7 Activity Diagram
1.3.2.8 Object Diagram
1.3.2.9 Class Diagram
1.3.2.10 Sequence Diagram
1.3.2.11 State Transition Diagram
1.3.2.12 Package diagram
1.3.2.13 Component Diagram
1.3.2.14 Deployment Diagram
1.3.3 Seventh Meeting with Members
1.3.4 System Analysis and Detailed Design Editing/Proofreading
1.3.5 Seventh Meeting with Client
1.3.6 Deliverable: System Analysis and Detailed Design
1.3.7 System Analysis and Detailed Design Revision
1.3.8 Eighth Meeting with Members
1.3.9 Eighth Meeting with Client
1.3.10 Milestone: System Design Approval
1.4 System Prototyping and Development
1.4.1 Kick-off meeting for development
1.4.2 Deliverable: Low fidelity wireframe
1.4.3 Ninth Meeting with member
1.4.4 Ninth Meeting with Client
1.4.5 Deliverable: High Fidelity Wireframe
1.4.6 Tenth meeting with member
1.4.7 Tenth meeting with client
1.4.8 Milestone: Wireframe Approval
1.4.9 UI/UX Design
1.4.10 UI/UX Evaluation
1.4.11 11th meeting with members
1.4.12 Backend Development
1.4.13 Milestone: Verified Use Case Requirements
1.4.14 11th Meeting with the client
1.5 Testing
1.5.1 Unit Testing for Release 1
1.5.1.1 Milestone: Successful Testing for Release 1
1.5.2 Unit Testing for Release 2
1.5.2.1 Milestone: Successful Testing for Release 2
1.5.3 Unit Testing for Release 3
1.5.3.1 Milestone: Successful Testing for Release 3
1.5.4 12th meeting with members
1.5.5 Integration Testing
1.5.5.1 Milestone: Successful Integration Testing
1.5.6 User Acceptance Testing
1.5.6.1 Milestone: Successful User Acceptance Testing
1.5.7 Performance Testing
1.5.7.1 Milestone: Successful Performance Testing
1.5.8 Production Readiness Testing
1.5.8.1 Milestone: Successful Production Readiness Testing
1.5.9 Parallel Testing
1.5.9.10 Milestone: Successful Parallel Testing
1.5.10 13th Meeting with Members
1.5.11 12th Meeting with Client
1.6 Deployment and Control
1.6.1 Deployment and Control Kickoff meeting
1.6.2 Train General Users
1.6.3 Set up Kiosk for Localize Deployment
1.6.4 Deploy the hosted app
1.6.5 Milestone: Discovery and Feedback
1.6.6 14th Meeting with Members
1.6.7 13th Meeting with Client
1.6.8 Promotion and Advertisement
1.6.9 Update Documentations
1.7 Closeout
1.7.1 Auditing
1.7.2 Reports and Documentations Handover
1.7.3 Gain Formal Acceptance
1.7.4 Archive Files/Documents
1.7.5 Closeout Meeting with Members
The project team, Nacor Industries, will conduct scope verification upon each meeting with the client to ensure that the deliverables are in line with the original scope. In accordance with the scrum-fall methodology (see Figure 7 for reference), this will guarantee that the deliverables are accepted by the client to ensure that the project will be finished on time and within the scope and budget.
Prior to any pivotal changes that may occur within the project’s development, the team ensures that each decision would need to first be approved by the stakeholders, especially the client: APC-ITRO, before getting greenlit. This process would be documented accordingly.
The purpose of the Cost Management Plan for the RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System is to efficiently manage all expenses related to the project from start to finish. The plan establishes guidelines and criteria for measuring, reporting, and regulating the project's costs.
1. Cost Management Responsibilities
- In addition to overseeing the project's cost management, the Project Manager will collaborate with the project team and stakeholders to establish cost management objectives, develop cost estimates, and monitor and control project expenses to ensure that the project stays within budget.
- The designated authority would review the proposed change and assess its impact on the project's budget, schedule, and overall goals. They would then decide whether to approve or reject the change based on these factors.
- If the additional cost represents less than 10% of the total project budget, you will need approval from the Project Manager. However, if the cost increase exceeds 10% of the total project budget, you would need to seek approval from the Project Sponsor.
- Cost performance can be quantitatively measured and reported upon by analysing the planned versus actual costs incurred during a project.
- These reports may include metrics such as Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI), which provide a quantitative assessment of cost and schedule performance, respectively.
- The budget for the project will be presented in a straightforward and easy-to-understand format, using a spreadsheet program such as Excel. The budget will be itemized into individual line items, each with a detailed cost estimate, and updated monthly with any changes clearly marked.
The Cost Management Approach of the RAMS Corner: ITRO Ticketing Service System will be based upon the following.
- Planning
- Cost Estimation
- Budgeting
- Cost Reporting
- Risk Management
The Cost Management Approach we have devised intends to guarantee that the RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System is executed within the authorized budget, adheres to project objectives, and provides a product of superior quality that caters to the community's requirements.
Measuring cost performance is a crucial aspect of controlling project costs, and there are several techniques that can be used for this purpose. These techniques include methods such as cost variance, earned value management (EVM), cost performance index, and the Schedule Performance Index.
Below, we'll provide more information about each of these methods for measuring cost performance. Cost Variance
- Cost variance (CV) is a technique used for measuring the difference between the earned value (EV) and the actual cost (AC) of the work completed. It provides an indication of whether the project is under budget or over budget. CV is calculated by subtracting the actual cost (AC) from the earned value (EV).
Earned Value Management
- Earned Value Management (EVM) is a widely accepted and effective technique for measuring project performance in project management. The technique integrates the three key elements of scope, time, and cost, providing a holistic view of the project's progress and performance.
Cost Performance Index '''
- The CPI provides a measurement of the value of work accomplished in relation to the actual cost of the work completed. It is calculated by dividing the earned value (EV) by the actual cost (AC).
Schedule Performance Index '''
- The Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is a technique used to measure the project's schedule performance. The SPI provides a measurement of the progress achieved in relation to the work scheduled. It is calculated by dividing the earned value (EV) by the planned value (PV). The SPI value greater than 1 indicates that the project is ahead of schedule, while an SPI value less than 1 indicates that the project is behind schedule.
The stakeholders will receive a progress report on a weekly basis to update them on the cost status of the project. The report will have a section called "Cost Management" which will provide information on the Earned Value Metrics (EVM), including Schedule Variance (SV), Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Performance Index (SPI), and Cost Performance Index (CPI), for evaluating the project's progress and cost performance. If the project's cost goes beyond the predefined limits, the report will include details of the issue and the corrective actions planned. The report will also monitor change requests resulting from cost overruns to ensure they align with the project budget. These updates will be shared with stakeholders weekly to ensure timely decision-making and maintain transparency.
The process for responding to cost variances involves identifying the root causes of the variance, assessing its impact on the project, and developing a plan to address it. First, the project team will investigate the causes of the cost variance, which could be due to changes in scope, resource allocation, or unexpected expenses. Once the causes have been identified, the team will assess the impact of the variance on the project's budget and schedule to determine the severity of the situation. Based on this assessment, the team will develop a plan to address the cost variance. This plan may involve cutting costs in other areas of the project, renegotiating contracts with vendors, or requesting additional funding from stakeholders. The plan will be presented to the project sponsor or steering committee for approval before any action is taken. Once the plan has been approved, the team will implement it and monitor its effectiveness to ensure that the project stays on track.
The Control Thresholds for this project are a CPI or SPI of less than 0.8 or greater than 1.2. If the project reaches one of these Control Thresholds a Cost Variance Corrective Action Plan is required. The Project Manager will present the Project Sponsor with options for corrective actions within five business days from when the cost variance is first reported. Within three business days from when the Project Sponsor selects a corrective action option, the Project Manager will present the Project Sponsor with a formal Cost Variance Corrective Action Plan. The Cost Variance Corrective Action Plan will detail the actions necessary to bring the project back within budget along with how the effectiveness of the actions in the plan will be measured. Upon acceptance of the Cost Variance + Corrective Action Plan it will become a part of the project plan and the project will be updated to reflect the corrective actions.
The RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System aims to provide APC Staffs, Faculty, and Students to have an easier access to the ITRO, to create a single software application that receives and automatically sorts out and manage tickets of clients’ requests and queries received by the ITRO.
- Identification for Change
- The initial phase of the Cost Change Control Process is the Identification for Change, which entails identifying and documenting potential changes that could affect project costs. For a RAMS Corner Ticketing System Service project, potential changes may involve additional features, hardware or software upgrades, or changes in scope that could necessitate additional resources.
- Asses the Change Request
- In evaluating a change request, it is crucial to use objective measures such as the project's goals, objectives, and requirements. Furthermore, the project team must consider the potential risks associated with the proposed changes and determine whether additional mitigation strategies are necessary.
- If the change request is deemed necessary and feasible, the project manager should seek approval from the project sponsor or other appropriate stakeholders before proceeding with the change. If the change request is not approved, it should be documented and the reasons for the rejection should be communicated to the requester.
- Analyze the Change Request
- In this phase, the project team must collect all relevant information to assess the scope of the change request's impact. This includes identifying which areas of the project will be affected by the change, evaluating the resources necessary to implement the change, and analyzing the potential risks linked with the change.
- Once the analysis is complete, the project team should provide a detailed report that includes an estimate of the cost and schedule impact of the change. The report should also include any recommendations for alternative solutions or mitigation strategies to minimize the impact of the change.
- Implement the Change Request
- It's important to note that implementing a change request may have implications beyond just cost, including impacts on project scope, schedule, and quality. The project team should carefully consider all of these factors and communicate any potential impacts to stakeholders as part of the implementation process.
- Once the change has been implemented, the project manager should review the results and update any relevant documentation to reflect the change. This may include updating project budgets, schedules, and status reports to reflect the impact of the change on project costs.
- Change Request Closure
- During the Change Request Closure step, the project team should conduct a final review of the change log to ensure that all approved changes have been properly implemented and that their impact on the project's cost baseline has been accurately reflected in the project's financial records.
The budget for this project, together with the other possible expenses for this project are presented in various categories in detail through the Budget Summary.
The schedule management plan plays a vital role towards the accomplishment and documentation of each task so that the team may be able to work as efficiently as possible. By going through this section, readers can appreciate the approach of the team to finish their project from scratch along with their milestones done within the timeframe of the project and how the team was able to develop the software and thought process whilst developing the project.
Throughout the project’s lifetime, the team is able to submit all deliverables needed. Each work that was assigned to each member has a specific deadline to help the team estimate how many resources will be needed to finish all the needed tasks before proceeding.
To create the project schedule, the team used software named ‘Project Libre’ to create a Gantt Chart. In this Gantt Chart, all the activities and deliverables are listed and recorded. In this way, it is much easier to monitor the project’s growth over time.
See reference below of the start and end date of deliverables for project schedule:
Initiation Phase:
Figure 8: Gantt Chart - Initiation Phase
Planning Phase:
Figure 9: Gantt Chart - Planning Phase
System Analysis and Detailed Design Phase:
Figure 10: Gantt Chart - System Analysis and Detailed Design Phase
System Prototyping and Development Phase:
Figure 11: Gantt Chart - System Prototyping and Development Phase
Testing Phase:
Figure 12: Gantt Chart - Testing Phase
Deployment and Control Phase:
Figure 13: Gantt Chart - Deployment and Control Phase
Closeout Phase:
Figure 14: Gantt Chart - Closeout Phase
One of the benefits of finishing the activities first is that it may reveal changes that are overlooked and need immediate revisions. In this case, this may slow down the progression of the project. When this happens, the team needs to weigh which changes that can have a significant impact. If changes happen, the project manager is consulted before implementing the changes. In the roles and responsibilities section, you can determine here the scope of work of the people who are assigned to the roles.
| Role | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Project Manager |
|
| Product Owner |
|
| Scrum Master |
|
Throughout the project lifetime. Updating, deleting, and revising information are bound to happen. Changes within the project are monitored in case the changes are getting slightly off the scope of work. The team would collaborate with the project adviser if the request change were significant to the project.
The project manager will lead the meeting together with the team to discuss the ideas that were added to the equation. The project manager will be managing the schedule of the meetings, updates made within the project, and identifying which tasks are to be done first.
Upon successful compliance, the rest of the team would collaborate to brainstorm and present their ideas since the team’s communication is one of the keys to the success of the project.
When developing a project, it is common to have some delays throughout the duration of the project, when the team feels the project will be delayed and it will require more time to finish. Setting a limit or parameter is important so that in case the project is delayed, less resources are to be used to make up for the loss of time.
If the team requests an extension, the project manager should submit a schedule change request. The person who is responsible for approving the request would be the project sponsor. The project sponsor would review the request and have the power to grant the request under his/her authority.
If the change request is approved. The team would then set up a meeting and begin to thoroughly review and examine the adjustments needed for the project. One of the many factors that affect the schedule is poor management skills. This should be addressed so that it will not happen with other future projects to come.
The product owner, product adviser, and project client must have a meeting and discuss which part of the project will be affected by the potential change. It would then be reviewed to gauge how much resources it would require to finish the project, and most importantly, how it will affect the project scope. It is also important to take note that the project schedule will also be affected by the changes. Finding alternatives is also crucial as it may help to resolve the problems.
If an issue is overlooked and immediate change is needed. Revising or updating the project scope is the best option there is. Throughout the project's lifetime, changes are inevitable. It is always to be expected that changes might happen from time to time.
Nacor Industries RAMS Corner Ticketing Service System Part 2