IBAPro Project Management Methodology

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www.IBApplications.com

IBAPro

Project Management Methodology

A description of the IBApps Project Management Methodology and

Implementation Process

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Page 2 of 10 www.IBApplications.com

1. Project Management ... 3 2. Phases ... 3 2.1. Focus workshop ... 3 2.2. Preparation Workshop ... 4 2.3. Execution ... 4 2.4. Completion ... 5 3. Main tasks ... 5 3.1. Issue Management ... 5 3.2. Knowledge Management ... 6 3.3. Risk Management ... 6 3.4. Change Management ... 6 3.5. Quality Assessment ... 7 3.6. Reporting ... 7 4. Deliverables ... 8

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1. Project Management

A vital part of any IT project is Project Management. The more complex deliverables there is, the more important is the Project Management and the organization to support the project. Based on our Project Management concept, the customer achieves following benefits:

 The Project Manager ensures optimal communications between the different actors involved in the project.

 To avoid unnecessary downtime due to unforeseen tasks, the project requirements and project scope is described before the project begins

 IBApps Project Management provides clear guidelines for project planning, project organization and project tracking. Together, they contribute to secure a successful delivery.

2. Phases

IBApps Project Management method consist of the following phases

 Focus Workshop

 Preparation Workshop

 Execution

 Completion

2.1. Focus workshop

The Focus Workshop is essential for a successful project. IBApps will facilitate a workshop with selected key employees from the customer. It is important that the attendees from the customer are a mix from the top management team, key employees from sales, policy and claim department and project owners. The workshop will cover following issues:

 Identification and description of the business goals to be met by implementation of the project.

 Definition and description of the specific project goals and identification of critical success factors

 Deliverables

o Core processes and strategy o Core products and tariff models o Product parameters and risk types o Taxes, fees, discounts

o Core reporting requirements o Calculation methods and collections o External Documents

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o Integration to external data providers

 Definition of phases and main activities of the project

 Acceptance criterias

 Financial estimation of cost and duration

2.2. Preparation Workshop

Based on the Focus Workshop and an acceptance from the project sponsor/owner, an actual Project Plan and Project Kick Off is initiated.

The Preparation Workshop consists of the following activities:

 Review and update the project description

 Establishment of physical facilities and project archive

 Preparation of an actual project plan with activities their dependencies, resource allocation, durations, start and end dates and milestones

 Preparation of detailed project budget

 Preparation of risk level

 Preparation of quality plan

 Preparation of stakeholder analysis

 Preparation of the communication plan

 Establishment of project manual containing procedures for issue management, change management, quality assurance, reporting, risk management, knowledge management, document standards, archiving rules, etc.

A kick-off meeting with all involved as participants will be arranged.

2.3. Execution

The participants are motivated to carry out the planned activities, and the Project Management will support and coordinates the activities. A continuous monitoring and evaluation of the project plan to identify deviations and if appropriate remedial actions. This subsequently implies a need for adjustment of plans and maybe the budget. There is therefore an iterative process of implementing, monitoring and planning activities throughout the project life cycle.

Further activities include:

 Ongoing evaluation of the quality and performance

 Dissemination of information to project stakeholders

 Management of change requests in accordance with established procedure

 Monitoring of risks

 Addressing issues according to established procedures

 Reporting of project progress

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2.4. Completion

When all the tasks are delivered in a satisfactory quality, a formal completion of the project will be performed.

The final activities are the following:

 Assessment of project implementation in accordance with deliverables, quality, time and budget

 Evaluation of project participants' response

 Identification of possible improvement points

 Formal approval of the project

 Updating knowledge base

3. Main tasks

In the following subsections, it is elaborated how IBApps see the main tasks performed in the project. The following main tasks are briefly described:

 Issue Management  Knowledge management  Risk management  Change management  Quality assurance  Progress Management  Reporting

3.1. Issue Management

Identification and management of issues (outstanding and open questions etc.), is an important task in any project. The purpose of issue management is to identify, monitor, investigate and resolve basic project-related gabs. That also includes ensuring that identified issues are escalated throughout the decision hierarchy, until a decision is taken.

Issue Management in conducted in cooperation between the IBApps Project Manager and the Customer Project Manager (project sponsor). The Project Managers are responsible for handling outstanding issues and to ensure that the organization will take a decision, so that project teams are not delayed by the ability not to resolve the open issues.

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3.2. Knowledge Management

The primary focus of knowledge management as a tool to collect the knowledge and experience built up during the project and particularly in the individual project groups and ensure that it is shared with and used by other project teams.

Specifically, the establishment of a common platform where all reports, issues, changes, project plans, etc. are stored. Since this platform is the central communication tool between project participants, it is important that all project participants have an easy and quick access to the platform.

The knowledge database, which is built up during the project, will include everything from descriptive information of different techniques that have been used in the project, to the actual deliverables from each project groups.

IBApps Project Manager, sub-managers and other consultants will actively contribute and ensure that the knowledge base will be used in daily project work and continuously developed during the project. The knowledge base will in itself be a valuable outcome of the overall project.

3.3. Risk Management

Assessment of project risks and a mapping of these, in relation to the probability of their occurrence and the severity of the impact they may have, is an independent project activity for both the overall project and of the individual working groups.

Ongoing review of project risk maps will be an integrated part of the ongoing monitoring of the project, both in the overall project in relation to the steering committee, as in the individual working groups.

3.4. Change Management

Change management is to identify, investigate, solve and communicate changes to the project, which have an impact to the project scope, deliverables, quality, budget or schedule. The larger the project, the greater the task is.

Tools that will be introduced in change management, is the use of formal "change requests" to ensure that all change requests are formally approved before they are included in the project's decision-making process.

The Change Management plan includes defined roles, responsibilities and procedures for handling change requests, and how communication about the status and decisions are handled. It is essential that decisions about changes to goals, scope and deliverables are communicated to the project working groups and stakeholders.

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3.5. Quality Assessment

Quality Assesment is an integrated part of any IBApps project. IBApps focuses on proactive preventive quality management activities and not just reactive control activities.

This is achieved by:

 Setting up clear goals for what needs to be delivered in the project

 Setting up clear standards and procedures

 Using a proven and systematic approach

 Setting up review points in the project plan

 Facilitating Lessons Learned workshops that can be utilized for improvement

As an important element in the description of the project scope and objectives there will be established a global approach / policy for quality assurance. The Quality plan includes a description of the necessary organization of quality work, including the allocation of roles and responsibilities, key quality activities and the use of tools and methods to do so.

3.6. Reporting

Proper and adequate reporting of project status is a critical success factor for managing the expectations of Project Management and steering committee.

Status Reporting consists generally of two elements: reporting from project participants to Project Management and reporting from project to project steering committee. The two elements are closely linked, since reporting from project participant’s form the basis of an aggregated and thus more transparent reporting to the steering committee. Status Reporting has a defined content and follows an agreed frequency.

Deviation Reporting should be used when situations or deviations from plans that falls outside the normal with the periodic reporting.

Project Management has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the necessary and agreed reporting is made. Example of an agreed reporting forms shown below.

Report Frequence Content

Progress report for the steering committee

Every 4th week Summary of all aspects of the tasks set for the period including:



Plan



Effort



Obtained results



Follow up on budget



Issues

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Report Frequence Content



Change Requests - overview



Risk Management

Plan for the coming period will also be included, and finally, conclusions regarding impact on the plans and budgets. Reporting from

project participants

Weekly Short summary of the week's tasks, including:

 Initiated tasks

 Completed tasks

 Time spent per task

 Estimates for ongoing tasks

 Issues

 Scheduled tasks for the coming week Deviation

Report

When needed The relevant status data in an appropriate format. The reason for the report to be made clear at the same time consequences and temporal aspects of the solution clarified. Finally, the draft resolution must be included.

Project evaluation

Upon completion of a milestone

Documentation of results and progress and summary of lessons learned.

4. Deliverables

The following table shows which project deliverables that are typically generated in each phase.

Phase Deliverables

Focus Workshop Preliminary project description in powerpoint format Preparation workshop Project Archive / project web

Project Timetable budget

Training of the project team

Performance agreements with project participants Procedures and standards

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Phase Deliverables

Risk Plan

Issues and issue log Stakeholder Analysis Communications Plan Quality Plan

Project Manual Project kick-off

Execution Status and error reports

Quality Review Reports Approvals and evaluations Issues and issuelog

Change requests and change request log Updated risk level

Updated schedule Updated budget

Follow-up on performance agreements

Completion Project Evaluation

Approvals

Knowledge Objects Improvement points

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The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you find any errors, please report these to [email protected] in writing.

IBAPro Project Management Methodology

IBAPro

Project Management Methodology

A description of the IBApps Project Management Methodology and

Implementation Process

Contents

1. Project Management

2. Phases

2.1.

Focus workshop

2.2.

Preparation Workshop

2.3.

Execution

2.4.

Completion

3. Main tasks

3.1.

Issue Management

3.2.

Knowledge Management

3.3.

Risk Management

3.4.

Change Management

3.5.

Quality Assessment

3.6.

Reporting



Plan



Effort



Obtained results



Follow up on budget



Issues



Change Requests - overview



Risk Management

4. Deliverables