The project plan has been formulated over a period of several weeks of collecting data through research, interviews, conference, survey, and analysis of relevant components of both Boardman Management Group and the Baderman Island Resort computer network in order to better serve the requirements of previously stated service request. Requirements per each service request change have also been evaluated and incorporated into the project plan.
This project plan consists of several parts to include a Statement of Purpose, business requirement, presentation of alternatives, recommendations, projected economic model (cost analysis, return on investment, savings), risk assessment, schedule, and a maintenance summary all formulated in order to execute the successful implementation of Microsoft Word 2003 as the standard word processing application of the Baderman Island Resort computer network. Along with this formal project plan, a Microsoft Power Point presentation has been composed as a summarized format to be presented to, and documented for later viewing by Boardman Management Group.
All questions and concerns may be directed to the designated point-of-contact for Boardman Management Group, Jeane Witten.
Statement of Purpose
Currently, there are 3 different versions of Microsoft Word (Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Word XP) are being used among the 70 local machines which exist within the Baderman Island Resort computer network. These 3 versions of the Microsoft Word application have been determined to be inadequate by Boardman Management Group, and it has been found necessary to implement a more up-to-date and uniform word processing application to span across all local machines on the Baderman Island Resort computer network.
The purpose of this project plan is to document and outline the structure of implementing Microsoft Word 2003 as the new standard word processing application within the Baderman Island Resort computer network. The desired result should include a uniform system of local machines running the same up-to-date word processing application. This result should also include establishing a system of support and maintenance for the newly implemented application at Baderman Island Resort, once implementation has ceased, along with a successful return on investment for the entity, Boardman Management Group.
Business Requirement
The business requirement for implementing this word processing application bas been based upon several factors. The first factor taken into consideration of implementing the outlined project is Service Request SR-bi-001, followed by its Change Requests per the Boardman Management Group point-of-contact, Jeane Witten.
The service requests calls for a more up-to-date word processing application. Of the 3 versions of Microsoft Word, which are currently running among the 70 local machines to be upgraded, the latest version was released in 2001. Based on Change Request 1 of Service Request SR-bi-001 for a newer version of the Microsoft Word processor, it bas been determined that the next latest version of this processor, Microsoft Word 2003 has been selected as the adequate candidate for implementation of this project.
Because of the level of maturity of the Microsoft Word 2003 processing application, there exists a substantial amount of support for the system, also contributing to its selection for implementation of the project. Both support and maintenance for this newer application has been found to be critical to the success of the project once implementation has ceased. The selection of Microsoft Word 2003 as the candidate for this project was also based upon cost and functionality.
Another requirement the project calls for uniformity among all the local machines within the Baderman Island Resort computer network. Currently, among 70 local machines, 26 machines are running Microsoft Word XP, 38 machines are running Microsoft Word 2000, and 6 machines are running Microsoft Word 97. To ensure this uniformity among all 70 local machines, Microsoft Word 2003 will be installed onto all machines. This will include both hardware and software updates to machines as needed, for those machines found which do not meet system requirements for running Microsoft Word 2003.
Based on collection of data through surveys distributed to users on the computer network, it has been determined that Microsoft Word 2003 meets the requirement of also satisfying the ease of use for users. This will contribute to the successful adoption of, and adaptation to the newly implemented word processing application by all of the users among the Baderman Island Resort computer network. This will also help in better training users to work with the new application, helping to eliminate the margin of error, and decrease dependency on maintenance and support from IT staff.
Alternatives
Currently, there are various open source word processor available in the market that the Baderman Island Resort could choose as an alternative and the most popular of them is the OpenOffice.Org Writer. OpenOffice.Org is a software package suite that is comparable to Microsoft Office only that it is free and open source code. OpenOffice was launched In August 1999 after the Sun Microsystems bought its code base StarOffice from a German company StarDivision and since then Sun had been able to gather a community of developers who want to take part in a noble task that would benefit all computer users. Its being free and open source code is specified in its GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) which permits its use, download and redistribution for any purpose. Aside from its Writer, OpenOffice commonly includes Calc for spreadsheet, Impress for presentation, Base for database management, Draw for vector graphics and Math for equations. Its being an open source allowed many programmers to develop several versions of it beside of those that is needed to be installed, one just need to be downloaded to any disk to consider portability, while another one just need to be run in a browser.
The interface of its Writer as well as the other components of OpenOffice is almost the same as those of their counterpart in Microsoft Office 2003 and previous versions. First time users of this program that are users of Microsoft Office could therefore easily cope up with its included functionalities such as those concern in styles and formatting. OpenOffice Writer could also read most font format that Microsoft Word also uses. It also has a capability for mail merge and connection to a database. On top of the capability of the Writer is that though it has a default to use files with .odt extensions, it could still access, edit and save files in .doc format. Compatibility to the Microsoft Office 2007 Word new file format .docx is currently on the OpenOffice makers research development.
But the noticeable problem a first time user would encounter is that as compared to Microsoft Office Word 2003, it is slow on start up. Depending on the nature of the version, its speed would also rely on several factors such as internet connection, hard disk and RAM capacity. But generally with the ongoing development and support for open source programs, programmers will surely notice this issue so those who will try using OpenOffice Writer in the long run would be notified that there is a new and better version available ready to be downloaded and installed. As of now, makers of OpenOffice Writer offers a Quick Starter that would lessen the time of opening the program the next time a user wanted to. Software updates are also released as bug fixes that a programmer might discover or a user might report.
Since OpenOffice Writer is free and open source code software, arguments arise that there is no such official team or persons who would maintain and provide technical support for it. Developers of OpenOffice Writer and all of the other free software are known to be all volunteers who just want to break the monopoly of proprietary software in the market. Since OpenOffice Writer is free and could be use for any purpose, distribution teams arose to provide the necessary support in installation and maintenance for a cost cheaper than those provided by Microsoft Word. It is then up to the Boardman Management Group on how would they assure if their distribution team is competent enough to provide their needs concerned with the OpenOffice Writer product.
For the technical aspect such as security, OpenOffice Writer is claimed to be virus free as of now. But because of its being open source, developers who may or may not deliberately create a code to hack and break inside the files system OpenOffice Writer is residing. Makers of OpenOffice.Org includes a security team that would keep track this vulnerability and would try to be as keen as possible on approving changes in legitimate versions so to avoid bad impressions from the general public end users. It is essential that the ones computer files be protected especially those documents of high importance.
Another issue that was brought about on the use of OpenOffice is its dependency on Java, the programming language that made Sun Microsystems popular. Earlier versions of OpenOffice dont follow the look and feel native to the operating system it was installed in that makes some users need to adopt on changing environments. Newer versions of OpenOffice do now try to resolve this issue by building different bundles of codes for each operating system available in the market but still maintaining interoperability.
As arguments concerning the use of OpenOffice had been tried to be all laid out, there are therefore many benefits that OpenOffice promises. If only they could eliminate some of the noticeable shortcomings in their system, it is a very good choice for Boardman Management Group to try using OpenOffice Writer.
Recommendation
As compared to the OpenOffice, Microsoft Office Word 2003 is a proprietary software but it offers a direct technical and maintenance support to those who want to legally avail them. Microsoft Word 2003 had also been chosen through a survey that it is the most preferred to be used by recipient users. Lastly, in accordance to the Service Request SR-bi-001 by Jeane Witten, it is thus recommended to install Microsoft Word 2003 as the uniform word processor to all of the 70 local machines which exist in the Baderman Island. All of its hardware and software requirements if it is not yet available in the existing local machines would also be procured. This call for an open bidding on what group would provide the licensed Microsoft Word 2003 to know which one offers the best distribution, maintenance and technical support to the Boardman Management Group in behalf of Boardman Island Resort.
As of current status, three distributors are vying for the upgrade project and these were Distributor A, Distributor B and Distributor C. They had provided their offered package deals with their corresponding level on how it would be distributed and maintained. So to come up with a decision on which distributor should Boardman Management choose I included in the next section the three distributors confidential proposed packages. Other distributors could still submit their offers if they are interested up until February 30, 2010. Implementation of the project is scheduled on March 15 but it still depends on the availability of financing and some other external factors.
Projected Economic Model
Distributor A
Package 1 1000
Microsoft Office 2003 Suite which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and a three months warranty and technical support for all programs
Package 2 1200
Microsoft Office 2003 Suite which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Access, Communicator and a six months warranty and technical support for all programs
Price inclusive of the cost of distribution such as CD, manuals and delivery expenses
Distributor B
Package 1 500
Microsoft Office 2003 Word including three months warranty and technical support
Package 2 700
Microsoft Office 2003 Word with pre installed compatibility pack to open .docx file formats.
Distributor C
Package 1 1000
Microsoft Office 2003 Suite which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Communicator and a three months warranty and technical support of all programs
Package 2 1200
Microsoft Office 2003 Suite which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Access and a six months warranty and technical support for all programs
If we would analyze the package deals the three distributors are offering to the Boardman Management Group, we could easily notice that Distributor A offer gave such a promising deal that the Management Group could really get many benefit of. Their offers specification including their prices is similar with Distributor C but it was the value added services that made an impact to decide that it is best to select Distributor A. Though distributor B has the lowest price, they are only offering to upgrade Microsoft Office 2003 which is somewhat a bit odd as the Microsoft Company bundles it with their other Office programs. It is normally done that if it is needed to upgrade a part of package but there is an upgrade for the whole package, one should avail of the whole package to avoid compatibility problems. Distributor B might not be legitimate as they offer a lower price in exchange for a not complete service. But for partiality reasons, Baderman Management Group should ask all of the bidders their respective contracts to deliver and distribute Microsoft products.
If we are to choose from the two packages that Distributor A offers, the second package has an edge because of the inclusion of the Microsoft Access which handles e-mails and the Microsoft Communicator for chat. Communicator is a groupware that would even fasten up the process of communication between the 70 Local Machines but it should be noted that only those machines that need to disseminate information should have it because it might be abuse or use for non-work purposes by the employees.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment