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• The example provided within this template is fictitious and is provided for the sole
purpose of illustrating template usage.
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[Company Name]
[Company Logo]
Project Brief
[Project Name]
Document Approval
Name Signature Signoff Date
Case Business
(Project Stakeholder)
Reviewer
Jason Driver
(Project Manager)
Author, Owner
Joe Assurance
(Quality Manager)
Reviewer
Mike Direct
(Team Lead)
Reviewer
Reviewer
Nance Governor
(Project Board Member)
Approver, Reviewer
Document Contents
1 Introduction................................................................................................................ ...............4
1.1 Purpose..................................................................................................................... .........4
1.2 Audience................................................................................................ ............................4
1.3 References.............................................................................................................. ...........4
2 Project Mandate.................................................................................................................. ......5
2.1 Project Sponsor.......................................................................................................... ........5
2.2 Project Management Appointment..................................................................................... .5
2.3 Background...................................................................................................... ..................6
2.4 Business Case Summary.............................................................................. .....................7
2.5 Expected Outcomes.......................................................................................... .................8
3 Project Description............................................................................................................. .......8
3.1 Project Objectives.................................................................................. ............................8
3.2 Stakeholder Analysis........................................................................................ ..................9
3.2.1 Internal Stakeholders.................................................................................. ...............10
3.2.2 External Stakeholders.............................................................................. ..................11
3.3 Stakeholder Quality Requirements.................................................................... ...............12
3.4 Scope................................................................................................................. ..............14
3.4.1 Scope Inclusions.................................................................................................. ......14
3.4.2 Scope Exclusions...................................................................................................... .16
3.5 Constraints..................................................................................................... ..................16
4 Project Assumptions.................................................................................... ...........................17
4.1 Related Projects................................................................................................ ...............19
4.2 Expected Timeframe.......................................................................... ..............................19
5 Acceptance Criteria......................................................................................................... ........20
1 Introduction
Purpose
This section provides a brief summary of why this document exists and who should use it. This
includes the document purpose, intended audience and document references.
1.1 Purpose
Purpose
This section should concisely describe key reasons for the existence of this document focusing
on what it must communicate to the intended document audience.
Content Example
The Project Brief defines a project to meet the Business Case business objectives and business
solution. It provides a high-level description of what the project will do in support of the
Business Case. It includes:
o The Project Objectives required to meet the Business Objectives
o Business Case Summary
o Project Scope
o Project Outcomes and Products
o Project Quality and Acceptance Criteria
o Known Risks
1.2 Audience
Purpose
List the key intended audience types for this document.
Content Example
The intended audience for this Project Brief is as follows:
• Project Sponsor,
• Project Board,
• Project Architect
• Project Development Manager
1.3 References
Purpose
List any documents referenced by this document.
Usage Guidelines
The list of references should include:
• Any documents used in the creation of this document.
• Any documents that provide supporting information to this document, including Work
Products produced by the project or external documentation.
Content Template
Ref. Product ID & Name File Name / Location Version
Content Example
The following products are referenced by or were used in creating this document:
Ref. Product ID & Name File Name / Location Version
1. PD087 Business Case for Project Magellan Executive Document Drive 1.0
2 Project Mandate
Purpose
This section describes what authority initiated the project and who has been appointed to
manage the project.
Purpose
Define who is ultimately responsible for authorisation of the project.
Usage Guidelines
• Clearly identify who is the Project Sponsor. This is usually a senior manager of the business
area that stands to benefit most from the project.
• The Project Sponsor is someone who has the ultimate authority over the project. He or she
authorises the project budget.
Content Example
The project sponsor for this project is the General Manager of Sales and Marketing; Vito
Castaneda.
Purpose
Describes the project management structure for the project and who has been appointed in the
project management role(s).
Usage Guidelines
• Describe the project management structure, roles and responsibilities.
• At a minimum list who has been appointed as the Project Manager and whether any other
Project Management/Executive roles have been appointed.
Content Example
Jolene Devreis has been appointed project manager for this project.
She will report to Tulley McIver (Project Director) who will chair the Project Board and represent
the business sponsor on day to day project matters.
2.3 Background
Purpose
Provide a short summary of the Project, providing sufficient information to enable any reader
unfamiliar with the project to understand the reasons behind the project along with any activities
undertaken in preparation and any previous attempts at overcoming the problems and why they
were not successful.
Usage Guidelines
• The Project Background should be no greater than 1 page. Where the author feels that
additional detail is required, this should be achieved by reference to existing documentation.
• The Project Brief will have wider audience than the Business Case so it may be appropriate
to duplicate the content from the background and problem or opportunity sections of the
Business Case for this section.
Content Example
Maxi Music has recently become the county’s largest retailer of musical instruments and music
accessories. It is made up of the following lines of business:
• Musical instrument and accessory sales.
• Instrument service and repair.
• Music studio equipment sales (specialising in the small commercial and home studio
markets).
• Musical instrument and studio equipment hire.
• Music training (instruments, studio production techniques, music composition).
This position has come about as a result of business acquisitions over the last 12 months. The
company now has 32 retail outlets nationally including 12 Super-Stores with on-site training
facilities and one service and repair centre per capital city.
The company is now entering a period of operational consolidation and revenue growth though
increased market share with the aims of:
1. Opening no new retail outlets for at least 6 months.
2. Initiating an aggressive brand marketing campaign.
3. Leveraging new sales channels (specifically online).
After recent retail outlet acquisitions and operational rationalisations, Maxi Music has the
operational infrastructure to pursue its market share growth, revenue and profit targets.
The key challenges the company now faces are:
• The market drift to online sales; especially for music accessories and studio equipment,
but to a lesser degree for musical instruments.
• Communicating the company brand and services to the market. This includes both
existing customers but also potential customers in regions where the Maxi Music brand
is relatively unknown.
Brand marketing and advertising is covered by another project run by the Sales and Marketing
division. The Magellan project will tackle the need to establish and online sales capability.
Currently Maxi Music’s online presence is lagging behind our competitors and does not to offer
online sales. The current web site only includes:
• Store locations
• Product catalogue
• Service descriptions
• Training course schedules
• Contact information
• Customer feedback form
Importantly, it does not cover:
• Online sales ordering and payments
• An indication of which products are available at which stores
• Training course, repairs or equipment hire bookings
Purpose
This section is intended to provide a summary of the rationale for undertaking the project.
Usage Guidelines
If a separate Business Case document exists whose contents can be viewed by all project staff,
then there is no need to restate this here, simply refer to it as an external document reference.
• For larger (or complex) projects, development of the Business Case may represent a
significant activity in its own right and should be captured as a separate document for which
a template is provided.
• If a separate Business Case document exists whose contents can be viewed by all project
staff, then there is no need to restate this here, simply refer to it as an external document
reference.
• If a separate Business Case document exists but it contains business confidential content
that is not appropriate for general project staff viewing, then those aspects of the Business
Case that are not confidential should be restated or copied into this section.
• Where a Separate Business Case document will not be created, this section should contain
these details here. Use the Business Case template provided for content structure
summary and guidelines.
Content Example
Key information from the Project Magellan Business Case (not already covered in the project
background above) is listed below.
Competitive Drivers:
• Maxi Music needs to enter the online musical equipment market to combat the growing
loss of market share to web-based sales and auction sites such as eShopper.com.
• Maxi Music needs to lead thee local retail market in service innovation.
Online Channel for sales promotions:
• Maxi Music should leverage its entry into the selling via online channel by initiating sales
campaigns and promotions online.
Leverage outcomes from other business initiatives:
• The national inventory integration project already in progress is an enabler to for online
sales and product availability enquiries.
• Future productivity gains and IT responsiveness to business initiatives can be leveraged
from the “IT Tomorrow” initiative to expand Maxi Music IT applications capabilities.
Purpose
Provide a summary of the required outcomes of the project. This section should provide a short
summary of the major items that will be delivered by the project, not so much in terms of the
specific configuration items to be delivered but in terms of the improvements in capability that
that the project is to deliver.
Usage Guidelines
• This information is provided in detail in the Business Case so should this section should only
contain the key or high-level outcomes.
• The Expected Outcomes should be no greater than half a page.
Content Example
Project Magellan is will deliver the following business outcomes:
• Grow product sales through the delivery a new Online Sales System (OSS) that allows
customers anywhere in the world to purchase and pay for any Maxi Music product via
the internet.
• Improve customer service through the Delivery a new Online Service Centre (OSC).
• Grow service (Repairs, Training and Hire) sales through the Delivery a new Online
Service Centre (OSC).
• Increase staff productivity through the Delivery a new Online Service Centre (OSC).
3 Project Description
Purpose
Describe the Project providing an unfamiliar reader with the necessary information to clearly
understand the project objectives and project boundaries.
Purpose
List the project objectives that must be achieved in order to meet the business objectives from
the Business Case.
Usage Guidelines
• Map each project objective to the business objective(s) it helps achieve.
• The project objectives should describe what the project will need to do at the high level.
• The project objectives should be aligned, using similar terminology, to the Business Case.
• Project objectives should be measurable and unambiguous.
• Optionally provide a further description of the objective to clarify any ambiguity.
Content Template
[Business Objective Id] - [Business Objective]
Content Example
BO1 - Achieve 10% of product sales revenue from the online within 12 months.
BO2 - Achieve 20% growth in sales overall within 12 months without additional stores or
core business staff.
BO3 - Reduce the staff overhead of managing Course, Hire and Repairs bookings by 60% in
6 months.
Purpose
List all parties impacted by the project including specific teams/groups/individuals from both
internal, customer and external organisations that need to be consulted during project planning.
Purpose
List the specific stakeholder teams/groups/individuals internal to the organisation and the
products they require of and/or must provide to the project.
Usage Guidelines
• Optionally a project context diagram to represent the internal stakeholder dependencies.
• Internal stakeholders may include: change management, HR, IT Operations, IT services,
business experts and representatives, auditors, governance bodies, standards teams.
Content Template
Stakeholder Name and Stake Description Primary Contact
Content Example
Stakeholder Name / Stake Description Primary Contact
Purpose
List the specific stakeholder teams/groups/individuals external to the organisation and the
products they require of and/or must provide to the project.
Usage Guidelines
• Optionally an organisation/project context diagram to represent the external stakeholder
dependencies.
• External stakeholders may include: Customers groups, IT service providers, hardware
suppliers, unions, external auditors or regulatory bodies.
Content Template
Stakeholder Name and Stake Description Primary Contact
Content Example
The following external stakeholders will need to be managed as part of this project.
Stakeholder Name / Stake Description Primary Contact
• Will need to fulfil more orders from Maxi Music under the tnewman@Maximusic.com
just-in-time stock terms (Buying Manager – Purchasing
• New suppliers will need to be found for some product lines Inventory & Distribution)
The following diagram shows the external stakeholders impacted by this project.
Auditors
Product Suppliers
Customers
Globe Music
Pty Ltd
$
ISP & Web Hosting
Provider
Postal Services
Shipping
Purpose
List the project sponsor and key stakeholder quality requirements that will be used to drive the
project and quality planning activities.
Usage Guidelines
• Provide a definition of the known quality requirements or expectation for each stakeholder.
• These will be used as input to product-based planning and solution requirements activities.
Content Template
Stakeholder Quality Requirements
INTERAL
[Name] • [Description]
EXTERNAL
[Name] • [Description]
Content Example
The following stakeholders have provided the following solution quality requirements. These
requirements will be elaborated upon during product-based planning and the solution definition
stage.
Stakeholder Quality Requirements
INTERNAL
Human Resources • All staff redeployments and role changes comply with industry and
government regulations.
Sales and Marketing • The full customer sale process can be supported by the OSS (i.e. order
placement to payment and shipping request) with only minimal manual
intervention from staff.
• Customer privacy regulations are adhered to.
Instrument and • At least all of the current system functionality is supported by the new
Equipment Hire solution.
Service and Repairs • At least all of the current system functionality is supported by the new
solution.
Training and • The new solution does not causse any disruptions to existing course
Education bookings.
Purchasing, Stock • The OSS will only allow products that are either in stock or available
and Distribution from a supplier on just-in-time terms to be sold online.
• Products out of stock without a confirmed price or delivery date may
have a pre-order enquiry.
• All shipped items must have insurance.
IT Application and • The business must conduct solution User Acceptance Testing.
Infrastructure
• Domain specialist business representatives must be made available to
work within the project team.
EXTERNAL
Internet Payment • The solution adheres to the usage policy and guidelines of the service
Service Provider provider.
Shipping & Postal • Clear and accurate delivery address information must be provided.
Service Providers
• A shipment volume projection should be provided for service planning.
ISP & Web Hosting • Future capacity and growth requirements should be provided for
Provider infrastructure planning and provisioning.
3.4 Scope
Purpose
Provide a clear indication of broad items, areas and high-level products that are within or
outside of the scope of the project. Particular attention should be given to any items that are
likely to be contentious or the subject of discussion between stakeholders and the project
management team.
This high-level description of the project scope is a key input to project planning.
Usage Guidelines
• The project objectives and stakeholder analysis are used as input to defining the project
scope.
• Ensure there is clarity in areas of responsibility between the project and its external interface
teams. For example, does the project scope include or exclude replacement or creation of
any interfaces which may be supported by existing systems?
• Clarify items that may be seen as responsibilities of other teams or projects in an
organisation such as existing data cleansing or migration, training, computer hardware setup
and installation etc.
• The Project Scope should be no greater than 3/4 of a page. Where the author feels that
additional detail is required, this should be achieved by reference to external documentation.
Purpose
Provide a list of high-level items that are within scope of the project to provide the audience with
a list of things the project will provide and as an input to initial project planning.
Usage Guidelines
• Group or categorise items of scope to make is easier for the reader understand. Categories
may include:
o Business Process Scope
o System Interfaces
o Business Change Scope
Content Template
Id Scope Item Name & Description
[Category]
Content Example
The following items, features or products are included in the scope of this project.
Id Scope Item Name & Description
1. Online Sales: Product/Sales/Shipping Enquiry, Quote Order, Raise Order, Order Payment,
Fulfil Order, Order Shipping, Invoicing, Returns.
2. Booking and Schedule Management: Equipment Hire, Training Course, Instrument Service &
Repairs
4. New Online Sales System (OSS) to support/automate the Online Sales process.
5. New Online Service Centre (OSC) to support/automate the Booking and Schedule
Management & Online Sales Promotion processes.
6. Replace the current Booking and Schedule Management systems: Hire Management System
(HMS), Training Booking & Schedule (EXCEL workbooks) and Instrument Service System
(ISS).
7. Replace the product catalogue and customer service pages on the current Plant Music web
site (Maximusic.com).
8. National Inventory System. Provide all product inventory information and receive inventory
updates for OSS.
12 Shipping. Shipping status enquiring information and shipping requests OSS and OSC.
.
13 Management Reporting System. OSS and OSC to provide business data for reporting.
.
14 User training and education for all users impacted by new or changed systems and processes.
.
Purpose
Provide a list of things that are not included in the project scope and why to help clarify any
potential ambiguities.
Usage Guidelines
• Exclusions are commonly dependent products or activities that may the responsibility of a
team outside of the project or are provided are provided by shared corporate services
groups. For example:
o UAT test data
o Server software licenses
o Updated business process and job role definitions
Content Template
Exclusion Name & Description Exclusion Reason
Content Example
The following items are not included in the scope of this project.
Exclusion Name & Description Exclusion Reason
New Service Advertising and Promotion Covered by the “One Maxi” project.
Establishment of new IT department capability. This is covered by the “IT Tomorrow” project.
3.5 Constraints
Purpose
List any constraints under which the project must operate.
Usage Guidelines
• Constraints may be time-based, financial, and personnel-based.
• Group constraints into categories, for example: Timeframe, Financial, Personnel.
Content Template
Id Constraint Description
[Category]
[Id] [Description]
Content Example
The project must operate under the following known constraints.
Id Constraint Description
Timeframe
C1 The development, integration system stage of the project can not commence prior to May
due to budget allocation constraints.
C2 The Solution Definition stage must be complete by end May. Due to financial year end, sales
staff will have limited availability to participate in the project.
Financial
C5 Capital expenditure requirements cannot exceed a budgeted $900k in the current financial
year.
C7 A budget of $300k must not be exceeded for the first year of IT support for new/changed
systems.
Personnel
C8 Due to existing commitments, participation from Accounting team representatives within the
definition stage of the project cannot exceed 1 FTE from the existing team for the duration of
the definition stage.
C9 All key project IT roles must be filled by Maxi Music staff in support of knowledge retention.
C10 Existing IT department staff skills and knowledge should be leveraged where possible.
Technical
C11 The OSS and OSC will be custom developed solutions which may be use third-party
software components only where approved by the Architecture Governance Committee.
C12 Existing Core System databases and systems must be used (see interfaces in scope listed in
this document).
4 Project Assumptions
Purpose
List any assumptions made to communicate how unclear requirements or constraints have been
interpreted when defining this plan.
Usage Guidelines
• Assumptions are way of verifying understanding of scope or impacts of constraints upon
delivery.
• Some assumptions may stimulate discussions with reviewing stakeholders and potential
changes to plan scope.
• Group assumptions into categories, for example:
o Organisational
o Scope
o Technical
o Financial
o Resources
o Timeframe
o External Dependencies
Content Template
ID Assumption
[Category]
[Id] [Assumption]
Content Example
The following assumptions have been made in defining this project.
ID Assumption
Organisational
A1 The Repairs, Training and Hire booking and schedule processes can be rationalised into
one that supports the needs of each business unit.
A2 No additional core business staff (apart from any required for the new helpdesk) will be
required directly as a result of this project.
Resources
A3 The project team includes staff from the impacted business units that are empowered to
make critical decisions regarding business process and requirements.
A4 The IT Applications and Infrastructure department can fulfil the project IT staff
requirements in the timeframes required.
Scope
A5 OSS and OSC reporting requirements can be met by using the existing management
reporting system.
Cost
A6 An overall blended rate of no more than $800 per day is expected to be paid for vendor
or contractor consulting services.
A7 Although new IT technical infrastructure has been included in cost estimates, these
estimates assume the existing infrastructure can also be used.
Technical
A8 The OSS and OSC systems will be implemented using a best practice technical platform
that has a large existing skills-base in the market. An unreasonable premium is not
expected to have to be paid for any external IT services required.
A9 The solution architecture will be consistent with the Maxi Music Enterprise Architecture
Blueprint.
Purpose
List any Related Projects which may impact the project delivering to its objectives or need to be
considered during project planning.
Usage Guidelines
• Include the high-level products required form or to be delivered to the project.
Content Template
Id Project Name Products Required By Products Required
From
Content Example
The following projects are impacted by this project. They have to either provide products to or
require products from this project.
Id Project Name Products Required By Products Required
From
Purpose
Indicated what he expected time frame for solution delivery is. Include any milestones required
during delivery.
Usage Guidelines
• What is the expected timeframe for delivery of the project? Are there any timeframe
constraints that should have been included within the constraints section?
• Where the major stages of the project are known in advance, the author may wish to
consider the likely timeframes for major project milestones.
• A table of high-level activities with start and end dates or a high-level Gantt chart may be
used to communicate the expected time frame.
• This section should include a short analysis of:
o Required Project time frames.
o Likely time frame for implementation in consideration of expected project approval
procedures used within the organization.
o Required delivery dates to the products required to be delivered.
Content Template
Stage / Activity Planned Start Planned Finish
[Stage]
Content Example
The following Gantt chart shows the target project time frames which will be verified during
project planning and solution definition activities.
ID Task Name Duration Start Finish Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
1 Project Launch Pad 33.6 wks 2 Feb 25 Sep
2
3 Project Establishment 4 wks 2 Feb 1 Mar
4 Project & IT Infratsructure Establishment 4 wks 2 Feb 1 Mar 2 Feb 1 Mar
5
6 Solution Definition 10.4 wks 12 Feb 24 Apr
7 Business Process Definition 6 wks 12 Feb 23 Mar 12 Feb 23 Mar
8 OSC System Architecture & Requirements 5 wks 26 Feb 30 Mar 26 Feb 30 Mar
9 OSS System Architecture & Requirements 7 wks 7 Mar 24 Apr 7 Mar 24 Apr
10
11 Solution Development, Integration & Test 21.2 wks 20 Mar 14 Aug
12 OSC Development, Integration & System Test 9 wks 20 Mar 21 May 20 Mar 21 May
13 OSS Development, Integration & System Test 18 wks 11 Apr 14 Aug 11 Apr 14 Aug
14
15 Solution Acceptance 17.2 wks 22 May 18 Sep
16 OSC User Acceptance Test Execution 3 wks 22 May 11 Jun 22 May 11 Jun
17 OSC System Acceptance 1 wk 12 Jun 18 Jun 12 Jun 18 Jun
18 OSS User Acceptance Test Execution 4 wks 15 Aug 11 Sep 15 Aug 11 Sep
19 OSS System Acceptance 1 wk 12 Sep 18 Sep 12 Sep 18 Sep
20
21 Solution Deployment & Review 15.2 wks 12 Jun 25 Sep
22 OSC IT Deployment 1 wk 19 Jun 25 Jun 19 Jun 25 Jun
23 OSC Business Deployment 2 wks 12 Jun 25 Jun 12 Jun 25 Jun
24 OSS IT Deployment 1 wk 19 Sep 25 Sep 19 Sep 25 Sep
25 OSS Business Deployment 4 wks 29 Aug 25 Sep 29 Aug 25 Sep
5 Acceptance Criteria
Purpose
Summarise the project acceptance criteria that are or will be fully defined in the Acceptance
Criteria document.
Usage Guidelines
• It is appropriate to include point level acceptance criteria in this section as part of an initial
draft document only.
• The Quality Criteria document is referenced here once it is created.
Content Example
The acceptance criteria for this project are listed in the Project Magellan Acceptance Criteria [2]
document.