Introduction

The objective of this report is to find out if the project according to the current
schedule can be completed in time before the holiday season. The project needs to be
completed at least a week after the season which is the first week of December. The
variance in cost and the difference in duration is also checked for. The report also
checks if the new bundling requirement can be inculcated.

Analysis of present situation

To analyse the current progress of the project as of 26th August, we need to find the
expected cost and schedule of the project. For this we need to study the current trend
of the project with respect to the baseline done by Mr. Robertson and the information
inferred from the study is given below:

As of 26th August the actual cost of work performed was found to be $202,993.30, the
budgeted cost of work performed is $191,732.42 and the budgeted cost of work
scheduled is $301,620.00. The estimated cost variance of the project is -$11,260.88.
Since the cost variance is negative the variance of the cost is over the estimated
budget.

The scheduled performance index which is the ratio of the BCWP and BCWS is 0.64
and the cost performance index which is the ratio of BCWP and ACWP is 0.94.
If the scheduled performance of a project is found to be less than 1 then the project is
said to be behind schedule and if the cost performance index of a project is below 1
then the project is said to be over the budgeted cost.

In the case of this project both the SPI and CPI are below 1 which means that the
project is behind the schedule in terms of the duration which means that the project
cannot be completed before the thanksgiving and that the project when completed
will be over the estimated budget. The Cost Schedule Index of the project is the
product of SPI and CPI which for this project is as per the current schedule is 0.60.
The further the CSI is from 1.0, the less likely the project recovery becomes. Since
the CSI is 0.60 there is at least 60% chance that the project recovery can be done.

Page | 1
The above graph shows the relation between the actual and the budgeted cost. Here
the blue line which is the actual cost of the work performed goes above the line of the
budgeted cost of the work performed which is the violet line. This shouldn’t have
happened in a good project as this shows the variation of the budget in the works
performed which is greater and which means that the cost used is more than the cost
allocated.The orange line shows the budgeted cost of the scheduled work as of august
2003

The expected duration and the finish date of the project can be found out by using MS
projects and the result obtained from MS projects shows the duration of the project to
be 141 days and the finish date of the project to be the 8 th of December. Therefore the
project cannot be completed before the thanksgiving season.

The critical paths in the project are

Page | 2
 1.1.1 Manage Project
1.4.8 Design ERP Interface
1.7.8 Build ERP Interface
1.8.1.2 Perform Phase 2 Testing
1.8.2 Perform System Testing
1.8.3 Perform Validation Testing
1.9.1 Implement System
1.9.2 Deploy to Production
1.9.3 Project Wrap-up

Since there are a lot of critical tasks in the project the risks of the going over schedule
is more.

Calculating the expected duration without using MS projects gives the value as 198
days which is the ratio of expected duration to the value of SPI. So the expected
duration of 141 days can be taken as a more optimistic approach can be used rather
than an pessimistic approach considering all the above findings.

Therefore based on all the above observation on the current status of the project the
project will not meet its deadline of completing before the thanksgiving weekend on
the allocated budget.

Action Plan

To get the project back on track it is important to add more resources . Because of our
limitation in time we will have to add trained resources as to get the project back on
schedule. The contracted employees on the other hand will incur more cost to the
company in terms of cost and the final budget will go over the estimated budget. This
risk will have to be considered because the company will have to gauge the profit
they will have if the project is completed before the holyday season with respect to
the additional cost they will incur in adding more resources.

Bundling Requirement

Page | 3
The bundling requirement can be done effectively by having extra cost allocated to
the project. The expected duration is just 14 days over the scheduled project end day,
so adding some more resources will enable the company to add the bundling which
will immensely help the company to gain competitive advantage during the
thanksgiving season. But the risk involved is that the project could go over the
estimated budget and the learning curve of the contracted employees should be taken
in to consideration.

Conclusion

Considering all the options and risks involved , the project could be completed before
the holiday season by allocating more recourses and cost. Thus the critical tasks
would be reduced and thereby the total time taken to complete the project. The
bundling could also be inculcated without much risks even though there will be a
slight increase in cost which could be covered by the sales in the holiday season .

Page | 4
Page | 5