Brian Smith, who is a network administrator at Advanced Energy Technology (AET) has been tasked with moving a large data centre to a new office location in the newly developed industrial complex at the Corvallis International Airport in Corvallis, Oregon. The company provides application as a service product to two hundred thirty five oil jobbers and gasoline companies. As a result, the company can experience no downtime during the transition to the new facility. Any user interruptions from clients could result in lost revenues and damage to the company's reputation as a reliable IT company in the industry.
¶ … Energy Technology Data Centre Migration
Work Breakdown Structure
Network Diagram
Critical Tasks (Highlighted)
Milestones
Resources Assigned
Quality
Cost
Reporting
Brian Smith, who is a network administrator at Advanced Energy Technology (AET) has been tasked with moving a large data centre to a new office location in the newly developed industrial complex at the Corvallis International Airport in Corvallis, Oregon. The company provides application as a service product to two hundred thirty five oil jobbers and gasoline companies. As a result, the company can experience no downtime during the transition to the new facility. Any user interruptions from clients could result in lost revenues and damage to the company's reputation as a reliable IT company in the industry.
The scenario in this case dictates the entire focus of the project. Since the data center components must all be moved in a weekend after the new location is prepared then there is not any allowance for error. This coupled with the fact that the organization will not tolerate any inconvenience to the clients makes a successful transfer even more salient. Therefore the most important aspect to this project will undoubtedly be thorough risk management and risk planning. A careful evaluation will have to be conducted by each of the functional representatives as well as a risk contingency plan be prepared to avoid any potential delays.
Work Breakdown Structure
Task Name
Duration
Preliminary Discussions
1 day
Scope Meeting
1 day
Initial Project Planning
2 days
Hire Contractor
5 days
Network Design
10 days
Order Hardware (Ventilation)
15 days
Order Hardware (Racks, Servers, Switches, and Others)
10 days
Order Hardware (Power Supplies)
5 days
Install Ventilation
5 days
Install Racks
15 days
Construction
20 days
Inspection
2 days
Install Power Supplies and Run Cables
5 days
Functional Unit Approval
5 days
Check Voltage
1 day
Install Test Servers
5 days
Batteries, Vents, Test Servers
2 days
Primary Systems Check
1 day
Set Official Date
1 day
Move Network Components
2 days
Network Diagram
Critical Tasks (Highlighted)
Task Name
Duration
Start
Finish
Predecessors
Preliminary Discussions
1 day
Mon 5/28/12
Mon 5/28/12
Scope Meeting
1 day
Tue 5/29/12
Tue 5/29/12
1
Initial Project Planning
2 days
Wed 5/30/12
Thu 5/31/12
2
Hire Contractor
5 days
Fri 6/1/12
Thu 6/7/12
3
Network Design
10 days
Fri 6/1/12
Thu 6/14/12
3
Order Hardware (Ventilation)
15 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 7/5/12
5
Order Hardware (Racks, Servers, Switches, and Others)
10 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 6/28/12
5
Order Hardware (Power Supplies)
5 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 6/21/12
5
Install Ventilation
5 days
Fri 7/6/12
Thu 7/12/12
6,11
Install Racks
15 days
Fri 7/6/12
Thu 7/26/12
7,11
Construction
20 days
Fri 6/8/12
Thu 7/5/12
4
Inspection
2 days
Fri 7/6/12
Mon 7/9/12
11
Install Power Supplies and Run Cables
5 days
Tue 7/10/12
Mon 7/16/12
12
Functional Unit Approval
5 days
Tue 7/17/12
Mon 7/23/12
13
Check Voltage
1 day
Tue 7/17/12
Tue 7/17/12
13
Install Test Servers
5 days
Wed 7/18/12
Tue 7/24/12
15
Batteries, Vents, Test Servers
2 days
Wed 7/25/12
Thu 7/26/12
16
Primary Systems Check
1 day
Fri 7/27/12
Fri 7/27/12
17
Set Official Date
1 day
Mon 7/30/12
Mon 7/30/12
18
Move Network Components
2 days
Tue 7/31/12
Wed 8/1/12
19
Milestones
Planning Complete
Installation and Construction Complete
Testing Complete
Project Completion
Resources Assigned
Task Name
Duration
Start
Finish
Predecessors
Resource Names
Preliminary Discussions
1 day
Mon 5/28/12
Mon 5/28/12
Operations
Scope Meeting
1 day
Tue 5/29/12
Tue 5/29/12
1
Operations
Initial Project Planning
2 days
Wed 5/30/12
Thu 5/31/12
2
Design, Engineering, HR, Operations, Purchasing
Hire Contractor
5 days
Fri 6/1/12
Thu 6/7/12
3
Operations, Purchasing
Network Design
10 days
Fri 6/1/12
Thu 6/14/12
3
Design, Engineering, Operations, Purchasing
Order Hardware (Ventilation)
15 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 7/5/12
5
Design, Engineering, Purchasing
Order Hardware (Racks, Servers, Switches, and Others)
10 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 6/28/12
5
Design, Engineering, Purchasing
Order Hardware (Power Supplies)
5 days
Fri 6/15/12
Thu 6/21/12
5
Design, Engineering, Purchasing
Install Ventilation
5 days
Fri 7/6/12
Thu 7/12/12
6,11
Engineering
Install Racks
15 days
Fri 7/6/12
Thu 7/26/12
7,11
Engineering
Construction
20 days
Fri 6/8/12
Thu 7/5/12
4
Operations
Inspection
2 days
Fri 7/6/12
Mon 7/9/12
11
Design, Engineering, Operations
Install Power Supplies and Run Cables
5 days
Tue 7/10/12
Mon 7/16/12
12
Engineering
Functional Unit Approval
5 days
Tue 7/17/12
Mon 7/23/12
13
Design, Engineering, Operations
Check Voltage
1 day
Tue 7/17/12
Tue 7/17/12
13
Engineering, Operations
Install Test Servers
5 days
Wed 7/18/12
Tue 7/24/12
15
Engineering
Batteries, Vents, Test Servers
2 days
Wed 7/25/12
Thu 7/26/12
16
Design, Engineering, HR, Operations, Purchasing
Primary Systems Check
1 day
Fri 7/27/12
Fri 7/27/12
17
Engineering, Operations
Set Official Date
1 day
Mon 7/30/12
Mon 7/30/12
18
Engineering, HR, Operations, Purchasing
Move Network Components
2 days
Tue 7/31/12
Wed 8/1/12
19
Engineering, Operations
Quality
To determine some of the critical success factors that might be present in this case a review of the literature was conducted. One study found provided a framework for categorization of critical success factors that was based on an analysis of previous research. These categories were then applied to the case to see what insights might be obtained. These categories include (I) business plan and vision; (2) change management; (3) communication; (4) IT team composition, skills and compensation; (5) management support and championship; (6) project management; (7) system analysis, selection and technical implementation (Nah, 2006).
The vision in this case is fairly straight forward however the business plan is far less clear. Planning, especially risk planning, will likely be a critical success factor in this project. Change management will also play an important role since very few of IT projects are performed exactly as planned. This project will also benefit from the fact that there are only five functional divisions involved; a manageable number. However, the project manager should still have a set communication and change management process so that no deviation fails to be reported.
The next two categories, management support and championship as well as project management, can be adequately condensed into a single category in regards to this discussion. Since the project is vital to the success of the entire operation it is very likely that the project will have management's full support throughout the entire process.
Other critical success factors were also identified early user buy-in. In this project, since operations has been involved from the beginning, it is not likely that there will be a significant amount of end-user resistance. The structure of the project virtually guarantees a "partnership" between operations and the rest of the team (Verville, Bernadas, & Halingten, 2005). Somers and Nelson (2001) also provide a set of additional critical success factors which consists primarily of the use of a steering committee, use of consultants, adequate testing, and ongoing vendor support. In this case it might be prudent for the project management to have items such as the design verified by an independent consultant to ensure that the design is up to par. The experience of a consultant can be a tremendous asset in projects such as these; especially when there is little room for error.
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