Project charter for a technology company case study

Technology Product

Project Charter: Technology Project for YourGard Technology Company

The project at focus in this study will involve hiring an outside contractor to develop the new application and an outside firm to design and construct the website. The web site must maintain the company vision and make the company's operation available in a technological sense to the world.

The purpose for this project includes the increase of market share and revenue through introduction of a new product line with technological features enhanced and increase of revenue through tapping into a larger base of customers through secure Internet sales. Finally, the purpose of this project includes the improvement of service to customers through engineering remote diagnostic, tuning and repair of the new product line.

Objectives of Project

The objectives of this project include the increase of the market share by 50% within two years of product launch through provision of touch screen technology and increased revenue by 25% within three quarters following product launch through acceptance of secure credit card transactions over the Internet. Finally, this project has the objective of increasing the satisfaction of customers by 25% among the existing customer base by becoming more technologically adept as customer satisfaction surveys have measured over the two-year period after launch of the product.

IV. Budget

The budget available for the project is the sum of $500,000.00

V. Timeline

The timeline set for the deliverables is 9 to 12 months.

The existing lines will undergo evaluation following the new line being on the market for a period of two years. Additionally, an enhanced website will be developed and launched parallel to the new line, which will enable the company to promote its products via the internet.

VI. ROI

The new product line and internet marketing and sales initiative will yield a solid return-on-investment within six months time.

VII. Information Technology Project

The new technology project is such that the new YourGard will be characterized by a touch screen color menu with graphical user interface (GUI) integrated into the product design. Users will be enabled to see their Pull/Stop configuration on this screen and when needed will be able to transmit their configuration to the office for diagnostic and tuning assistance. The following illustration shows the conception of this specific process.

Figure 1

VIII. Requirements for Detail Specifications for the Product

Involved in the new product line will be the following specifications:

(1) All pulls and stops replaced with 10"x10" touch color screen menu;

(2) Touch screen physically integrated into product design yet to be removed and replaced easily by the user for facilitation of repair and service upgrade. No tools to be required in replacement procedure, which will take a maximum of ten minutes.

IX. Web Site Enhancements

Website enhancements are to be inclusive of the sale of new and existing products over the Internet and user documentation for the new GUI to be made available on the company's website inclusive of step-by-step audio instruction and images of the final product. All credit cards are to be accepted with True-Sign as the credit card processing vendor.

X. Project Implementation

Project implementation will involve an outside technology consultant group being engaged to work with company engineers and craftsman to ensure the technology expertise needed to successfully implement the project. In addition, the company customer relationship management group will work on beta testing with several existing customers and the company quality control team will review and monitor the process of development and will work toward confirmation of the final acceptance of the product. The project will be characterized by collation between the outside technology firm and the company craftsman and quality control staff.

XI. Phases of the Project

Phase One - Specific project phases include the first step of extensive efforts at prototyping in order to ensure the graphical user interface touch screen requirements. The system GUI will be determined through experimental examination of the prototypes to be review by company craftsman and quality control personnel prior to finalization of the system requirements which will enable the provision of feedback to the contractor as the prototype is interacted with and the group comes to understand what GUI design is the most appropriate.

Phase Two -- Website development managed concurrently with the new product system and both being launched at years' end. Website content dependent upon the system GUI design although the development of the website can proceed independently of the system development schedule.

Phase Three -- Beta sites to be established to assist in final testing of GUI product and the portion of the website that provides diagnostic, tuning and repair supports.

XII. Product Deliverables

Product deliverables include a new working prototype of the product and a new product line with GUI pulls and stops as well as a new website that is enhanced and compatible with Internet sales of the new products. A detailed project schedule with baseline and tracking progress will be ongoing throughout the project.

XIII. Project Documentation

The project will be documented through use of (1) specifications of requirements; (2) high-level design document; (3) unit and system test plans; and (4) acceptance test plans.

XIV. Training

Training will include training of craftsmen, designers and management team on the new product line. Training will also be conducted of the internal technical teams on the website enhancements and maintenance agreements.

XV. Outside Consultant Company

Global Tech Force will be hired to consult on the company network and web customer support and product servicing features of the project. Global Tech Force is a provider of support for company solutions. Global Tech Force is reported to specialize in IT support for businesses. Included in the company's offerings are exchange server support, windows server support and SQL server support. In addition, Global Tech Force provides Network and Security services for companies with 10 to 200 workstations and even those with 1000 workstations. (paraphrased) The company reports functioning as "business consultants and IT partners to help clients leverage their IT investment to give them a competitive advantage." (Global Tech Force, 2012, p.1)

As in the case of the present company, Global Tech Force reports that for companies with IT departments, Global Tech Force "complements their skills with areas of expertise they may not require on a regular basis. Services include: (1) data backup and recovery; (2) support for the company firewall; (3) managed workstations and Server monitoring; (4) troubleshooting the network; and (5) Router support. (Global Tech Force, 2012, p.1)