UPGRADING HARDWARE 1
UPGRADING HARDWARE 2
Upgrading Hardware
The suitable topic chosen for the project is upgrading hardware. Hardware is the physical parts of the computer system, which includes storage devices, monitors, speakers, and motherboards, among others. They are directed by specific software to execute instructions and commands. The project will major in upgrading the storage devices, specifically the database.
Topic Description
Upgrading hard is defined as the process of enhancing or installing new hardware. The company which I am dealing with is experiencing low storage space with the database being outdated. As a result, the organization saw it fit to upgrade this type of hardware to ensure the organization’s activities continue to run smoothly. Upgrade, in this case, implies bringing in a new database and doing recommended configurations to wholly serve the company. It is an essential activity in the organization since its database is outdated. Besides, the amount of data stored has increased, which calls for the advancement to ensure there is maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
The primary goal of this project is to facilitate the data acquisition process from the database. Since the old database was not fully reliable to provide the organization with all the information at once, the new upgraded system is set up with the main goal of ensuring data is readily available to the authorized persons and secure. The other goals include increasing the storage space and enhancing compatibility with other primary devices.
Reasons for Undertaking the Project and Physical Resources Needed
There are several reasons are to why the project is being undertaken. Among them is reducing the storage cost as the upgraded server will come with more features that will help the organization to save on money. An example of this is in Oracle’s upgrade, where the 11g version has reduced storage cost and improved efficiency compared to the previous versions. Besides, the database has been optimized in a way that users are able to do more within a short time which also reduces cost. Another reason for the project is to enhance the database features. Recent upgrades always from with additional features that help in improving productivity. The last reason is to resolve the issues like bugs. Databases that have been outdated make it difficult to troubleshoot. This calls for the newest release of the database in the organization, which has resolved issues and bugs hence reducing the downtime. All the three reasons put together to make the project to be worth being undertaken to improve the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness.
The physical resources required for the project are the latest version of the database, resources, and information technology (IT) specialist. The database is the one to be installed and configured to replace the old and outdated versions. IT professionals are responsible for making backups, database configuration, and ensuring activities are running as usual. The resources required for the upgrades will be used to purchase the required materials and pay for the services. Definitely, the team involved will have to be paid, which calls for the physical resource of money.
Project Timeframe
The entire project of upgrading the hardware – the database will take approximately eight months. The activities of the project as distributed as shown in the table below.
Duration e
Activity
Feb 7, 2022 – march 4 2022
Project kickoff
March 6, 2022 – May 30, 2022
Planning
June 2, 2022 – August 30, 2022
Development and implementation
September 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022
Results
Team Members
The team members of the project will be seven. First among them is myself, I am the project manager. I will be responsible for planning, organizing, budgeting, directing, and completing the project (Larson & Gray, 2021). Besides, I will also work to ensure the project is within the scope and has been finished within time. Below this, there will be a team leader who will oversee all the team’s activities and report back to the project manager. Lastly, we will have team members who will be responsible for carrying out the required activities to ensure the daily goals of the project are met. But, all the team members, despite the rank, will collaborate to ensure the project has been successfully completed.
Project Budget
Project budget is an essential tool in project development as it helps in saving both time and money. This is because it helps in preventing unnecessary costs together with allocating the right amount of budget to each corresponding phase of the project as it is required. It is critical to perform this as it is among the aspects that ensure project success. Below is a table that shows an approximation of the budget.
Item
Amount in US dollars
Database
500000
IT team operation
37000
Miscellaneous
25000
Total
562000
A total budget of 562000 US dollars will be required to complete the project. The amount is expected to come from the organization and stakeholders to ensure the project is completed without financial constraints.
References
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2021). Project management: The managerial process (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Scope Statement
Home Shopping Network is an online retail that uses the latest technologies to reach its target audience. However, the hardware systems are expected to be upgraded over the next seven months. The project starts on February 7th, 2022 and will be completed by the end of September 2022. The approximate budget to complete the entire project is $562,000; it is broken down into the database, IT team operation, and miscellaneous. This project aims to create database storage because the current system is experiencing low storage and it is outdated. Therefore, this project will create a new database using the latest hardware with more extensive storage than the previous ones, which will ensure the system works efficiently and effectively.
Deliverables
Over the project’s life, various hardware, the most significant deliverables include random access memory (RAM). According to the IT specialists, the system has been slow because the RAM is too small for the current database. Therefore, upgrading RAM in the systems will increase speed and allow employees to access databases faster, enter new information quickly and facilitate efficient organizational functioning to avoid delays in customer orders. The second most crucial element that needs to be replaced is the hard drives; the system has been operating with limited storage hard drives that are slow compared to the modern hard drives. Most solid-state drives (SSD) are faster and more efficient than the traditional hard discs used in computers. These hard discs were installed in the computers several years back, and their technology has been outdated. The system has been running slow, delaying customer franchise; however, with SSD, which uses flash-based memory, the system will get back up and running. Thus, over the project’s life, the IT team will install RAMs, monitors, motherboards, speakers, and SSDs overtime for the effective functioning of the systems.
Milestones
The most significant event in the project’s scope is transferring databases from the old systems to the new systems. The organization cannot shut down for a week or two to transfer the database from the old systems to the new systems. However, the process will be separated into two bits. This event will be the most significant because it will determine if the new systems can work under pressure or needs backups. First, half of the systems will be replaced, while the other half will remain operational. Secondly, these new systems will be brought up, and the team will copy the database then the other half will be replaced. Only half of the hardware systems will be working; therefore, the system will be slower than when all the systems are installed. Due to the upgrades, the customers may not experience traffic in the database.
Technical Requirements
The most important technical requirements in the hardware upgrades will be the processing power, secondary storage, and peripherals. The processing power for the new hardware will allow fast and efficient database access. Secondly, secondary storage will be crucial in creating temporary file storage as the new systems are upgraded. Peripherals include keyboards, network devices, and mouse. These devices are essential for the higher performance and functionality of the system.
Limits and Exclusions
According to Van Deursen & Van Dijk (2019), there is a digital divide among internet users; in technologically advanced countries digital divide is a significant challenge. Therefore, understanding the basics of computer hardware is crucial before upgrading the hardware. A hard drive cannot increase the speed of a slow computer, nor can the processor; therefore, for the systems to be fit for use, they need general refurbishing of the hardware and installing new systems. Thus, the project will take time to make sound decisions and avoid spending more money on the project in the future; this hardware is expected to run for the next five years.
Work Breakdown Structure
Hardware Upgrade
Work 100%
Database
Budget- $562,000
Miscellaneous
IT Team
Operation
Work- 70% Work-35% Work-5%
Budget- $500,000 Budget- $37,000 Budget-$25,000
References
Van Deursen, A. J., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New media & society, 21(2), 354-375. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461444818797082
Critical Path
Manage incident
IT Team
Operation
Upgrade manual
Database Backup
Install latest
hardware
Upgrade work
stations
Miscellaneous
Database
A PERT chart would have been a visual representation of my project’s schedule showing various tasks that could be completed simultaneously. Therefore, this chart would represent the start dates for the project, finish dates, and the floats between the activities in the project. This hardware upgrade project would need a manual to help the employees understand the new systems and their functionality. The upgrades would make the workstations simple enough to operate; however, the new hardware requires employees to have manuals to configure some software for the system to work effectively. Therefore, the manual layout process, finishing the manual and releasing it to the employees would happen simultaneously with the hardware design, testing, and releasing to the business.
The organization system needs updates on hard drives, RAMs, processors, and other important hardware that affect the speed of operation in the organization’s website dashboard. Therefore, the PERT chart’s first step would be to finalize the specifications for various hardware; this information is an important starting point because the IT team will have enough time to assemble the materials compatible with different computers in the organization. Moreover, the specifications will save time and predict specific deadlines for each upgrade. The information will provide a project milestone by ensuring the IT team stay focused on things during the project time.
Lastly, the PERT chart will contain vectors and directional arrows, the time allotted for each task is labeled in the vectors. The time for the completion of each task is crucial for the project’s success. The timeline for the project requires the IT team to work around the clock and ensure the latest date is achieved. Similarly, the tasks in the project must be completed in a sequence. Therefore, the directional arrows represent the sequential completion of the project tasks. Each task builds on another. The manager cannot be complete some tasks before others; thus, the PERT chart provides a sequence to achieve the tasks.
My critical path contains issues such as date constraints, lack of communication, and not updating the schedule. The critical path depends on the schedule build; therefore, any oversight mistake may drastically affect the performance of the overall project. Date constraints such as “start no earlier than” are likely to create an afloat in the project. According to Kumar and Chakraborty (2016), a critical path identifies when the specific task will be completed to complete the whole project on time effectively. Date constraints may affect this aspect, and for instance, the project implementation is supposed to start between June and August. However, Database backup may take a shorter period than allocated. However, the critical path states that installing new hardware should happen no earlier than July. Therefore, the IT team will need to wait until July to start the hardware installation in computers even if they finished backing up the database a week earlier. This issue is significant in affecting the project’s performance because the hardware installation may talk longer than expected, interfering with the workstations upgrade schedule.
The second issue affecting the critical path is lack of communication; since the project is a hardware upgrade on all organization systems, the project manager sought not to use the project management tool. Therefore, the team is working without a graphical illustration of the project’s performance; there is poor resource scheduling and timelines. Thus, to stay on track, there is a need to solve communication problems by giving the IT teams a real-time interactive illustration of the project progress. Moreover, communication will make upgrades fast, efficient and effective to avoid failures in the project in the future. The project management software can be installed in portable devices provided to each IT team to provide them with multiple perspectives on the general progress of the project.
The teams are swaying from the original schedule; therefore, the dates in the critical path may be affected. Although the critical path has been essential in identifying the project’s most important tasks, the timelines have not been shortened but prolonged. Therefore, there is a need to avoid these mistakes and help establish the project better to suffer fewer setbacks for better project control. There is nothing more critical than achieving timelines effectively in the project’s big picture.
The additional information in the PERT chart that would help me make better decisions includes better visualization of the project; the chart will help identify potential bottlenecks. It will be easy to see all tasks, such as relationships and dependencies between individuals, the activity pattern, and their estimated duration. Secondly, the information in the PERT chart will put too much emphasis on the critical path I created for the project. The chart provides keen emphasis on the critical path to help the project stay on schedule; however, the manager should not focus on it because it may lead to neglecting tasks relationships.
References
Kumar, A., & Chakraborty, B. S. (2016). Application of critical path analysis in clinical trials. Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research, 7(1), 17. https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2F2231-4040.173263
