Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.1 (
Continued
)
Key Questions to Create a Charter Document
Project Charter Section
Questions to Ask
Did We Do It (Y/N)?
Project governance
Who has the authority to approve changes in scope
(inclusive of time or cost)? Who is responsible for
issue and risk management? how will risks and
issues escalate if they remain unresolved?
Communication Plan
What is the communication plan for project? how
should communications between stakeholders be
performed?
Financial targets
What is the overall budget for this project?
11.7.6 Scope
Scope is typically defined in your project charter and your business requirements
document. your project charter is your high-level overview of the scope, and your busi-
ness requirements document help define the detailed scope. Cleary defined scope will
save you from the hell of a never-ending project and from the
evil of scope creep
. he
importance of a well-defined scope cannot be stressed enough because, without it, your
Essbase project will grow until it cannot be done on time or within budget. It is human
nature to want more, and a clear scope definition is essential to curb this inclination
and achieve success. It needs to be written in such a way that it will be absolutely clear if
extra work is added later in the project. If I could put it in flashing lights for you in this
book, believe me I would. The scope statement has two components: the deliverables
and the boundaries. It is very common to see the deliverables within a scope statement
defined in terms of functionality, i.e., system will support alternate hierarchies, system
will calculate these metrics, etc. With Essbase projects, it is important also to define
scope in terms of boundaries: What specific data elements and their sources will be
included? not defining this aspect can add significant time and effort that may not be
readily apparent.
11.7.7 Milestones
key points along the project plan are often referred to as milestones. The main objec-
tive of establishing milestones is to provide a measurement of the project's progress and
success, and to allow early re-assessment of the ability to meet essential timelines. This
measurement not only assists you in determining the project status, but also provides
critical management-level information for assessing the successful completion of the
project.
you can take a couple of approaches to creating the project milestones. For an Essbase
project, a suitable approach is to organize milestones around functional components. As
you review the deliverables and activities in the project plan, identify milestones based
on the completion or start of a group of related activities that are designed to deliver a
portion of functionality.
11.7.8 Communication Plan
A well-planned project has a well-planned communication strategy. A regular com-
munication schedule will help to ensure that everyone remains engaged and informed
throughout the project. The communications plan will identify information you
will need to communicate to project stakeholders and also gather information that
