Reference no: EM132266952

Assessment Details:

Aussie Vacancies is a travel agency that specializes in the rental of high-quality self-catering accommodation in Australia. For the summer months, it offers a wide selection of holiday cottages and, for the winter, apartments and chalets in various ski resorts. The company was founded by two friends who still own it, David Martin and John West, and has been in business since 2010. It has grown rapidly to achieve a turnover of some $6.75 million per annum and employs 85 staff at two of?ces, one in the Sydney and one in Melbourne. Aussie Vacancies currently uses two main sales channels:

– Direct selling to customers through mailshots of its brochures and customer support centres (70 per cent of sales).
– Sales via high street travel agents (30 per cent of sales).

However, the company is aware from press coverage and from surveys among its own customers that there is a growing public demand to be able to book holidays via the internet. This is particularly true as its customers are precisely the sort of people who are ‘net aware'. Aussie Vacancies does have a website, but this is just its latest brochure in electronic format and it does not have links to up-to-date availability data or the facilities for customers to make secure bookings online.

Consequently, Aussie Vacancies has decided to implement a new Internet-based booking system. This will be linked to its existing computerised booking system, which contains data on the availability of properties, and to its customer database as well as having secure links over which credit card data can be received. In addition, the company wants its management information system (MIS) enhanced so that it can trawl its databases and send targeted information to customers on properties that are likely to be of interest to them.

The project

Because of the small size of its IT department, and since the department lacks skills in the design of e-commerce applications, Aussie Vacancies has decided to entrust the development of its internet service to a consultancy company, E-Con. This firm has tendered for the following services:
– Analysis of the requirements.
– Production of a detailed requirements specification.
– Design, development and implementation of the internet systems, including a new website and secure communications links.
– Training Aussie Vacancies staff in the use of the new systems.
– Specification of the interfaces required from Aussie Vacancies existing customer database and booking system (the development of the links at the Aussie Vacancies end to be done by its own IT department).
– Specification of the additional hardware required to support the new system (to be obtained from Aussie Vacancies usual suppliers, the procurement to be managed by the IT department).
– ‘Skills transfer' to Aussie Vacancies IT department, so that ongoing maintenance and development of the new system can be handled in-house. The development of the MIS aspects of the new system will be dealt with by Aussie Vacancies IT department.

The date now is 1 April and Aussie Vacancies wants to have the new system up and running for the
start of the winter season's bookings at the end of June.

A recent strategic review of Aussie Vacancies undertaken by its senior managers - the two directors and their direct reports - showed that
– Aussie Vacancies has a good reputation in its marketplace and a lot of ‘brand recognition' by
its target market.
– However, this target market (reasonably affluent professionals) does make extensive use of the internet and it was felt that being unable to offer this service would increasingly become a weakness.
– At least one of Aussie Vacancies' competitors already has an internet booking service (albeit
not a very good one) and others are sure to follow soon.
– The internet tends to increase the power of buyers (as they can shop around more easily) and lowers the cost of entry for new competitors.
– The suppliers (the owners of the properties) can also set up their own websites, thereby cutting out brokers like Aussie Vacancies and increasing their own relative power.

The project board will meet on a Thursday afternoon every two weeks during the project.

There was some argument about how the role of project manager should be filled. Peter Clay, Aussie Vacancies IT manager, thought that he should take this position, with the E-Con project manager being a team manager. However, E-Con argued that, as it was doing most of the development work, it would make more sense for E-Con to provide the project manager. In the end, David Martin agreed with E-Con and so the project manager will be Richard Vaughan, an E-Con principal consultant. He will manage two teams, one led by Peter Clay which will develop the MIS aspects of the new system and the other led by E-Con's Siobhan Reid which will develop the internet software.

On will also provide the project support functions, as it has a project support office that works with all of its projects.
The project assurance functions will be discharged by a small team comprising:
– Helen Winter, one of Jack Hunt's sales supervisors
– Mark Southam, one of the resort managers
– Gail Hardie, Aussie Vacancies' management accountant
– Norman Pierce, E-Con's quality assurance manager.

The Report includes the following tasks:
– Discuss different phases of the project life cycle
– Produce a Business Case
– Create a SWOT diagram
– Create a Stakeholder register
– Create a Project Charter
– Create a project Network Diagram

Attachment:- Assessment - Report.rar