ITI Project Brief - v 2020 - Archived
It is strongly recommended that this template is developed as a Word document and once approved, transferred to this project page (due to the limitation of the website in regard to editing and for easier sharing, tracking and versioning)
project_planning_-_project_brief_2020.docx
Document Sign-off
| Name | Role | Date signed off |
|---|---|---|
| Project Sponsor | ||
| Project Manager | ||
| Programme Manager | ||
| other stakeholders | ||
Background
Guidance (please remove)
This project brief has guidance, prompts and tips for many of the sections.
Please remove/edit these as they are there to help authors in writing the document and for project teams to consider but not suitable for the final version of the brief.
Scope
Changes to Scope will be logged on the Issue Log and also recorded on the Project Scope Change page.
Out of Scope
Guidance (please remove)
Any significant work we need to explicitly state we are not doing (that some stakeholders may assume or expect that we will).
Objectives and Deliverables and Success Criteria
Guidance (please remove)
Summarise - What we are aiming to do and deliver, by when.
What are we aiming to ultimately deliver that will be key to the measure of the success of this project - but potentially any significant other things along the way (that may outlive the project).
What are our objectives and what deliverables are part of them.
Driven by the Deliverables and Objectives. Do we have objective measures that we can point to to say the project has been a success (typically we said we would deliver X and we have).
Description of the Objective |
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| Description of the Deliverables needed to achieve the objective | ||
Objective 1 |
Success Criteria | |
| Deliverable D1.1 | ||
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Deliverable D1.2 |
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| Deliverable D1.3 | ||
Objective 2 |
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| Deliverable D2.1 | ||
| Deliverable D2.2 | ||
Objective 3 |
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Deliverable D3.1 |
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| Deliverable D3.2 | ||
Objective 4 |
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| Deliverable D4.1 | ||
Objective 5 |
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| Deliverable D5.1 | ||
| Deliverable D5.2 |
This table can be used through Business and Technical Analysis, Design, Build, and Testing/UAT as a Traceability Matrix to ensure the project brief project objectives and deliverables are followed through.
Requirements
Guidance (please remove)
State the known requirements that drive the project.
Who has set this requirement (who owns the requirement).
Ideally we set these as MoSCoW:
MUST - we would see the project as failing totally or partially if these are not achieved
SHOULD - we have a high expectation that these will be doable with planned work and budget - but if necessary these can be descoped
COULD - if all goes very well, these might be possible
WON'T - we want to be explicit about certain things that people might expect us to deliver but we want to be clear we won't deliver
Which deliverables will fully or partially satisfy the requirement?
| Requirement | User / Owner | MoSCoW | Associated Objective/Deliverable (Ox/Dx.x) |
Benefits
Benefits management and realisation will be available on the ITI Sharepoint space.
Guidance (please remove)
The benefits that the deliverables will enable or act as a catalyst in making happen. These benefits may be immediate or may be realised after the project has closed.
Governance
Guidance (please remove)
Project will have these governance roles by default. Change as appropriate.
Portfolio Governance
| Role | Name | Division / Group / Team / College / School and Title |
|---|---|---|
| Project Sponsor | ||
| Programme Owner | ||
| Programme Manager | ||
| Portfolio Owner | ||
| Portfolio Manager | ||
| Service Owner / Service Operations Manager |
Project Board
Guidance (please remove)
If the project has a project board for governance then list its composition here:
| Role | Name | Division / Group / Team / College / School and Title |
|---|---|---|
| Executive | ||
| Senior User (may be the Executive) | ||
| Senior Supplier | ||
| Other board members | ||
| c |
Tolerances
Guidance (please remove)
For medium and large projects, state any tolerances for budget/timeline/scope beyond which point the Project Manager must request approval of the change from the Sponsor and / or the Board. For all projects, check if there is a tolerance on budget/timeline/quality for escalating to programme/portfolio manager.
Resources Skills and Cost
Budget
Guidance (please remove)
For small projects and project teams, state the estimated effort - build and test, project management.
For medium and large projects, an estimate can be added to the Estimation Log and revised as project progresses.
Also estimate costs of hardware, software, licenses, travel, other.
Priority and Funding
Guidance (please remove)
Check the Forward Look and Annual Plan on ITI Sharepoint to see the project's priority within programme and portfolio (and reflect this also on the project info section of the website). Confirm that we have funding for this project.
Project Team
Guidance (please remove)
The project team : who manages the team, lead and other technical people, business analysts, lead and other representatives, people in other areas of the University who will be involved in analysis, testing, acceptance and service handover.
| Role | Name | Division / Group / Team / College / School and Title |
|---|---|---|
| Project Manager | ||
| Technical Lead and other technicians | ||
| Business Analyst | ||
| Business Lead(s) | ||
| Procurement Advisor | ||
| Service Contact | ||
| User(s) - who will help in analysis, testing and sign-offs | ||
Quality of Project and Deliverables / Key Project Milestones
Guidance (please remove)
The milestones are a key tool in ensuring that the project process itself is followed as set out by ITI, and that the product deliverables are to the required Quality.
Edit this template to list the key Milestones and who signs off on these milestones. Add milestones for Security, Accessibility, UX, as required.
For medium and large projects, a project plan - MS Project, Gantt, or other - can be added to the Plan Log and revised as project progresses. The approach can be stated here.
You can also mention the approach the project is taking to set, measure and confirm the quality of the deliverables
| Milestone | Sign-Off means | Date of Milestone | Who signs-off (Accountability) |
Start of Project |
Project can begin, is in line with Programme and Portfolio priority, has resource |
Add initial planning dates for milestones |
Sponsor, Programme Manager |
End of Planning |
Project Brief, Plan, Estimated Budget, Risks, Communication Plan - all approved. Project has resource approved by section head for the estimated effort. Project has funding for effort for other costs. |
Sponsor, PM, Programme Manager, Section Head(s) |
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| End of Analysis | quality and completeness of analysis | business analyst / business lead / senior user / PM | |
| End of Design | quality and completeness of design | technical lead / senior supplier/ business lead / senior user/ PM | |
| End of UI Design | quality of UI - to show we have designed an interface that is usable, accessible, promotes equality and diversity | technical lead / senior supplier/ business lead / senior user | |
| End of Build | quality and completeness of build | technical lead / senior supplier/ PM | |
| Acceptance | overall quality of deliverable, UAT has been passed, Intergation testing successful, all components technically checked - fit for delivery to live service |
technical lead / senior supplier /business lead / senior user /business analyst /PM
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| Security QA | deliverable satisifies security | Section Head | |
| Branding QA | for new, upgraded services, sign-off that branding guidelines for ISG, University, school/college has been followed by the project team |
PM / and as appropriate ... UoE C&M, college C&M and (pending) ISG Branding Team |
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| Design UI QA | to show we have built an interface that is usable, accessible, promotes equality and diversity | Sponsor and Service Owner | |
| EqIA | For new services or services undergoing substantial change, there must be an Equality Impact Assessment completed, validated by equality office and deposited on eqia website | PM / Service Owner / Equality Officer | |
| GDPR / PIA | Check if your project needs to undergo a Privacy Impact Assessment | PM / Service Owner / CISO | |
| GoCAB | Set the appropriate date for informing GoCAB of the release/change to service | PM | |
Delivery |
Change to Service can proceed |
Sponsor, PMservice owner/ service operations manager (helpline) |
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| Handover to Support | support can take over running of the Service | service owner/ service operations manager (helpline) | |
Closure |
Project can close |
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Sponsor, PM |
Assumptions
Guidance (please remove)
What are the key underlying assumptions for the project that underpin the planning? For example, that the requirements we have outlined are complete, that all our stakeholders have been identified, that the software we are using is ready and configured, that we have a ready to use TEST environment.
Constraints
Guidance (please remove)
Are there constraints on this project? For example, specialist skills are needed, having to deliver in certain windows through the academic year, we need to share a TEST environment with other developers?
Risks
Guidance (please remove)
The project manager will ensure that the project team will review the risk log at every team meeting, and project owners update their risks at least once a month or more as appropriate to the project.
Issues
Guidance (please remove)
The project manager will ensure all changes to cost/timeline/scope must be recorded in the issue log, and reflected in miletones log, budget and estimations, and the project Scope Change log.
Previous Lessons Learned
Guidance (please remove)
Does the ITI Lessons Learned (see ITI Projects Sharepoint) indicate any issues or risks from previous projects? Is any other previous experience pertinent?
Dependencies
Guidance (please remove)
Are there other projects or work that this project is dependent on to start or possibly interact with at a later stage - or vice-versa that depend on this project.
Are we depending on certain events to take place?
Are we dependent on suppliers, or product releases?
Communication
Guidance (please remove)
For projects with an array of external stakeholders, a Communication Plan can be created and made available on the ITI Sharepoint space if preferred.
Also confirm that :
Project Sponsor and Project Manager meeting schedule has been agreed with Sponsor.
Project Team meetings schedule has been arranged (these may be combined with Sponsor meetings).
Check the ITI Annual Planning Engagement with Stakeholders on ITI Sharepoint to see the level of engagement our partners expect for your project
Check the ITI Forward Look to see if your project wil be using the Major Governance Toolkit.
Run / Grow / Transform
Guidance (please remove)
Which activity does the project contribute to? The project could be one or more of R/G/T
Alignment with Strategic Vision
Guidance (please remove)
This project will deliver benefits, change and innovations in alignment with the University's Strategic Vision for 20.30 **
Check the Annual Plan on ITI Sharepoint to see how the project's deliverables and benefits have been aligned to Run/Grow/Transform and the Strategic Themes **
University's Strategic Vision for 2030 the main elements of the vision that this projects contributes to are highlighted in bold.
| 2030 Themes | Alignment | Commentary |
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People |
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Student |
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Staff |
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Alumni |
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Other |
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Research |
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Researchers |
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Industry |
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Teaching and Learning |
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Students |
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Staff |
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Social and Civic Responsibility |
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Local Community |
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Volunteering |
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City Region Deal / DDI |
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| Digital Transformation | Commentary |
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| Describe how the changes this project delivers will contribute to the digitial transformation of the Service |
IS Change Programme - How will this project's Deliverables and Benefits promote the Themes
Guidance (please remove)
Indicate if the project deliverables and benefits contribute to the themes with the IS Change Programme.
| IS Change Programme Theme | How the project deliverables and benefits contribute to change |
| Project Management | |
| Working Together | |
| Standards and Technical Leadership | |
| Staff Learning and Development | |
| Service Based Culture | |
| Equality and Diversity | |
| Partnerships and Philanthropy | |
| Flexible Resourcing | |
| Communication and Branding |
Service Excellence - Information and Security
Guidance (please remove)
Are we using standard builds for the project (that is, pre-validated security controls will be in place for infrastructure and data)? Or Do we anticipate having to develop non-standard infrastructure?
Will we have third party integrations on installations?
Are we dealing with data outwith our standard set of controls?
If so, What level of risk is associated with the data? What are the appropriate controls?
The project must outline how it is dealing with risk, how the need to design/build/test impacts on project scope, budget and timeline.
Confirm which University or divisional polices are providing guidance here.
Set Security design, execution and acceptance as a Deliverable Quality Assurance
Create a Security Milestone for Delivery - and Design, Build and Acceptance depending on project complexity - that must be signed-off by Project Manager and Section Head.
Create any specific risks around security
Service Excellence - Process Improvement, efficiency, quality and best practice (Social Responsibility and and Sustainability)
Guidance (please remove)
If the project could or will lead to recycling of hardware then Create a milestone called 'Recycle - Engagement' so that the project can engage with the Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability at the appropriate time
Add a Benefit to the ITI Benefits Management and Realisation log (ITI Projects Sharepoint)
Is there an opportunity to take advantage of the Green IT Initiative for further funding?
Otherwise set as Not Applicable.
Digital Transformation
Guidance (please remove)
Indicate if and how the project itself is contributing to Digital Transformation.
WiIl it use available resources or funding specific to the initiative? e.g. using the services of the ISG Usability Team, applying for Digital Transformation funding.
Are we using new techniques or tools or processes in this project that can be used to transform how we work in general?
IS Change Programme - How will the execution of this project promote the Themes
Guidance (please remove)
Indicate if the project itself (during plan, execution, implementation) contributes to the themes with the IS Change Programme.
Some expectations and suggestions from ISG Directors - what to think about for each them when planning the project 
some_expectations_and_suggestions_from_isg_directors.pdf
| IS Change Programme Theme | How the project process will contribute to change |
| Project Management | |
| Working Together |
Guidance (please remove)Will the project team talk to other colleagues across IS? Can they bring previous experience and fresh thinking to the project? Add working together to your Communication Plan - go beyond the stakeholders. How will you raise awareness of the project with your colleagues across the divisions? Might you work closer - co-locate, for example? Could the processes involved in the project itself be improved - what is difficult to do? Is the Admin cumbersome, time-consuming? Add to the Closure Report. Look to guidance from the IS Change Management team on how to approach this.
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| Standards and Technical Leadership | |
| Staff Learning and Development |
Guidance (please remove)Is there an opportunity for the project to offer development opportunities for colleagues? Could someone from another team in our division or another ISG division be seconded to the project to provide skills we may be struggling to find in this period? Can we offer a development opportunity for someone in our division at a lower grade - to come into our project and be skilled up, fulfil a higher grade role for a while? For planning, make sure you allow the necessary time to engage / recruit in your project, and feed back to the annual plan/forward look?
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| Service Based Culture |
Guidance (please remove)Are we helping the service to shift-left? For services impacted by the change we are delivering : check the Service Catalogue (due for 2016/17) for Service Owner and Service Operations Manager. Confirm with them who should be stakeholders on the project. Also check with head of IS Helpline. Confirm at what stages if the project SO/SOM want representation and sign-off - especially around Design and UAT and Delivery. Do we need a Handover? Add Stakeholders to these Milestones. Is there a CMDB entry to update to reflect changes?
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| Equality and Diversity |
Guidance (please remove)Planning: Discuss the Project Board, project team and key stakeholders with your Sponsor - do the groupings reflect/promote diversity? Be aware of particular periods or dates that may conflict with religious or social or domestic obligations. Design: Are we designing a User Interface? Are we designing with best practice in Usability and Accessibility for all devices? Please explicitly ensure that the Design of the UI has been checked for promotion of Equality and Diversity. e.g. Use 'Mx' in the Honorifics section- - but do we even need honorifics - how much information do we actually need to collect from a user? Does our interface make assumptions about the kinds of people our users are? Do we accommodate people who are at a distance, working flexibly, may not wish to be identified by gender, race, age or show a photo? Do we give options as to what services users might want or do we assume they will want what we want, or what users have wanted in the past? Are we being creative in thinking about use cases beyond the metrics and other ‘evidence' we have for users in the past - not simply recreating/perpetuating old ways of working? How are we naming a Service (or even Hardware) ? Consider a naming convention to highlight or promote Equality and Diversity. Do we have the opportunity in this to promote role models or show our understanding of diversity? Would this give us an additional route for comms or stakeholder engagement? e.g UCL named their HPC ‘Grace’ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/news/isd-news/research-it/introducing-grace which gave them an added ‘good news story’ and a chance to dispel myths that there are no women in computing. Quality Assurance: Add a Design Milestone and a separate Milestone for Acceptance Sign-Off. The Design Milestone confirms that the UI has been checked for promotion of Equality and Diversity, and that we have designed an inclusive UI. Add to the Design Milestone, or better, create a separate Usability Milestone for Design and QA. There must be a separate EqIA Milestone to show that this has been done. Ensure that appropriate authority is signing off on the legal aspects of Equality and Diversity.
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| Partnerships and Philanthropy |
Guidance (please remove)Does/can/might this project promote or leverage partnerships? Are there any philanthropic aspects around the execution of this project - are we providing free resources or software, for example?
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| Flexible Resourcing |
Guidance (please remove)Have we considered contract staff, students and interims (and in future, apprentices)? Can a difficult resourcing situation be resolved by use of fixed term staff or limited secondments? For planning, make sure you allow the necessary time to engage / recruit in your project, and feed back to the annual plan/forward look.
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| Communication and Branding |
Guidance (please remove)Communication: Ensure that you have a session as part of planning for Stakeholder identification and analysis. Set out the communication plan by the end of the project brief - or set a milestone date for when you will have this in place if end of planning not possible. Project Manager is the accountable person and will sign-off the milestone.
Branding: Are you delivering a new Service or significantly upgrading a new service? If so, then the project team must engage with the new Branding guidelines and Change Management Theme team for ISG, the branding for the school or college via the college marketing team, the University's Comms and Marketing team - potentially all of these. Use gel.ed.ac.uk to access assets and guidelines for branding of communications, websites, mobiles. Use the Student Digital Guidelines.
Quality Assurance: A milestone must be created for Branding and the Project Manager must sign-off as the accountable person.
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Project Sponsor – Project Responsibilities
The sign-off milestones are associated with specific responsibilities of the Sponsor role .
Guidance (please remove)
This sets out the Sponsor responsibilities on this project - please review and amend as appropriate for this project and agree with Sponsor
Start of project – Explicitly Included in the Initiation Milestones Sign-Off
- Negotiates and confirms funding for the project
- Ensures the project is in line with organisational strategy and priorities
- Chairs the project board, appoints its members and ensures they are effective
- Advises the project manager of protocols, political risks, issues and sensitivities
- Makes the project visible within the organisation
End of Planning – Explicitly Included in the Planning Milestone Sign-Off
- Works with the project manager to develop the Project Brief
- Ensures a realistic project plan is produced
- Sets tolerance levels for escalation to themselves and to the project board
- Ensures that project team have representation and engagement from users and suppliers
- Helps identify Stakeholders
- Approves Communication Plan
- Agrees on frequency of meetings with Project Manager
- Agrees of frequency of meetings with Project Team
- Agrees on milestones and who signs-off
Execution – ongoing
- Provides strategic direction and guidance to the project manager as directed by the Board
- Approves changes to plans, priorities, deliverables, schedule
- Encourages stakeholder involvement and maintains their ongoing commitment
- Chief risk taker
- Makes go/no-go decisions
- Communicates change in organisational structure, priorities, business benefits or funding
- Helps the project manager in conflict resolution
- Helps resolve inter project boundary issues
- Gains agreement among stakeholders when differences of opinion occur
- Assists the project by exerting organisational authority and the ability to influence
Delivery – Explicitly Included in the Delivery Sign-Off
- Ensures that Service is ready for change
Closure - Explicitly Included in the Closure Milestone Sign-Off
- Helps with publicity for the change delivered
- Ensure that benefits will be managed, measured and realised post-project
- Evaluates the project’s success upon completion
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| some_expectations_and_suggestions_from_isg_directors.pdf | 341.89 KB |
| project_planning_-_project_brief_2020.docx | 40.2 KB |