Develop a New E-Commerce Website - Case Study Example

27th Aug 2007 Brisbane City Council Australia Re: BIRSBANE CITY COUNCIL E-COMMERCE PROJECT MANAGEMENT Our company is pleased to submit our response to the Brisbane city council e-commerce project management dated August 21, 2007. We truly appreciate the opportunity to work with Brisbane city council – to extend our long-term relationship – and our mutual track record of delivery of mission critical projects, aligned to your step up agenda. Our company has reviewed the RFP and discussed the project with stakeholders. Letter of Acceptance The Company has reviewed the RFP, participated in the Q&A, discussed the project with selection team stakeholders, and is committed to working side-by-side with Brisbane city council to help the council reach its desired objective of developing an internet based application to enhance their water rebate process. I, as a project manager for this e-commerce project, have carefully gone through the requirement of project and hereby confirm my company’s willingness to accept this project. Thanks Named Signed Date Executive Summary After carefully going through the client’s requirements, we are ready to present our detailed plan to design and implement the e-commerce project for Brisbane city council. We understand the importance of this initiative and the respective challenges. We also understand the BCC e-commerce Application requirement. For that reason, we would bring the power of our experienced group to ensure that we successfully meet all the client requirements. has specifically endeavoured to think beyond the project, to BCC overall strategy and architecture in development of this proposal. We believe we are uniquely positioned to work with you on this application for the following reasons: The Right Team – We are able to draw from our company Information Management practice, in addition to team, combining deep web application development and transformation skills with deep knowledge of your stakeholders, functional areas, and product master(s). Our high end web application development combined with latest technology and unrivalled customer support, will help you gain the cutting edge in global arena Our Approach – The approach is comprehensive, as is required in a project of this scope and given the objectives. Our approach calls for some formality to the project value proposition – which we understand is not in scope, however our experience with web application projects indicates this will be required for success. Understanding ‘is it worth it’ will be critical. The approach also requires demonstrating what can work, how, and why – through engagement of the key functional stakeholders early and often, in a Proof of Concept. Finally the approach emphasizes the items we must get right – Application Architecture and Governance, being among those high priority areas. Unique Assets and Tools – not only brings relationships and strategic alliances with a number of esteem clients but we also boast of long lasting relationship with all the clients we have worked on. Having these alliances in place can save resources, and if appropriate, remove the complexity of dealing with the accountability of multiple parties. Our Value Proposition – A decision to move forward with will make sense if the project is viewed as truly strategic and complex in nature and if a teaming approach and attitude is desired. will bring the Firm to bear, inclusive of our alliance partners, to provide our hands-on ethics, our experience and delivery models for project. expects an accountability structure will be defined, so that it is clear that our goals are mutually shared and our collective performance is tied to our mutual rewards. We have entered into fixed fee and milestone-based arrangements with in the recent past, and have been extremely flexible in these terms, evidenced not only by our words, but by our behaviour. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding this submittal or the materials herein. Most importantly, we stress our desire to collaborate on the right approach and solution for Brisbane city council, and look forward to that dialogue. Should your team desire to meet with us we kindly request the opportunity to select a date which mutually works for our teams within the next ten days. Yours sincerely, Table of content Project details- The project is an initiative by the Brisbane city council to enhance water rebate process by making it an internet based application process. Keeping in mind the current water crisis declared by the Brisbane City council (BCC), the council is encouraging people around the area to reduce the water usage and to harvest rain-water for regular usage. On purchase of water saving equipments for example, water saving machines or tanks, the BCC is offering 100 percent water rebate. As of now the rebate claiming process is done manually which takes a couple of months to finalise the payment. To make the system more efficient and quick, BCC has proposed to develop an e-commerce project for electronically updating the system with customer details. Given below are purposes of the website: Uploading tax-invoice of project Proving a short description of project Photo of the product installed Bank details for rebate Technically features of the website include: 1 • An Admin section for management: 1 o Login/Password allocation, setting up User Authentication and Security privileges etc. 2 o Download the documents from the database server 3 o Interacting with the email service 4 o Report Generation & Management 2 • A User section that includes: 1 o Registration 2 o Login/Password authentication 3 o Upload options. 4 o Search feature for their location suburb 5 o Downloadable information of receipts Aim of the document The purpose of the document is to submit an approval for undertaking the e-commerce project development for the client- BCC. In addition, the document will acquaint the client with out detailed organisational structure, our key expert areas, and our expertise in the field of web and e-commerce as well as a detailed map on how we aim to undertake and develop the e-commerce project for Brisbane city council. Scope of the document- This document covers details about our organisation, our key stakeholders, organisation background our organisational structure, our company web development practice overview. Also, the document covers our methodology and tool for developing e-commerce applications and our detailed proposal for developing client’s e-commerce application. E-commerce has unquestionably altered the way IT manages projects, given its brutal pace, increased security risks, new technologies and disposable. Our company is highly adapted to mitigate the risks posed by e-commerce and use it effectively to deliver solutions for clients. The document does not cover our price quote, time-line for completion of project, and details of the project team. All these details will be furnished at the final meeting before the kick start of the project. Stakeholders involved Stakeholders will be engaged right from the beginning of the planning phase of the e-commerce Project to ensure that they are confident in the implementation and deployment plan. To develop this confidence, our company will work with key stakeholders to: Develop an overall conceptual solution architecture and design Develop a Proof of Concept Create a governance model which is relevant to key business and IS stakeholders Create a value proposition for the program Organisational Structure Our company is a global web development, technology services and outsourcing corporation, committed to delivering innovation. Our company collaborates with its s to help them become high-performance businesses and governments by providing them with cutting edge and high end web solutions. Our ‘high performance business’ strategy builds on our expertise in technology help s perform at the highest levels so they can create sustainable value for their customers and shareholders. Our company goes to market through five industry-focused operating groups in order to provide specialized capabilities and solutions. Our company’s industry focus is particularly strong, providing us with a deep understanding of industry evolution, business issues and trends, and applicable technologies, which ultimately allows us to deliver solutions tailored to each client’s industry. Supporting the operating groups are four service lines and four capability groups which bring Our Company’s clients the market knowledge, insights, and technologies needed to succeed in today’s competitive arena. In addition, through our solution units, develops cutting edge and robust e-commerce and web solutions that can be help clients reach out global audience and create a niche for themselves. Methodology Adopted The diagram above details out the complete methodology we follow while developing or implementing a web based application. Standards used Attractive: A strong graphic design that is consistent throughout a website gives a sense of coherence as well as aesthetic pleasure. We tailor the graphic design to client specifications and taste. Well Organized: Our company believe that well-organized web page takes into account both the nature of the material to be presented and the nature of your audience, making sure that vital information is only a few clicks away. Even a one-page web site benefits from intelligent organization and presentation of material similar to a complex multi-page web site; good organization is absolutely essential. Easy to Navigate: Exploring a website should be a rewarding experience, not a frustrating one. Intelligent organization not only supports ease of navigation, but it also helps to have the right buttons in the right places. Users should be given a good idea of how to get from one point to another with minimum dead-ends or unnecessary backtracking. Thoroughly Tested: Our technical team checks the syntax of all codes and verifies all links to ensure that every website we create, works properly. We also proof-read your pages so that they are not marred by mistakes in spelling or grammar. Authority and Responsibility Our company is a full authority for the complete implementation of project from sign off to deployment. Also, our company takes full responsibility for the maintenance and upgrade of the application as and when required. Budgets and Costs Our company ensures the delivery of robust yet cost effective solutions at a price highly affordable as compared to our competitors. Our company expects to deliver the first phase of project in 10-12 weeks which will provide engagement of key stakeholders through a Proof of Concept, confidence in an implementation and deployment plan, a governance model which is relevant to key business and IS stakeholders, a value proposition for the program, and an overall conceptual solution architecture and design, for approximately $3,000 - $4,000 for professional fees. Identified Risks http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20051107/management03.shtml Technology has moved from Object Oriented Programming (OOP) to Web Services programming, complicating the abstractness of project management. We are all well aware that e-commerce is here to stay and its not merely a fad. However, e-commerce based applications come with their share of risks and concerns. Our company has the complete ability to identity and manages the full spectrum of risks which bifurcates the boundary between success and failure. Criticality criteria of e-commerce: The criticality criteria of e-commerce are protection of customer interest, total up-time (obviating down-time), security of payment gateway, credentials during log-in and log-out, protecting the financial position from damage to reputation, setting standards of corporate governance, keeping a record of accountability and avoiding data degradation. We apply a proactive approach to mitigate risks both in planning and development. A framework to assess, manage and plan risk involves identification, analysis, envisaging consequences, planning, tracking and control. We strictly adhere to these broad guidelines to ensure that all projects developed and delivered by our company are 100 percent risk free. Ethical and Legal Aspects All our projects and applications are developed keeping in mind web of ethical and legal issues related to e-commerce such as privacy, security, fraud, crime, intellectual property, etc Whilst care and attention has been exercised in the preparation of this document, it remains subject to contract and all warranties whether express or implied by statute, law or otherwise are hereby disclaimed and excluded. Quality Assurances Processes For our company, quality assurance is the process of enforcing quality control standards and working to improve the processes that are used in producing the web site and its components, infrastructure and content. We believe that quality assurance is well implemented, a web site should see progressive improvement in terms of both lessening rate of defects and general increase in site usability and performance. We follow aggressive quality procedures at all stages of development, implementation of the project to ensure that the final product delivered meet the standards of client as well as our company. Our quality processes are ISO certified and are conducted by a team of highly experienced and qualified quality assurance professionals. Documentation team Our content management team works closely with the development team to record and documents various phases of project conception and delivery. This ensures a smooth delivery of project to client as well it helps client to easily understand the entire system, its navigation and structure. Our team of e-commerce professionals will deploy the project at client end and provide 24 * 7 assistance for any queries or problems. Further, we assure that our project will be highly robust, easy to navigate and provide various added features that will make this website a pleasurable experience for both customers as well as the client. The website will definitely help BCC to smoothen the process of entering details of water rebate process making the whole process easy, fast, and less time consuming. Conclusion Our company comes with experience of more than 15 years in providing high-end web and e-commerce solutions. Client Brisbane City Council intends to propose an e-commerce application for making the process of entering water rebate details electronically and fasten. In this document, we intend to provide client with relevant details about our company, its expertise in developing e-commerce applications. Also, the document details out our processes that will help us provide the client with a solution that will help them meet their objectives. References Julie Bort, 26 Feb 2001; the new rules for IT project management; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://www.networkworld.com/ecomm2001/round/round.html Encouraging people through technology; Olive Technology Limited; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://www.olivetech.com/images/Building_Sponsor_donor%20relations%20online.pdf Binoj Koshy (Assistant General Manager (EDP), Canteen Stores Department); Managing risk in e-commerce projects; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20051107/management03.shtml Ecommerce Project; English 420; Last Modified: 10/25/02; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~jbay/420/ecommerce.html The University of Edinburgh 2007; the University Web Publishing Team; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://www.philosophe.com/qa/qa.html Gigasoft™ © 2007 ; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on Aug 27, 2007 from http://gigasoftsystems.com/web-services.php?link=service6&div=webservicelink Read More