Operations and Project Management Case Study

Varun softech Project Services: Project Control to Manage Changes in Project Plan

OR

Abstract:
A project plan is an approved document that describes the project specifications and possible changes in the project, which includes project parameters such as performance, quality, cost and time. At the planning stage, all the project specifications and changes may not be included in the plan as it is impossible to foresee them in the beginning of the project. Deviations or Changes from the project plan are inevitable as there is no ideal plan for most of the projects. During project implementation, the project plan is put into execution. This case study mainly focuses on the unexpected, adverse changes cropping up in the project plan due to internal or external factors. These adverse changes in the project plan lead to escalation in total project costs. Therefore, the project management team should consider ‘project control process’ to manage changes in project plan systematically.

Most of the IT companies in India are dependent on outsourced projects and have been affected adversely due to global economic recession. The worth of the outsourced projects has fallen down drastically and project schedules made shorter. The companies, which managed the unforeseen global changes effectively, could only perform well in the market. Varunsoftech Project Services (VPS), is one such leading IT firm in Hyderabad, which provides software solutions to their global clients. Unfortunately, the effects of the recent global recession was seen on the company as well since it depends mostly on outsourced projects. The clients frequently made changes in their project schedules, costs and sometimes even scaled down their project size. To solve this problem, the management initiated ‘project control process’ to know the project performance stage-wise, which not only helped VPS to manage the unforeseen changes in the project but also reduced the company’s financial losses.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To understand the significance of early, middle and later stages of SDLC
• To understand the SDLC at RPSS

Keywords : Project Control, Project Plan, Change Management,Project Performance, Traditional Accounting System, Lapses in Project Schedules, Change in Costs