Overview
In this course, you have already spent much of your time exploring vulnerabilities, and you have begun using project management tools to plan how to mitigate the risk from those vulnerabilities. Your work in this project will continue to build directly off of the scenario introduced in Project One, while allowing you the opportunity to look deeply at all aspects of this culminating experience. It is time to refine and finalize your project charter with the incorporation of a communication plan. This will help you draw more connections to your Gantt chart by seeing directly where the two align. There will also be time to revise your Gantt chart based on scope creep, something you will often need to contend with when working in the professional industry. Scope creep can arise from anything that increases the amount of work you have to complete during a project’s schedule. The communication plan included with a finalized project charter is essential for raising awareness and mobilizing a team to deal with the potential challenges associated with project management.
The project incorporates two milestones, which will be submitted in Module Four and Module Five. The project will be submitted in Module Seven.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Demonstrate basic project management principles to effectively collaborate in cybersecurity-related activities, tasks, and projects
Scenario
The ACME Company administration is surprised by all the potential vulnerabilities and areas for improvement you were able to find in its network. They would like to immediately begin moving toward a multi-layered approach to security, which addresses the three risk domains of people, process, and technology, by building on the information you have already provided. Because of your knowledge of the network’s vulnerabilities and your prior experience as a project manager, the ACME Company hires you to create a comprehensive project management plan for addressing one vulnerability for each risk domain.
You are told that stakeholders would like this project to be completed in the next six months. The following table details the list of teams and individuals you will have as resources when completing the work.
Personnel Role
Stakeholders Provide funding for the project
Project manager (You!) Responsible for coordinating the work between each different team, while also serving as the direct link to the stakeholders
Hardware engineers team lead Prioritizes and coordinates the team’s work and operates as a member of the small development team as well
Software engineers team lead Prioritizes and coordinates the team’s work and operates as a member of the small development team as well
Contractor Possesses a specialized skill set hired from outside the organization, and is responsible for physical work and maintenance of the office space
Two months into the project, at a meeting with the stakeholders, you are told that a document conversion function will be added to the scope of the project. The stakeholders believe it is important for the integrity of company data that it be made available as PDF files when reports are generated. While the stakeholders view this as a simple process, which you and your teams will be able to tackle along with the existing project work, you know there will be more to take into consideration. You will need to contract someone with a specialized skill set, who understands document conversion, to operate as a database administrator and to inform the installation of the new software. If this resource is acquired, the work could likely be completed in parallel with other tasks, but you understand there will be challenges in incorporating this into your existing budget.
Prompt
Using your work and instructor feedback from Project One, you will develop a comprehensive project management plan to address vulnerabilities in the organization’s network. Select one of the vulnerabilities you already identified in Project One for each of the three risk domains (people, process, and technology). The plan you create will focus on implementing changes that will mitigate each of these vulnerabilities.
You have already completed two Project Two milestones earlier in this course. After revising your work, based on instructor feedback and the Project Two scenario, you will submit your updated work along with the two additional sections of this project (Communication Plan and Scope Creep). This will allow you to better understand both the individual components of project management and their interconnected nature.
Your submission will include a written project charter with a completed communication plan, a completed Gantt chart, and a written explanation of your plans for scope creep. You will be using the Project Two Communication Plan Template, which has been linked in the assignment in Module Seven of your course.
You must address the critical elements listed below. The codes shown in brackets indicate the competency to which each critical element is aligned.
Project Charter
Create a mission statement to explain the project goal and scope of intended delivery.
Discuss business needs, including scalability, that are met by completing the project.
Assess potential business impacts of the project.
Communication Plan
Determine goals for three to five necessary communications in the project.
Determine the necessary parameters for each communication, including an effective method, effective frequency, appropriate owner (responsible party), and appropriate audience.
Explain how each component of your communication plan will contribute to providing frequent, open, and transparent communication for your phases, milestones, and tasks in the project.
Gantt Chart
Design a plan that effectively balances a timeline to mitigate one vulnerability for each of the three risk domains, while adhering to the overall scope necessitated by stakeholders.
Create phases, tasks, and milestones that effectively divide the work and align to the project goal.
Explain the best use of resources for each task.
Scope Creep
Develop a detailed plan, using your Gantt chart, to adjust for scope creep in the project.
Justify why your plan will effectively address the scope creep in the project.
Assess the potential impact of budget on your multi-level approach to enterprise security.
Discuss how you will communicate your new plan to stakeholders, in order to effectively manage the conflict introduced by the scope creep.
What to Submit
Your submission should be a total of 4 to 6 written pages in length and should also include a completed Gantt chart spreadsheet. Use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Any references should be cited according to APA style.
**Supporting documentation uploaded**
