Project proposal for up-gradation of our e-mail system Essay

Project proposal for up-gradation of our e-mail system - Essay Example The current system is a mix of five different e-mail systems being used across twelve departments. This has been found to be inadequate to meet the present and future demands of effective and uninterrupted communication. This proposal is aimed at integrating different systems into a single system by powering and installing a comprehensive communication package. LONG TERM OBJECTIVES: The objective of the project is to implement an integrated e-mail system by replacing the existing fragmented system that is currently being used. Once implemented, the new system will be capable of handling a comprehensive range of communication needs to support our growth. It is estimated that this system will be geared to handle all our future needs for a period of ten years. Expected Project results: All problems we had with the old e-mail system will be eliminated with the new software and hardware. The whole project will take ten days to implement and to become operative PROJECT SCHEDULE AND WORK PLAN: The project plan is given here in detail. The project costs and a Gantt chart is reproduced at the end. Till the process of the implementation of the project is over, the required staff will be required to work on all days including weekends. The following tasks are required for completion. a. a. Purchase of new software package: Five vendors were identified and a comprehensive review of their product and services had been done with the help of the IT department. It has been decided that the package sold by Company X will be most suitable for our situation. The company is willing to customize the whole software to our specifications. The review report will be made available to the stakeholders and the board of directors for final approval. Once approved, the contract can be signed in three days. b. Replacing obsolete hardware like modems, switches and routers. Our IT staff on the direction of the software vendor, has estimated that all communication hardware will have to be changed. Fifteen incompatible computers will have to be replaced. An additional ten nodes are also required to be purchased. Suitable vendors have been identified and are awaiting approval of the board of directors after review by the stakeholders. The whole process would take seven days to complete including installation. The old system will run concurrently till the new one becomes functional. c. Backup of all exiting communication received and sent so far: The new package has been designed to read the backup files of all existing communication stored in our systems. The backup will be done by our IT staff and it will take two days to complete. It will not seriously affect our day to day operations.