TABLE OF CONTENTS The team adopts the ASAP methodology for this project. It comprises five phases. In addition, the team feels the need for a post-implementation phase after these five phases. This study focuses on the first two phases of the project but an overview of all six phases is presented. The time of writing coincides with the end of the second phase.
The first phase was the Project Preparation phase, where the high-level project plan was prepared by the Project Manager (Lead) with some help from the HRD IT officer (HRD-IT) who maintained the Oracle system. It covered the project team structure, their roles and responsibilities, deliverables, work plan, assumptions and critical success factors. Preparation began in January 2003 because as one member explained:
When March came, it was basically about 80% ready. So that meant our planning stage became much easier because our documents were already there.
The plan was reviewed internally by HRD-IT and HRD Users, and externally by SAP before it was officially finalized by the Streeing Committee. Simultaneously, the team was finalized and hardware resources were reviewed to see if more was required. An Executive Kickoff was held in March 2003 and the Project Manager (Lead) presented the plan to the team, SAP consultants, the Steering Committee, process owners, and other key UNI members. The kick-off highlighted the importance of the project to UNI's business goals and the commitment of the executive team to the project.
The second phase was...
