The main purpose of this paper is to state the project management best practices for a typical project in the field of software services and in specific tailored management information systems. This paper will state all the project life cycle to cover most of the project management concepts and techniques trough illustrating a business case for a tailored MIS project.

1. PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN & CASE STUDY
“From Client Requirements to Full Implementation”
BEST PM PRACTICES FOR TAILORED MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM-
BASED ON, ISIS1- INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL SERVICES,
APPLIED PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY
AL-MOTAZ BELLAH AL-AGAMAWI2
magamawi@gmail.com
Nile University, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt
Table of Content
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Keywords ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Project Scope .................................................................................................................................. 3
Project Deliverables and Services ................................................................................................... 3
Project General Consideration ........................................................................................................ 4
Reliability.................................................................................................................................... 4
User interface engineering .......................................................................................................... 5
Information security .................................................................................................................... 5
System Scalability....................................................................................................................... 5
Modular Design .......................................................................................................................... 5
Project Management Approach....................................................................................................... 5
Project Sponsorship .................................................................................................................... 6
Project Mission and Objectives .................................................................................................. 6
Efficient Communications .......................................................................................................... 6
Complete Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 6
Complete Design ......................................................................................................................... 6
1
ISIS- Information Systems International Services, is a Egyptian Software house, established since 1997 with a
reputable clientele list in the field of software bespoke development services. For information:
www.isisinternational.net .
2
Al-Motaz Bellah Al-Agamawi is the Vice President for Business Development in ISIS, and a M.Sc. Candidate in
Management of Technology in Nile University, Cairo, Egypt.
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2. Modules Coding and Testing ...................................................................................................... 7
Training ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Project Management Structure ........................................................................................................ 7
Top Management Council........................................................................................................... 7
Steering Committee .................................................................................................................... 7
Business Committee.................................................................................................................... 7
Technical Committee .................................................................................................................. 8
Human Resources Committee..................................................................................................... 8
Project Communication Methodology ............................................................................................ 8
Reporting mechanisms ................................................................................................................ 8
Project Single Point of Contact ................................................................................................... 8
Project Work Breakdown ................................................................................................................ 8
Project Implementation Team ......................................................................................................... 9
Project Implementation Plan ......................................................................................................... 10
Mobilization Phase [2 weeks] ................................................................................................... 11
System Analysis [6 weeks after Mobilization] ......................................................................... 11
Design (6 weeks from Analysis) ............................................................................................... 12
Development (12 weeks from Design) ..................................................................................... 13
Deployment (2 weeks from Development) ............................................................................... 14
Training (4 Weeks from Deployment) ...................................................................................... 14
Coaching and real-life Implementation supervision (12 Weeks from Deployment) ................ 14
After Sales Support and Warrantee (52 weeks from deployment date)…................................ 15
Project Acceptance Criteria .......................................................................................................... 15
Initial acceptance ...................................................................................................................... 15
Tuning ....................................................................................................................................... 16
Final acceptance ........................................................................................................................ 16
About ISIS .................................................................................................................................... 16
Acknowledgment .......................................................................................................................... 16
Disclaimer ..................................................................................................................................... 17
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3. Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to state the project management process for a typical project in
the field of software services and in specific tailored management information systems based on
ISIS- Information systems international services company internal applied methodology. We will
state all the project life cycle to cover most of the project management concepts and techniques
based on ISIS- Information Systems International Services, internal process and methodology
trough illustrating a business case for a tailored MIS project delivered by ISIS.
Keywords
Project Management, stakeholder management, requirement specification, validate and verify,
work breakdown, project steering committee, project reporting, milestones, acceptance criteria;
Project Service Definition, Project Deliverables, Project General Consideration, Project
Management Approach, Project Communication Methodology, Project resourcing, Project
Implementation Approach, Project Resources Allocation, Project Implementation Plan, Project
Acceptance Criteria, Project Closure Procedure
Project Scope
The project scope includes the development of a web based management information system
including a backend system managing all the client workflow processes and a frontend
marketplace giving the client customers the ability to place orders and receive services offered
by the client through a complete e-commerce system. The project is classified under the category
of business process automation and online e-commerce systems. To achieve the strategic
objectives of the client a system must be developed based on the client existing manual and
legacy system procedures and workflow.
In order to achieve this, ISIS services includes, analysis, design, development, deployment,
training and go-life coaching for a period of 6 month for a management information system
based on the client request for proposal and the technical and financial proposal submitted by
ISIS to the Client.
Project Deliverables and Services
Project deliverables can be classified into a backend MIS- Management Information System and
Frontend ecommerce system. The backend MIS is classified as business process automation
services which includes several modules; as suppliers management module, online product
catalogue management, user management, support and ticketing management, online
advertisement management, financial and administration reporting, social network management,
products quality control management, promotion management, coupons issuing and management
and others.
The frontend system is classified a typical e-commerce system development service. Frontend
includes two main interfaces supplier interface and buyer interface. The supplier interface
includes supplier registration process, supplier product catalogue management, supplier
information management, supplier promotion management, supplier financial reporting, supplier
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4. customer support interface and other related functionalities. The frontend buyer interface
includes public catalogue, registration process, purchase process, rating and review, social
network interaction, wish list, complain, purchase history, online payment capabilities and other
required functionalities.
In order to achieve the above mentioned deliverables ISIS services is composed of:
 System Analysis: in which complete system requirements from different stakeholders
must be gathered, verified and then an automated approach for the different processes and
procedures must be proposed. The deliverable of the this phase is the complete system
analysis including system requirements specification document.
 System Design: based on this the output of the analysis phase a detailed logical and
physical system design document will be developed. The purpose of this phase is to map
all the requirements mentioned in the analysis phase into a system design.
 System Development: a system will be developed based on the design document
developed in the previous phase.
 System deployment: the developed system must be deployed on the client infrastructure,
including all the required parameters adjustment to be ready for usage by the client team.
 Training: a professional training services must be provided for all the system stakeholders
including client team and suppliers to be able to use the system in an efficient and
effective manner.
 Go-live coaching: a 6 month go-live coaching service is included. In this phase ISIS team
will supervise and coach the client team during the real life operation of the system to
guarantee the smooth operation.
 Warrantee and support: a one year warrantee and support is included.
Each of the above main services is composed on detailed subservices which will be
mentioned in details in different sections of this document.
Project General Consideration
In addition to the above mentioned system requirements stated in the project deliverables and
services section in this document, it is recommended that a set of general consideration must
be consider by the project manager in any typical tailored/bespoke management information
system development projects. In this section we state the general system technical
consideration from the development point of view as well as a deployment, training and
operation supervision.
Reliability
A reliable system needs extreme care during all its development life cycle. From its analysis
phase (that identifies what it has to do) till it’s after sale support (that verifies that it has been
done) passing by designing, coding, documentation and testing.
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5. User interface engineering
As one of the basic key factors of success, the following parameters are to be applied during
the system user interface design phase; Most recent international standards that guarantee
ease of use and efficiency. Comprehensive navigation to secure best utilization of system
functions. Fashionable interface that appeals users and guarantees user friendly
environments.
Information security
As one of the highest concerns of all entities utilizing information and communication
technologies nowadays, a special focus is applied to this vital issue of information security as
follows. Extreme care is to be applied to the user’s access privileges on both function level as
well as data levels in order to match their existing privileges. A powerful administration tools
to guarantee that each individual user of the system will have a user definable accessibility
rights. Users may be categorized into usage groups. For each group, some common privileges
are to be set allowing at the same time some deviations between one user and another among
the same group.
System Scalability
Even in a small systems, implementation takes effort, users’ acquaintance and loyalty takes
time, tuning the enterprise resources for the best system adoption means money. All these,
means that it is not desirable at all to frequently change a certain system to another. It usually
consumes a lot of the most valuable resources of the enterprise time, effort and money. we
live in a dynamic world. In which roles do change from time to time. Organization
requirements get bigger every day. Operation size may change. Even technologies can
change. All this factor emphases that system scalability must be considered all over the
project life cycle; starting from the analysis, the design and development of the system.
Modular Design
In order to achieve scalability, it’s a must to design a modular system. A system that consists
of so many modules stuffed together in a decent hierarchal/network nature. Each module is to
be related to the others in a way that allows its change without affecting the others. Simply
modules are as the building blocks of a sophisticated –yet smartly designed- building.
Project Management Approach
The project management approach consider three basic elements;
 People.
 Business Rules and Processes.
 Technology & Infrastructure.
For people, all involved parties (including both vendor and client teams) must be considered.
All managerial levels from top management down to everybody in the enterprise (whether a
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6. system user or not) since they will all be affected by the system. Considering their
motivations and barriers. Considering their current degree of professionalism and their
ambition to develop their capabilities and opens new horizons for their enhancements in
terms of quality, cost and time. The deployment of a new management information system
always needs good care. Not only from the people and business process point of view (as the
adequate training and proper testing) but also from the technology suitability to its purposes.
In order to take care of these three factors, the following considerations are to be
implemented.
Project Sponsorship
As a well-proven practice, top management commitment and sponsorship provides the IT
project with a vital success element. Through this sponsorship, the top management of the
enterprise will provide the main guidelines of project objectives. It will also track its periodic
milestones achievements and interfere when necessary to resolve any problem that may
appear during its implementation lifecycle.
Project Mission and Objectives
A clear focus should be provided in order to define a clear mission and objectives for this
project. Both parties should come up together with an agreed upon statements that clearly
define both mission and objectives and convey them to all individuals participating in the
project.
Efficient Communications
Well defined communication channels and rules should be set in order to guarantee the best
possible comprehensive understanding between both parties. Although perception
verification mechanisms may be considered as an overhead, but they had always proven to
pay back for their costs.
Complete Analysis
Even though, a typical project may divide deliverable to more than one phase, good systems
development practice require a good coverage for all phases in the analysis. Gathering all
phases’ requirements and business processes is mandatory in order to define all modules
inter-dependencies and interactions.
Complete Design
As it is with the analysis, the same should be applied to the design with adequate details of
all modules. This is the main guarantee that all project modules are to be built up at their
planned timing without the need of a redo or undesired changes in another module that has
been already delivered and implemented.
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7. Modules Coding and Testing
Once complete analysis and design are done, modules may be developed in an incremental
manner. Knowing in advance what a certain module may require from another one, will
permit its development and testing in an efficient way.
Training
The real success of any system is totally dependent on the ability of its prospect users to use
and get results that satisfies their needs. The only way to achieve this is through good
training.
Project Management Structure
Project Top
Management
Project Steering
Committee
Business Technical
HR Committee
Committee Committee
Top Management Council
As the supreme council of the project; mainly to provide proper project sponsorship and
guidance; it has the full rights to appoint all subordinates as well as follow up their performance.
It should meet at the beginning of each phase and may meet in between if needed. It includes the
following personnel; A senior representative for each party (of the selected stake holders) top
management. The two project managers representing each party (vendor and client).
Steering Committee
To take care of the daily management including but not limited to detailed planning versus
achievements and corrective actions when needed. It should have a periodical meeting at a
maximum interval of one calendar month. And has the authorities overall project subordinates.
Its members are; Each party project manager. Each party senior representative in the following
three committees.
Business Committee
That supervises all analysis tasks related to requirements gathering, business rules, workflow and
other related issues. Although its’ main tasks will be at the analysis phase, but it will have other
roles including the approval of the design, the verification of the delivered applications from the
business point of view, and the consulting when needed afterwards.
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8. Technical Committee
That takes care of all technical infrastructure including the hardware, communication, databases,
development technologies and other related issues. It will also have other roles including the
approval of the design, the verification of the delivered applications from a technical point of
view with a main role all-over the project development life cycle.
Human Resources Committee
Responsible for the allocation of the required users human resources, training them, replacing if
needed and other related issues with special focus in the deployment and operation phases.
Project Communication Methodology
Reporting mechanisms
In addition to the reports to be agreed upon as part of the communication mechanisms during the
mobilization period, there are to be two basic types of reports addressed to the customer; Regular
periodical progress reports, on weekly, monthly and at the end of each phase. Irregular reports
that approaches a certain deficiency or unplanned delays. These reports are to be submitted not
later than a week in advance.
Project Single Point of Contact
It is very important for any project success to assign a well-defined communication mechanism
between the vendor and the client. One basic element of this mechanism is to appoint a Single
Point of Contact- SPOC. This SPOC is to empowered and authorized to take all necessary
decision to secure the project success. Based on the above mentioned project management
structure, both parties Project managers is usually the SPOC. Both SPOC ’s are to communicate
together and take the required actions and decisions. They also report to the top management
committee on a regular basis.
For strategic customers and mission critical projects, it is recommended to assign an account
manager. This account manager main responsibility is to follow up and secure customer
satisfaction. Although he does not interfere with a certain project detailed actions, but he/she is
informed regularly with the project status through a periodical progress report. Once a foreseen
deviation of the plan is anticipated, he/she is to escalate this deviation to the top management in
order to decide a preventive action.
Project Work Breakdown
The project work breakdown is as follows; categorized based on the project main activities:
 Analysis
o Requirement Gathering
o Backend Systems Specifications
o Frontend Systems Specification
o System Navigation Plan
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9.  Design
o High Level Architecture
o Logical Design
o Physical Design
o Navigation Design
o GUI Interface Engineering Design
o GUI Graphical Design
o Test Scenarios and Test Cases Design
 Development
o System Infrastructure Components Development
o System Backend Modules Development
o System Frontend Modules Development
o System Integration Development (Backend + Frontend)
 Testing
o Modular Testing
o Integration Testing
 Deployment
o Server Tools Deployment
o System Deployment
 Training
o System Help Development
o User Manual Development
o Training Material Development
o Conduct User Training
 Support
o First Line Support to Client Users
o Second Line Support to Client Suppliers
o Go-live coaching
 Warrantee
o Bug Fixes based on contact SLA- Service Level Agreement terms
Project Implementation Team
Based on the work breakdown and estimated project effort, the following table represents the
vendor team main roles, number of allocated resources per role and phase of involvement.
Although this is the project team resources required for the delivery of the project mentioned in
this paper but the below main roles can be considered as the typical required resources for a
typical tailored MIS/bespoke development project, the difference will be in the number of
allocated resources based on the project size and allocated delivery timeframe.
Role # Allocated Resources Involvement Phase
Project Account Manager 1 All Phases
Security Senior Consultant 1 Design Phase
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10. Project Manager- SPOC 1 All Phases
Senior Analyst 1 Analysis Phase
Senior System Architect 1 Design Phase
Senior System Designer 1 Design Phase
Senior Team Leader 1 Development Phase
Senior Support & Training 1 Deployment and Training
Manager Phase
Senior Support 2 Deployment and Training
Senior SW Engineer 2 Development Phase
Senior Developer 6 Development Phase
Senior Administrator 1 Deployment and Training
Phase
Senior Interface Engineer 1 Design Phase
Graphic Designer 2 Development Phase
Senior Web Navigation 1 Design Phase
Senior Test Engineer 1 Testing Phase
Tester 2 Testing Phase
Project Implementation Plan
The project implementation plan is divided in the following major phases:
1. Mobilization
2. Complete System Analysis
3. Complete System Design
4. Development
5. Deployment
6. Training and Coaching
7. After Sale support & Warrantee.
10

11. Mobilization Phase [2 weeks]
The purpose of this phase is to form the project management committees, prepare and approve
project detailed plans, set the project communication mechanisms between the two parties,
design forms and templates for the various project activities, and allocating team members and
project stakeholders for the project kick-off.
The outcome of this phase would be the project baseline, detailed time plan, and detailed action
plans and duties for teams.
The major activities of this phase would be as follows:
 Nominating project steering committee, which is the highest authority in the project,
auditing the project management practices and approaches.
 Forming different project management teams and committees and representatives of each
party.
 Do preliminary project sizing for different project activities over the two major project
modules
 Do time planning and resource allocation over the entire teams.
 Agreeing on the project communication mechanisms between all parties.
 Specify necessary required pre-requisite information to be gathered and devising
collection forms if necessary.
 Divide responsibilities and objectives within the devised project plan specified for all
team members.
 Conducting the project kick-off meeting.
System Analysis [6 weeks after Mobilization]
The purpose of this phase is to come out with a concrete description of the system data, business
logic, business cycles, actors, permissible and non-permissible activities.
11

12. The deliverable of this phase would be a complete analysis document, which enlists all the facts
and specifications obtained and formulated through the analysis phase.
The major activities of this phase would be as follows:
 Requirements gathering includes; understanding the general natures of products of
suppliers, promotion business rules, coupons and their codes, promotions, and other data
elements. Also gathering of supported business processes and workflow for suppliers, the
clients and buyers.
 Synthesizing gathered data to come out with solid business processes and business
flows for product management, complaint management, promotion enrollment and many
other business processes supported by the suggested system.
 Producing the Complete Analysis Document which includes the data specifications and
relationships, business processes and cycles, system use models, test scenarios, input
methods, reporting, security specifications, and Software Requirements Specification
along with the proposed initial and final acceptance criteria.
 Challenging the Analysis Document which includes peer review, auditing and
challenging the analysis document against business cycles, known flaws and best
practices.
 Analysis Document Approval is done by the client, which is then the road map of the
entire system.
Design (6 weeks from Analysis)
The purpose of this phase is to translate the analysis document into a system design that
indicates how the system objectives, data, and processes are going to be technically met; and
validated.
The deliverable of this phase is the Design document. The design document would include the
technical representation of the analysis document, in an arrangement that maximizes the system
integrity, reliability and maintainability. It is considered to be the intermediary language between
the Analysis (business) and the Development (programming and testing). The document includes
also information regarding the system success conditions, testing plans, and User Acceptance
12

13. Criteria (UAC). The audience of this document is majorly with a strong technical background,
but has to be validated with the client for the UAC related issues.
The major activities of this phase would be as follows:
 Review Analysis for consistency so as to make sure everything put into the design
document is consistent.
 Represent data and business processes in standard technical representations and
diagrams. Also include testing plans, testing cases and scenarios along with Detailed
infrastructure requirements specifications
 Represent Security Design Issues in relevant formats for maximum understandability
and tracing purposes.
 Challenge the Design Document against design errors through peer review and auditing.
 Design Document Approval in this phase is done by the client.
Development (12 weeks from Design)
The purpose of this phase is to actually produce the application, including its two main
components the backend modules and frontend modules
The deliverable of this phase is a working application, technical documentation if necessary (to
reflect any changes from the design phase) and a user manual (help/how-to).
The major activities of this phase are:
 Programming
o Programming in a Modular Fashion where each team is assigned a module to be
finished, and hence build the system incrementally.
o Unit Testing along the completion of each logically coherent block.
 Testing
o Detailed Testing Plan which includes designing all the test cases and scenarios
corresponding to the analysis, design, and development inputs.
o Module Functional Testing which tests each module functionalities against its
supposed behavior.
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14. o Integration Testing at the completion of each module integrated with the
previously developed and testing one.
o Load Testing
 Documentation
o Technical documentation for the changes that may be applied in the development
phase.
o User documentation for the system users.
Deployment (2 weeks from Development)
The purpose of this phase is to install the developed software at the customer site.
The outcome of this phase is that the developed software is installed in its final destination.
The major activities of this phase are:
 On-going Deployment Preparation, in which the deployment teams deploy the so-far-
ready modules of the application in an in-house server/facility to test the deployment
techniques, challenges, and finding best practices.
 Tuning, in which minor changes might be implemented for a better system performance
and customization.
 Final Deployment which entails the final deployment of the application in its final
destination at the client site (or whatever hosting facility chosen by eLABs).
Training (4 Weeks from Deployment)
The purpose of this phase is to leverage the system users to be capable to capitalize on the
system capabilities and maximize its benefit.
The outcome of this phase is a help document for the different system modules interfaces, an
Online manual, and a supervised integration for selected sample of data.
The major activities of this phase are:
 Conducting Supervision for Security Integration for a selected sample of the client
data..
 Training for client users
 Training for client suppliers technical teams for ‘how-to’ operate best practices.
Coaching and real-life Implementation supervision (12 Weeks from Deployment)
The purpose of this phase is to support the client staff and suppliers in using all of the system
features effectively. This will be done through an agreed upon number of working hours between
14

15. the vendor support teams and the client staff and suppliers. These working hours are to be spent
in either of the following options…
 Regular visits to the client site.
 Visits upon calls to the client site.
 Pre-scheduled training sessions to client/suppliers in the client premises.
After Sales Support and Warrantee (52 weeks from deployment date)…
During this period,
 Providing unlimited number of support phone calls to the client staff and suppliers .
 Fixing any bug that may arise within the following two steps;
o Providing a work-around solution that does not let the system halt from operation
in not more than three working days from occurrence.
o Fixing the bug and providing a complete solution for it in not more than 15
working days.
Project Acceptance Criteria
The client team must be involved in all the project phases. Each phase must include a well
defined outcomes and deliverables. Pre-defined templates for each deliverable must be
agreed upon between the vendor and the client at the project mobilization phase. Phases
definition and deliverables are mentioned in details in the project implementation phase
section of this document. In addition to each phase deliverable, the acceptance process of the
final system delivery is recommended to go through the following:
Initial acceptance
During the training period, utilizing some well studied data samples that represent the most
commonly applied processes and exceptions. After feeding these samples to the system, both
parties (vendor and client) can judge the initial degree of acceptance of the system.
15

16. Tuning
Real life experience showed that when it comes to the actual implementation some more
enhancements will be required. For this, allocating what is call the tuning period is important.
During which; the vendor professional teams are to take care of exceptional handling and
more optimization seeking the best possible system performance.
Final acceptance (Pilot Conference)
Toward the end of the training period, and after the tuning of the delivered modules, and a
reasonable percentage of real data (around 10% of the total data) are fed into the system, both
parties (client and vendor) should be in a position to tell the degree of satisfaction that the
system had achieved. Through conducting final pilot conference, that includes
representatives of all users’ categories, typical daily workflow cycles are to be simulated and
users’ feedback are to be gathered. Minor fixes and changes may be applied. At that moment,
a final acceptance should be reached.
About ISIS
ISIS is a member of a group of software companies with different backgrounds and
specializations, and with accumulative years of experience summing up to more than 40
years of best practices and successful engagements.
ISIS has a wide range of products and services including professional services, outsourcing
and tailored applications for large to huge organizations, business solutions offerings to
medium and large entities, linguistics services and localization offered to international IT
companies in addition to readymade productivity software products offered to end-users.
ISIS services clientele list includes and not limited to Remedy Intelligent Stafware USA,
Commerce Bank, Frankfort, NOVA Networks Canada, Central Bank of Emirates UAE,
Dubai Governorate UAE, Ministry of Education UAE, Saudi British Bank KSA, Ministry of
Education Kuwait, Kuwaiti Parliament, Aswan High Dam Authority Egypt, Ministry of
Health Egypt, State Information Authority Egypt, Trade Development Center Egypt, Kafr El-
Sheikh water supply company Egypt, Egyptian Organization for Standards Egypt, Egyptian
German Telecommunication Industries Egypt, Citibank Egypt and more. For more
information please visit, www.isisinternational.net.
Acknowledgment
This business case have been constructed based on several interviews and meetings with ISIS-
Information System International Services senior management team including CEO, PMO,
Account Manager and other team members. The included project management concerns,
approach, management structure, communication plan, implementation methodology and project
closure procedures are summary of ISIS original copyrighted methodologies and best practices.
We use the summary in this document under permission from ISIS without exposing the
methodologies details. We have also used one of the project templates of ISIS for a typical real
16

17. life tailored information system development project which have been delivered to one of ISIS
customers after applying the appropriate modifications and adjustments.
ISIS provided access to the author of this report for ISIS project management applied
methodology, ISIS implementation methodology, ISIS project charter templates, ISIS
communication methodology, ISIS QC methodology and procedures, ISIS testing methodology,
ISIS project follow-up procedures and templates, ISIS version control procedures, ISIS project
closure methodology and procedure, ISIS service level agreement models and templates and ISIS
SW development life cycle methodology. The author have just tried to provide a summary and
best practices techniques based on the previous mentioned methodologies and documents in a
summarized form.
Disclaimer
All material in this report is for informational and scholar research study purposes only . Any
and all ideas, opinions, and/ or best practices, expressed or implied herein, should not be
construed as a recommendation to be used in a real life project. Be advised that study author will
not be held responsible for any actions that you take as a result of any information mentioned in
this report.
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