Scenario

Intuit, Inc. would like to migrate their existing applications, such as payroll management and customer relationship management (CRM), to cloud-based applications. The CEO believes that cloud-based systems will save the company time, money, and resources in the long run. One challenge is that many legacy systems are not automatically compatible with the new cloud-based systems and need to be manually exported or transferred. Training users is also a challenge since there are various locations across the country.

At a recent meeting, the development team determined there are 7 phases in this project that need to be completed. As IT project manager, you are tasked with planning out the 7 phases. This includes developing a swimlane flowchart that describes the processes, roles, and responsibilities of various departments and personnel during each phase of the project.

Phases

• Phase I: Scoping and Planning
• Phase II: Order/Install Equipment
• Phase III: Install/Test Software
• Phase IV: Conduct Hardware/Software Testing
• Phase V: Conduct Training
• Phase VI: Implementation and Roll Out
• Phase VII: Evaluation and Post Implementation

Personnel

Note: These positions came from Intuit, Inc. documents, but names have been changed to keep this a fictional scenario. Any relation to actual names is coincidental.

• CEO, Dylan Piazza
• Senior Vice President, Chief Information Technology, Samantha Goldberg
• Purchasing Manager, Peng Su
• Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Haley Zuyeva
• IT Director, Orson Young
• HR Manager, Jaime Baez
• Chief Operations Officer, Wilson Gibbs
• Sales and Advertising Director, Brad Moravec
• Systems Administrator, Rachel Marrero
• Web Developer, Carl Hanson
• Network Administrator, Linda Ng
• Database Administrator, Jenny Rodriguez
• Project Manager – (you)

Instructions

Use the project phases and personnel information provided above to develop your swimlane flowchart for this cloud migration project. Add additional processes and human resources as you see fit. Your swimlane flowchart should visually distinguish job sharing and responsibilities for phases and sub-processes of the project.

Use Lucidchart, Canva, MindTools, or another website or software of your choice to create your flowchart. See an example of a swimlane flowchart below.

To accompany your flowchart, write a 350-word summary that answers the following questions:

• How do you support c-level managers in this project? How do you seek support from upper management?
• What techniques can you utilize to lead and influence the project?
• What are two challenges within each phase?