Criteria for Evaluating New Projects
Breadth - How many people does this project affect? What is the impact on the College’s constituents overall?
Audience - What groups and/or which individuals will benefit the most from this project? Will this project negatively affect anyone?
Stakeholders - Outside of those listed above, who are the people or groups of people who will have an interest in seeing this project carried out successfully?
Role of OIT – Will OIT staff play a supportive, or a central role in this project? Who will be the project team members from outside of OIT, and what will be their roles? What will be required from OIT staff after the technology has been implemented? Will there be ongoing maintenance? Do we have the people, equipment, and/or money to support it?
Appropriateness - In what way does the project further the strategic initiatives set forth by the College? Or, in what way does the project improve the efficiency of the College’s operations?
Criticality - How critical is the project in carrying out the College’s strategic initiatives, or in terms of effectiveness of the College’s operations? Describe the current process or activity in use, and compare the level of effectiveness with the process or activity that will replace it.
Risks – Possible risks could include: Design errors and omissions, scope change, launch date delay, cost changes/budget limitations/unpredicted expenses, limited scalability, skill/knowledge mismatch, change in priorities, coordination among departments, competitor actions. What is the extent of the problem(s) that could occur? What is the probability that it (they) would occur, and what would the impact be on the project? What could be done to address the problem(s)?
Impact on other projects - What is the impact on other projects? Is it a positive or negative impact?
Relation to other projects - How is this project related to other projects? Does it make more sense to integrate it with another project?
Payback - Does this project have a measurable payback? How do we measure it? What is the ROI?
Expertise - Can the work be done in house? Will we need to hire an outside contractor? If so, who will do the hiring, contracting, and oversee the work that needs to be done? Who will pay for the work?
Level of Effort - How long will it take to complete the project?
Funding – Where is the funding coming from? Is it currently available? Does it cover maintenance, cost of operations, and administrative costs?
Deadline - Is the deadline realistic? Can all areas contribute the necessary resources within the given timeframe?