Obtaining Final Sign-Off

Once you re satisfied with the project deliverables, you will need to move into the transfer of ownership of the project. You, the owner of the project, will release it to the organization so that the deliverables may go into production.

Obtaining Client Approval

The client, whether that be the end user on a workstation or an administrator in a behind-the-scenes release such as a new server installation, will accept the project using one of two methods :

Informal Acceptance     The informal acceptance does not include a sign-off of the completion or even the acknowledgment of the deliverables. An example of the informal acceptance is a project that ends on deadline whether or not the deliverables are finished ”for example, a project to organize and build an application for a tradeshow demo. The tradeshow will happen regardless of the completion of the project.

Another example is a project that creates a deliverable that doesn t require additional testing to prove the implementation. Imagine a short- term project to replace all of the printers in the organization with newer models. The implementation of the new printers is obvious. You ve configured a script to install the printer driver on all of the workstations in the network to automate the end-user installation. All of the print jobs are controlled through a central printer server so the end users experience little impact from the implementation other than their print jobs come out of a new print device.

Formal Acceptance     The formal acceptance of a project s deliverables is a process that is completed by the client of the project and the appropriate members of the project team. This is the preferred method of client acceptance. These acceptances are contingent on a project acceptance agreement. The project acceptance agreement is typically written very early in the project timeline and in alignment with the defined project deliverables. The document clearly explains what qualifies for an acceptance of the deliverables. These are typical of application development projects and often consist of a checklist of the required features of the project.

The client and the team members will test the deliverables against the acceptance agreement to confirm that the deliverables exist. The sidebar Application Development Acceptance Agreement shows an example.

Application Development Acceptance Agreement

The purpose of the project Learning Management System is to create a web-based reporting system to log the hours an employee completes in the corporate continuing education department. The application must provide for the items in the following checklist to be accepted:

• An intranet-based portal that allows the corporate training department to submit completed classes via a form.

• An intranet-based portal that allows human resources, trainers , and management to view the classes completed by each employee. Managers should only be allowed to see the classes completed by the employees within their supervision.

• An intranet-based portal that allows employees to view completed classes.

• An intranet-based portal that allows employees to view the available classes and to register for upcoming classes.

• Registration requests must be automatically forwarded to the registering employee s managers for approval and to the continuing education registrant.

• Upon approval of the class by the employee s manager, the class enrollment should increase by one to reflect the new class participant.

• Should the class become full during the approval process, the student and the manager should receive an offering of the next available class, for which the student will have a priority over new attendees.

• The registration feature should also allow management and participants to cancel their participation or trade enrollment with another employee.

• When a student enrolls for a class, the corporate calendar should indicate that the student is busy during class hours. Should the student cancel his attendance, his calendar should be updated to indicate the time is available.

• The application should send an e-mail to class participants reminding them of their enrollment and the class hours one day before the class is to start.

The application created in this project meets the preceding criteria and the project is accepted as whole and complete.

_____________       ___________

Project Manager       Project Client

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Date