Project Charter for Information Technology Project

PROJECT TITLE:
PROJECT LEADER:
START DATE:
END DATE:

Introduction
In the first paragraph describe the current system, or situation in the company or department depending on the extent of usage of the current system. If you are describing a current system (whether manual or computerized), include its good features, and any enhancements that have been done. 
For projects involving the replacement of the current computerized system or a change from a manual to a computerized system, the second paragraph is needed to describe the limitations and deficiencies. This can be done in bullet form:

• Reason one why the current system is difficult to use.
• Reason two might describe why the current system is difficult to maintain.
• Reason three might describe why the current system cannot be modified.
• Reason four might describe a deficiency in the current system.

Objectives and Scope
The first paragraph should describe the purpose or rationale of the project.
The second paragraph can explain what the company needs to do in order to successfully complete the project. This can be a bulleted list that briefly summarizes the phases or, in the case of a one-phase project, the major activities of the project. The project scope can also explicitly specify items or requirements that the project is not responsible for or is not expected to accomplish given the purpose and limitations of the project.

Outline of Work and Resource Requirements
In this section you can include more detail about the phases or major activities of the project, including resource requirements.

• Identify the stakeholders of the project outside of the company: those who may be directly or indirectly involved in the project
• Identify members of the project team, their roles and responsibilities and the estimated time commitment for the project (e.g., in terms of man-hours or man-months, etc.)
• Identify project requirements and resources to be used or generated (e.g., funding sources and budgets, equipment, etc.)
• Outline project schedules and milestone deadlines
• Outline project report requirements and reporting structure (e.g., the project team will report to the Executive management committee, etc.)

Constraints, Assumptions, Risks
Identify the risks and constraints of the project. These might include things like:

• Technical – available in-house support, available vendor support, hardware and/or software availability, etc.
• Resources - assume availability of staff (e.g. data encoders, programmers, clerks, etc.)
• Funding - hardware and/or software upgrades, software licenses, etc.
• Assumptions - priorities, resource allocations (including considerations for people involved in multiple projects), etc.
• Risks – potential disruptions, bottlenecks, obstacles

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