1. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 1
IRTC Project Role Assignments and Outsourcing
Loren Karl Schwappach
PM 610: Project Planning, Execution, and Closure
Colorado Technical University

2. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 2
Abstract
This post discusses the role assignments needed for the IRTC billing system upgrade project and
the consequences of outsourcing roles with IRTC’s vender.

3. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 3
IRTC Project Role Assignments and Outsourcing
IRTC Manufacturing Enterprises legacy billing system upgrade project will involve a
great amount of cooperation and technical expertise from project team members and the vender.
This project is expected to be completed with a limited budget of $100,000 USD set aside for
vender resources. It is expected that IRTC will require the use of at least one technical writer
and instructional designer due to lacking availability and proficiency at IRTC, as well as the
possible use of a vender programmer to supplement IRTC expertise and provide a training
opportunity and communication resource for IRTC team members.
This project will offer an opportunity for employees to gain experience in leadership,
business analysis, web based programming, and system testing, while improving employee
satisfaction and involvement in the billing system upgrades. IRTC also believes that using in
house expertise in this project will result in a more effective and usable system for IRTC billing
and customer service employees, and will reduce the use of monetary resources for vender
expertise that will not stay at IRTC.
Five IRTC FTEs were looked into for inclusion into the project team. However, due to
the authorization limit of 2.5 FTE’s for this project, I selected four employees that I believe are
best suited to ensure this projects success.
Terry was selected to act as the projects team leader due to her involvement in the
original legacy system’s installation as well as all system upgrades. She has technical experience
as a developer and tester, is extremely motivated about the project and will be able to effectively
coach and communicate with the vender, project manager, and project team members. She will
also be heavily involved in the legacy system upgrade and will work with Chris and Jan to
ensure the web based system and legacy system is fully compatible.

4. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 4
I have selected Robin to act as the systems analyst for the project due to her love and
involvement as systems analyst in the past two system upgrades. Robin will also assist Chris and
possible vender programmer in the development of the web based version to further develop her
knowledge in web programming.
Chris will act as the projects web programming expert / leader due to his degree in
computer science and his past experience in web programming and software systems testing.
IRTC will augment Chris’s web programming expertise with a vender programmer whom will
train and work with Chris for a maximum of ten hours each week.
Jan has been selected to act as the end user / tester of the legacy and web based billing
systems due to her experience with the similar web based billing system projects. She will work
with Chris and the end users (customer service and billing departments) to ensure the system
meets all organizational goals, features, and usability requirements outlined by the project scope.
Jan will also work with the vender hired instructional designer and technical writer in developing
documentation and training materials.
The vender will be contracted to provide a skilled programmer, technical architect, and
technical writer to train, offer limited assistance, and core competencies to IRTC’s project team.
The vender team members will be utilized on an as needed consultant basis and should only be
used to develop IRTC team members and ensure the quality and integrity of the IRTC system.
The project team will also be responsible for the development of the projects change
management program. “Change management is about starting up activities needed in order to
get people ready for change” (Smith, 2011). The project management team will need to bring
people up to speed on the upcoming software and process changes, to include getting them to
engage and participate in the change process in a positive manner so that conflicts and resistance

5. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 5
are reduced. This will require excellent communication between the PMO and the project
management team. This will require the project manager and project team to “communicate early
and communicate often” (Smith, 2011).
Results of Outsourcing
Corporations should be clear about their core competencies. If an organization does not
have the resources, capability, or functionality to deliver the required products or services, those
products or services should be outsourced (Smith, 2011). Actively training employees is an
effective method for reducing employee outsourcing. This can be accomplished by bringing in
contractors to coach, mentor and train employees and can offer tremendous overall savings
compared to what is sometimes lost through employee outsourcing (Smith, 2011). Using
corporate FTE also offers a moral boost for employees and can accelerate positive change
management results.
According to Bucki (n.d.) in an article about the top seven advantages of outsourcing,
advantages include focusing on core activities, cost and efficiency savings, reduced overhead,
operational control, staffing flexibility, continuity and risk management, and the development of
internal staff (Bucki, n.d.).
In a case study completed by Dahl (2006) of [WHO] Contract Counsel, a lawyer
contracting company created by David Galbenski, [WHERE] in Royal Oak, Michigan, [WHEN]
and founded in 1993, [WHAT] showed that even small companies could gain a tremendous
competitive advantage through outsourcing. [HOW] Companies like Contract Counsel could
offshore their work, in this case to include legal consulting services, to other countries such as
India. Outsourcing Contract Counsel legal services resulted in an explosion of growth and
income for Contract Counsel and allowed the corporation to expand from a small consultant firm

6. IRTC PROJECT ROLE ASSIGNMENTS AND OUTSOURCING 6
into a national legal consulting business. [WHY] This case study illustrates the competitive
advantage of price, reach, and flexibility offered by personnel outsourcing (Dahl, 2006).
Disadvantages of outsourcing include reduced client / organizational communication,
employee dissatisfaction, hidden costs, loss of managerial control, timeline problems, ill-will and
bad publicity, and treats to confidentiality (Meehan, n.d).

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References
Bucki. J (n.d.). Top 7 Outsourcing Advantages. Retrieved August 30, 2011 from:
http://operationstech.about.com/od/officestaffingandmanagem/a/OutSrcAdvantg.htm
Dahl. D. (2006). Case Study: Was Outsourcing to India the Right Move? Retrieved August 30,
2011 from: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060101/handson-casestudy.html
Meehan. C. (n.d.). Advantages and Disadvantages to Outsourcing IT. Demand Media. Retrieved
August 19, 2011 from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-
outsourcing-it-764.html
Smith, G. (2011, August 21). PM610 Live Chat Session 3 with Professor Gigi Smith [Online
Presentation]. Retrieved August 30, 2011 from Colorado Technical University Online
Virtual Campus, PM610-1103B-02: https://campus.ctuonline.edu
Smith, G. (2011, August 22). PM610 Live Chat Session 4 with Professor Gigi Smith [Online
Presentation]. Retrieved August 30, 2011 from Colorado Technical University Online
Virtual Campus, PM610-1103B-02: https://campus.ctuonline.edu