The Intake Phase of the project management life cycle is the methodology followed to request approval for a project. This intake process determines whether a new project idea or a proposal to enhance or replace an existing service is aligned with the organization's strategic initiatives, ensures the project is approved for implementation, and determines how the project is to be prioritized within current project portfolios.
A project is defined as a temporary endeavor that:
- Has a clearly defined beginning and ending date;
- Provides tangible technology products or services;
- Fulfills a defined business objective to substantially improve business processes to a department or that aligns with the organization's strategic goals
- Incorporates significant changes to the technology architecture through new or existing systems.
Note: A change request is not defined as a project. It is a modification being requested for product or service already in use.
Our projects are classified into tiers by meeting one or more of the following criteria:
Tier 3 - Low Complexity
- Impact - Only one external office impacted or involves only 1 unit
- Effort – Duration is less than 1 month or resource time exceeds 40 hours
- Risk – low level
- Complexity – Involves only one department or external office (small - department level)
- Cost – less than $5K
- Organization strategic goals – does not directly support
- Discretion of the CIO (applies for all tiers)
Tier 2 - Medium Complexity
- Impact - 2 to 3 external offices impacted or involves 2 or more internal units
- Effort – Duration is 2 to 6 months or resource time exceeds 80 hours
- Risk – medium level
- Complexity – Involves 2 to 3 departments or external offices (medium - department level)
- Cost - $5k to $100K
- Organization strategic goals – minimal
Tier 1 - High Complexity
- Impact - Multiple external offices impacted or involves multiple internal units
- Effort – Duration is greater than 6 months or resource time exceeds 150 hours
- Risk – Compliance required or high level
- Complexity – Involves multiple departments or external offices; entire campus (large - enterprise level)
- Cost – greater than $100K
- Organization strategic goals – high level of support; presidential directive