Computerized Passenger Reservation System by the Indian Railways - Research Paper Example

? Project Analysis Report Executive Summary A project manager plays a key role in project planning, execution and implementation; thus, they are tasked with the obligation to search for new strategies and ensure a strategic project. Similarly, proper and careful planning plays a crucial role in project management because of several benefits such as helping in time management, cost management, schedule allocation and risk identification. All these parameters contribute towards the success of a project, which is usually hard to achieve. The following report presents an analysis on a project from its planning, implementation and performance together with other crucial elements of a project. The project is Computerized Passenger Reservation System by the Indian Railways. The project was successful developed, designed and implemented as attributed by the high level of management, experienced vendor, CMC, slow hurrying among other strategic techniques that the company employed. Introduction Success of a project depends on several things such as evaluation of risks and opportunities and knowing how to utilize the outcomes for the benefit the project, as well as effective project’s objective definition, planning and management. A project manager plays a key role in project planning, execution and implementation; thus, they are tasked with the obligation to search for new strategies and ensure a strategic project. The following report presents an analysis on a project from its planning, implementation and performance together with other crucial elements of a project. The project is Computerized Passenger Reservation System by the Indian Railways. Overview of the Project and Objectives The establishment of railway transport in India started in 1851, and by 1901, there were 24 million passengers using railway transport managed by GIPR Company. 42 railway companies operated in India during the colonial era, but after independence, they were all merged and operated by the government (Raman & Wig, 2010). Since then, the company has improved on the number of passengers carried per year, as well as the carriages and the railway lines. The Indian Railways is divided into 17 zones for effective management with several divisions. The divisions also encourage sports and operate hospitals and schools for employees. PRS system that was designed from scratch has been labeled the most successful project done by the Indian railways. The objective of this project was to transform passenger reservation system in order to handle the huge magnitude of passengers and complexity of the transactions. Analysis of scope of the project shows that is was divided into four stages, which were initiation stage, project stage, implementation stage and growth stage. The initiation stage comprised feasibility studies and the decisions that piloted the approval, as well as funding of the PRS project. The major activities at this stage included creating the need for the PRS, approving schedule and budget and identifying management team for the project (Raman & Wig, 2010). The second stage was the project stage, which constituted activities for startup of the project. Activities in this stage were vendor and hardware selection, systems design, integration, testing, software development, data conversions, manual procedures redesigning and finally, roll-out. The third stage of the project scope was the implementation stage where the organization accepts PRS and puts it into use. As such, this stage was fulfilled by carrying out activities such as rework, debugging system and software, staff training and system performance tuning. Lastly, growth stage came fourth on the scope of the project, and this is where the organization established plans to further investment in infrastructure to support the technology. In addition, the organization also extended the new system’s use to other areas, as well as developed additional applications to be linked with the system. Stakeholder Analysis The major stakeholders in this project were members of the Railway Board, passengers, and reservations staff in Bangalore and Delhi stations, manual system staff, managers, Center for Railway Information Systems managers (CRIS), Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation managers and finally, the National Rail Museum staff. Passengers are among the important stakeholders in this project because they determined the need for introduction of the computerized PRS. This is because of congestion on the manual reservation system that resulted from enormous number of passengers, and which caused passengers incontinences of all sorts. The manual system was marked with long queues, inefficient services provided at the reservation counters and long waiting times, which created a need for a universalized and efficient system for the railway operations. Similarly, the project directly impacted on the passengers by providing a solution to efficient service provision from the Indian Railways, as well as convenience in reservation and other services. The project team and the management were another set of stakeholders that played an imperative role in the creation and implementation of the project. For example, Mr. R. d. Saklani, the then Executive Director, Operations and Information Systems steered his own and team and the CMC to achieve the objectives of the project. Therefore, Mr. Saklani, the two teams from CMC and India Railways, as well as other managers had a high influence on the development and execution of the project (Fletcher, 2003). Management and Implementation of the Project The management and execution of the project involved two different teams, that is, team from the Indian Railway and a team from Computer Maintenance Corporation (CMC). CMC was selected as the vendor to provide the project’s systems and hardware development services for the PRS. The team handling decided to commence the project first in Delhi and if successful, implement it in other parts of the country. As a result, the CMC team also set up an office in Delhi for its project team, whereby they started with conducting a study in detailed of the reservation system, and then prepares functioning specifications. Other important aspects of management noted in the project was that the team involved Railways Minister in the process, in which they met with him every fortnight to provide full information on the progress while still at an early stage (Davis & Olson, 1985). The involvement of management and the minister on the progress of the project right from an early stage played a crucial role in the project’s performance. Concerning implementation, the PRS prototype was first rolled out in October 1985 catering for onward reservation. In November 1985, the program was rolled-out, first on two trains, the Grand Trunk Express and Tamil Nadu Express between the routes Delhi and Chennai. After the PRS proved successful on the trains, it was implemented on all trains that originated from New Delhi, as the work of manual charting got transferred to the PRS. The implementation was successful, but some setbacks, for example, inadequacy to meet a large load, which called for a capacity upgrade. As a result, an enhanced version referred to as Integrated Multi-train Passenger Reservation System, was implemented in Delhi in May 1987. The implementation stage showed effective execution, which revealed that there was careful planning. Benefits of careful planning to managers ensure that project tasks are executed in the correct order and on time, which helps in minimizing time wastage and cost overruns. Another benefit of careful planning is that it aids in saving money and ensure the possibility of finishing the project within the stipulated budget (Nokes, 2007). This is likely to save the company a lot of losses and also ensures success of the project. There are many cases of project failure and to avoid this, as well as disappointment, careful planning is the key. Finally, planning ensures creation of project schedule, which provides detailed activities and outline to minimize risks to the delivery of final project. Analysis of Project Outcome The project was highly successful, but typical of any other IS project it had challenges and setbacks, which the management handled effectively to ensure performance. Some of the success factors attributed to the success of this project were top management, appointing railway’s project team, hurrying slowly, agreement with labour unions, pragmatic approach to development, expertise of CRIS database team and CMC’s experience with technology. There was top management support, which was highly committed to change and to seeing the project succeed. There was support throughout the project’s duration from initiation to growth stage, which boost its chances of success. The management believed that this project was a way of achieving the goals of the organization and not a mere function to be managed. As a result, it was supported by the Prime Minister and Railways Minister, and together with sufficient resources and funds, success was inevitable. Similarly, there was support from the labor unions after assuring them that none of the manual based staff would loose their jobs. True to their word, the management trained the existing employees on how to handle the computerized PRS. The management also appointed its own project team and was in control throughout the project process, which also enhanced its success. The chosen vendor, CMC, was experienced and familiar with the technology, and working together with the organization’s team assured the success of the project. Finally, hurrying slowly is another factor that contributed to the success (Cleland & Gareis, 2006). This involved taking time to develop the functionalities of the project by taking in details all aspects necessary for its design such as impact, use, experts’ information exchange, and even people who had to use the system. It is difficult to come across a successful IS project because most of them fail due to mismanagement or lack of proper identification of risks. From this project I learnt that the project process should not be left on the hands of project team, but the management should be involved from initiation to growth. As a manager, I would ensure that before any project process starts, there is proper analysis of all the parameters and elements of the project. I will also encourage risk analysis so as not to be caught unawares halfway through the project process. Finally, I will ensure involvement of all stakeholders of the project, as well as myself throughout the development, design and implementation process. References Cleland, D. I. & Gareis, R., 2006. Global Project Management Handbook. s.l.:McGraw-Hill Professional. Davis, G. B. & Olson, M. H., 1985. Management Information Systems: Conceptual Foundations, Structure and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill. Fletcher, A., 2003. Mapping stakeholder perceptions for a third sector organization. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 4(4), p. 505 – 527. Nokes, S., 2007. The Definitive Guide to Project Management. 2nd ed. London: Prentice Hall. Raman, K. S. & Wig, S., 2010. Risk Management in Large Information systems: A Case Study of the Indian Railways Computerized Passenger Reservation System. ASCI Journal of Management, pp. 33-54. Read More