Oversight project management and quality assurance of a new pension administration system typically involve the following:

• Break the Project Up into Work Units - Decompose the entire project effort into manageable tasks; ensure their definition, reasonable estimates of their cost, duration, priority and schedule. Ensure that plans are decomposed into manageable tasks, describe how the tasks should be defined, what are reasonable estimates of their cost and duration, and how they should best be prioritized and scheduled.
  
• Project Oversight - Oversee tasks associated with requirements definition (GAP), design, development, testing, training, and implementation activities. Ensure that the implementation vendor satisfies all items as listed in the RFP and has an approach / strategy in place to address each item as stated.
  
• Establish Sign-Off Process - Ensure that adequate sign-off procedures are followed throughout the system development life cycle.
  
• Review Project Deliverables - Review project management reports and metrics for accurate status and due date reporting to key participants. Review and comment on all project deliverables, documentation, etc., e.g.:
  
  • Statements of Work (SOWs) and Task Descriptions (TDs)
  • Data conversion (and bridging - if appropriate) plans and reconciliation procedures
  • System test plans, scripts, cases, etc.
  • End-user and IT documentation
  • User acceptance plan, acceptance criteria, etc.
  • Operational system documentation
  • System administrator operations manual
  • Application software technical procedures manual
  • Application software end-user procedures manuals
  • Data element dictionary
  • System / program maintenance documentation
  • Documentation of any upgrades
  • System backup and recovery plan
  • Implementation vendor status reports
  • Cutover plans.
    
• Attend and Participate in Meetings - Attend, participate in, and (when appropriate) facilitate any and all meetings, requirements sessions, testing activities, training sessions, etc. as appropriate. Attend weekly and/or monthly project management status meetings and assure that minutes are distributed and action items are identified. Attend Board Meetings and brief the Board (if necessary).
  
• Monitor Solution Provider’s Project Approach - Ensure that the solution provider has an approach / strategy in place to address each requirement of the RFP.
  
• Monitor Compliance with Project Requirements - Continually monitor line-of-business and technical requirements to ensure that the solution provider has included all of the requirements into an appropriate stage / phase of the project.
  
• Prepare Requirements Traceability Matrix - Prepare a matrix that lists all requirements and use it on a continuous basis to track requirements over the course of the project, confirming that no RFP requirements go overlooked.
  
• Contingency Planning - Ensure that contingency plans are in place where necessary and are adequate to address potential problems.
  
• Risk Mitigation - Develop and implement an approach to identifying risks to the project’s success, ranking them, developing appropriate mitigation strategies, effecting them as an integral and on-going part of the project.
  
• Assist in Issues Resolution - Provide assistance in issues identification, tracking, and resolution, including:
  
  • Ensure that a formal control methodology is in place such that all requirements are appropriately tracked from initial gathering sessions, throughout design and development, into testing and training, and eventually into production use
  • Identify issues early and create a resolution "road map" to mitigate impact on project schedule or cost
  • Create and manage change control process by verifying the project requirements against design documents
  • Working with the client, determine positions on perceived scope change (both client and vendor initiated) and follow established change management procedures.
  • Perform cost / benefits analysis as necessary to assist decision-making related to proposed project scope changes.
    
• Assure the quality of both products and processes, including:
  
  • Review of all appropriate products delivered in the course of the project.
  • Attendance at all appropriate meetings, discussions, training sessions, requirements definitions meetings, etc. to assure that time is well spent, that sessions are focused, that client staff are comfortable and that expectations are met.
  • With respect to the above, offer on-going documentation (review memos) as to level appropriateness, any deficiencies, etc.; LRWL always provides constructive reviews and offers specific, concrete recommendations to assist in making products and processes "compliant."
  • When necessary, provide to the project (from our repository) samples and examples of products.