Vision and Scope Document

for

<Project Name>
Version 1.0 approved

Prepared by <Team Members>

<Team Name>

(Team Branding/Logo>

<date created>
Vision and Scope Page ii

Table of Contents
Table of Contents...............................................................................................................ii
Revision History.................................................................................................................iii
1. Business Requirements................................................................................................1
1.1. Background...........................................................................................................1
1.2. Business Opportunity............................................................................................1
1.3. Business Objectives and Success Criteria..............................................................1
1.4. Customer or Market Needs..................................................................................1
1.5. Business Risks....................................................................................................... 2
2. Vision of the Solution...................................................................................................2
2.1. Vision Statement.................................................................................................. 2
2.2. Major Features..................................................................................................... 2
2.3. Assumptions and Dependencies...........................................................................3
3. Scope and Limitations..................................................................................................3
3.1. Scope of Initial Release.........................................................................................3
3.2. Scope of Subsequent Releases..............................................................................3
3.3. Limitations and Exclusions....................................................................................3
4. Business Context..........................................................................................................3
4.1. Stakeholder Profiles..............................................................................................4
4.2. Project Priorities................................................................................................... 4
4.3. Operating Environment........................................................................................5
5. Human Resources........................................................................................................ 5
5.1. Team Charter........................................................................................................6
5.2. Technical Skills and Attributes..............................................................................6
5.3. Roles and Responsibilities.....................................................................................6
5.4. Communication Strategies....................................................................................7
6. Project Management................................................................................................... 7
6.1. Deliverables.......................................................................................................... 7
6.2. Dependencies....................................................................................................... 7
6.3. Schedule............................................................................................................... 7
6.4. Budget.................................................................................................................. 7
7. Educational/Program Outcomes..................................................................................8
7.1. General Education................................................................................................ 8
7.2. Information Technology........................................................................................8
8. Annotated Bibliography...............................................................................................8
Vision and Scope Page iii

Revision History
<Be sure to include the initial version of this document>

Name Date Reason For Changes Version

Vision and Scope Page 1

1. Business Requirements
<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. The
business requirements provide the foundation and reference for all detailed requirements
development. You may gather business requirements from the customer or development
organization’s senior management, an executive sponsor, a project visionary, product
management, the marketing department, or other individuals who have a clear sense of why
the project is being undertaken and the ultimate value it will provide, both to the business and
to customers.>

1.1. Background
<This section summarizes the rationale for the new product. Provide a general description of
the history or situation that leads to the recognition that this product should be built.>

1.2. Business Opportunity

<Describe the market opportunity that exists or the business problem that is being solved.
Describe the market in which a commercial product will be competing or the environment in
which an information system will be used. This may include a brief comparative evaluation of
existing products and potential solutions, indicating why the proposed product is attractive.
Identify the problems that cannot currently be solved without the product, and how the
product fits in with market trends or corporate strategic directions.>

1.3. Business Objectives and Success Criteria

<Describe the important business objectives of the product in a way that is quantitative and
measurable. The value provided to customers is described in section 1.4, so this section should
focus on the value provided to the business. This could include estimates of revenue or cost
savings, return on investment analysis, or target release dates. Determine how success will be
defined and measured on this project, and describe the factors that are likely to have the
greatest impact on achieving that success. Include things within the direct control of the
organization, as well as external factors. Establish measurable criteria to assess whether the
business objectives have been met. All objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic, and time limited.>

1.4. Customer or Market Needs

<Describe the needs of typical customers or market segments, including needs that are not yet
met by the marketplace or by existing systems. You may wish to describe problems customers
currently encounter that the new product will (or will not) address and how the product would
be used by customers. Identify the customer hardware and software environment in which the
product must operate. Define at a high level any known critical interface or performance
Vision and Scope Page 2

requirements. Avoid including any design or implementation details. Present the requirements
in a numbered list so that more detailed user or functional requirements can be traced to
them.>

1.5. Business Risks

<Summarize 4-5 major business risks associated with developing this product, such as
marketplace competition, timing issues, user acceptance, implementation issues, or possible
negative impacts on the business. Estimate the severity of the risks and identify any risk
mitigation actions that could be taken. Convey this information in the form of a table as follows:

Risk Severity Level Mitigation

Risk #1: Describe risk in detail Low, Medium or High What measures will be taken
to reduce the impact of the
risk?
Risk #2 Etc. Etc.
>

2. Vision of the Solution

< Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. This
section establishes a long-term vision for the system to be built to address the business
objectives. This vision will provide the context for making decisions throughout the course of
the product development life cycle. The vision should not include detailed functional
requirements or project planning information.>

2.1. Vision Statement

<Write a concise vision statement that summarizes the purpose and intent of the new product
and describes what the world will be like when it includes the product. The vision statement
should reflect a balanced view that will satisfy the needs of diverse customers as well as those
of the developing organization. It may be somewhat idealistic, but it should be grounded in the
realities of existing or anticipated customer markets, enterprise architectures, organizational
strategic directions, and cost and resource limitations.>

2.2. Major Features

<Include a numbered list of the major features of the new product, emphasizing those features
that distinguish it from previous or competing products. Specific user requirements and
functional requirements may be traced back to these features. Categorize each major feature
according to one of the following: Technical, Security and Privacy, Compliance.>
Vision and Scope Page 3

2.3. Assumptions and Dependencies

<Record any assumptions that were made when conceiving the project and writing this vision
and scope document. Note any major dependencies the project must rely upon for success,
such as specific technologies, third-party vendors, development partners, or other business
relationships.>

3. Scope and Limitations

<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. The
project scope defines the concept and range of the proposed solution. It’s also important to
define what will not be included in the product. Clarifying the scope and limitations helps to
establish realistic expectations of the many stakeholders. It also provides a reference frame
against which proposed features and requirements changes can be evaluated. Proposed
requirements that are out of scope for the envisioned product must be rejected, unless they
are so beneficial that the scope should be enlarged to accommodate them (with accompanying
changes in budget, schedule, and/or resources).>

3.1. Scope of Initial Release

<Describe the intended major features that will be included in the initial release of the product.
Consider the benefits the product is intended to bring to the various customer communities,
and generally describe the product features and quality characteristics that will enable it to
provide those benefits. Avoid the temptation to include every possible feature that any
potential customer category might conceivably want some day. Focus on those features and
product characteristics that will provide the most value, at the most acceptable development
cost, to the broadest community.>

3.2. Scope of Subsequent Releases

<Anticipate what the next phase of this project will be then indicate what major features will be
included in these later releases.>

3.3. Limitations and Exclusions

<Identify any product features or characteristics that a stakeholder might anticipate, but which
are not planned to be included in the new product.>

4. Business Context
<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. This
section summarizes some of the business issues around the project, including profiles of major
customer categories, assumptions that went into the project concept, and the management
priorities for the project.>
Vision and Scope Page 4

4.1. Stakeholder Profiles

<Stakeholders are individuals, groups, or organizations that are actively involved in a project,
are affected by its outcome, or can influence its outcome. The stakeholder profiles identify the
customers for this product and other stakeholders, and states their major interests in the
product. Characterize business-level customers, target market segments, and different user
classes, to reduce the likelihood of unexpected requirements surfacing later that cannot be
accommodated because of schedule or scope constraints. For each stakeholder category, the
profile includes the major value or benefits they will receive from the product, their likely
attitudes toward the product, major features and characteristics of interest, and any known
constraints that must be accommodated. Examples of stakeholder value include:

 improved productivity
 reduced rework
 cost savings
 streamlined business processes
 automation of previously manual tasks
 ability to perform entirely new tasks or functions
 conformance to current standards or regulations
 improved usability or reduced frustration level compared to current applications

Example:>

Stakeholder Major Value Attitudes Major Interests Constraints

executives increased see product as richer feature set maximum budget =
revenue avenue to 25% than competitors; $1.4M
increase in time to market
market share
editors fewer errors highly receptive, automatic error must run on low-
in work but expect high correction; ease of end workstations
usability use; high reliability
legal aides quick access resistant unless ability to handle no budget for
to data product is much larger database retraining
keystroke- than current system;
compatible with easy to learn
current system

4.2. Project Priorities

<Describe the priorities among the project’s requirements, schedule, and budget. The table
below may be helpful in identifying the parameters around the project’s key drivers (top
priority objectives), constraints to work within, and dimensions that can be balanced against
Vision and Scope Page 5

each other to achieve the drivers within the known constraints. For more information, see
chapter 2 of Creating a Software Engineering Culture by Karl E. Wiegers (Dorset House, 1996).
Examples:>

Dimension Driver Constraint Degree of Freedom

(state objective) (state limits) (state allowable range)
Schedule release 1.0 to be
available by 10/1,
release 1.1 by 12/1
Features 70-80% of high priority
features must be included
in release 1.0
Quality 90-95% of user acceptance
tests must pass for release
1.0, 95-98% for release 1.1
Staff maximum team size
is 6 developers + 4
testers
Cost budget overrun up to 15%
acceptable without
executive review

4.3. Operating Environment

<Describe the environment in which the system will be used and define the major availability,
reliability, performance, and integrity requirements. This information will significantly influence
the definition of the system’s architecture. Consider questions such as:
 Are the users widely distributed geographically or located close to each other? How
many time zones are they in?
 When do the users in various locations need to access the system?
 Where is the data generated and used? How far apart are these locations? Does the
data from multiple locations need to be combined?
 Are specific maximum response times known for accessing data that might be stored
remotely?
 Can the users tolerate service interruptions or is continuous access to the system critical
for the operation of their business?
 What access security controls and data protection requirements are needed?>

5. Human Resources
<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. This
section summarizes some of the human resources issues around the project, including the
Vision and Scope Page 6

organizational structure of your team, the charter you will use to resolve conflicts and discipline
members, the technical skills and attributes of each member, the roles and responsibilities that
each member will perform, and the strategies you will use to communicate with one another.>

5.1. Team Charter

<Describe how your team will be organized. Is there are reporting structure in the team as
there is in a business environment? How will decisions be reached? Will there be votes or
consensus? Who will be responsible for submitting each deliverable? How will conflicts be
resolved among members? How will you handle under-performing members?>

5.2. Technical Skills and Attributes

<List each team member’s name technical skills as they are relevant to the project. Also, list
the attributes of teach team member. While technical skills such as programming languages
and time management can be taught, attributes are deeper personality traits such as optimism,
talkativeness, rationality, etc. A personality inventory such as Myers-Briggs or Keirsey
temperament sorter can help. Search for free online resources to help. This table will assist
you with work distribution and communication. Example:>

Name Skills Attributes

Jennifer Almond PHP programming, database Introverted, organized, strong-
design willed.
Roger Biggs Technical writing, user interface Extroverted, detailed, pragmatic
design

5.3. Roles and Responsibilities

<Describe what each team member’s roles and responsibilities will be on the project. A role
defines a set of relationships between participants whereas a responsibility is something that
you must do (typically to fulfill a role). For example, a project manager is a role with the
responsibility to lead the team, control scope and change requests, and report status (among
others). Example:>

Name Role Responsibilities

Jennifer Almond Lead developer Oversee detailed software and database design.
Write PHP code for back end processing.
Roger Biggs Archivist Develop end user and administrative
documentation. Record meeting minutes.
Vision and Scope Page 7

5.4. Communication Strategies

<Describe how the team will communicate with one another. Will you meet with one another
synchronously? How often? What tools will you use (IM, video conferencing, Skype, Google
Hangouts, Google Docs)? What manner of asynchronous communication will you use (e-mail,
blogs, wikis, Slack)? What is the expected response time to a team-based communication?>

6. Project Management
<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. This
section summarizes some of the project management issues around the project, including the
deliverable artifacts, milestones, schedule, and dependencies of the various sub-projects or
artifacts on one another. This should be tied closely with the responsibilities listed in the
previous section so that each team member knows not only what they are responsible for, but
also when it is expected to be delivered. Also, discuss what (if any) tools will be used for
project management (e.g. Trello, Producteev, Asana, Btrix24, Freedcamp)>

6.1. Deliverables
<What items will be delivered to the customer? What items will be delivered to the instructor?
How will their quality be measured? How will the artifacts be shared and revision controlled
amongst team members (e.g. using GitHub, BitBucket, Google Docs, Dropbox, a wiki, etc.)>

6.2. Dependencies
<Frequently, parts of a project depend on the successful completion of other parts. For
example, documentation cannot be completed with screen-shots of the final product until the
product itself is completed. What dependencies exist among the deliverables you listed above?
>

6.3. Schedule
<Provide a schedule of events in the lifecycle of the project, detailing when each deliverable is
expected. A timeline or Gantt chart from your project management software would be
appropriate here.>

6.4. Budget
<Provide a detailed budget covering all major expense areas: hardware, software, services,
consulting, labor, service/maintenance contracts, and miscellaneous. Be sure to document
whether the budgeted item/area is a capitalized or expense category. An embedded
spreadsheet is suggested as a suitable format.>
Vision and Scope Page 8

7. Educational/Program Outcomes
<Note: replace this introductory paragraph with an introductory paragraph of your own. As this
project is not merely business oriented, but is also a part of a college-level capstone experience,
the educational objectives of the project should also be included. This section summarizes how
the various program outcomes will be realized and measured through the project. See
[Link] for the ways in which these criteria
will be measured as part of the grade on this assignment.>

7.1. General Education

<Describe how this project will meet each of the following General Education outcomes and
how success in each area will be measured:
 Graduates will be able to communicate effectively for a range of purposes and
audiences.
 Graduates will be able to apply analytical and critical thinking skills to solve problems,
construct personal positions, and evaluate alternative philosophies.>

7.2. Information Technology

<Describe how this project will meet at least three of the following four Information Technology
outcomes and how success in each area will be measured:
 Graduates will apply network design to small- and medium-scale networks. Note,
almost every IT project involves a network somehow; the network outcome will most
likely apply to this project.
 Graduates will apply foundations of management information systems to redesign and
reshape organizations through the information systems that support them. Note,
almost every IT project requires executive-level sponsorship; the MIS outcome will most
likely apply to this project.
 Graduates will practice effective systems administration and automation techniques.
Note, almost every IT project requires a server or disaster recovery plan; the systems
administration outcome will most likely apply to this project.
 Graduates will apply current industry practices to the assessment of information
systems in order to prepare, implement, and maintain security plans. Note, almost
every IT project has some security consideration; the security outcome will most likely
apply to this project.>

8. Annotated Bibliography
<Document all sources of information that you will use to execute the project planned above in
an annotated bibliography.>