Debrebrhan University

College of Computing
Department of Software Engineering
Fundamental of Software Engineering

Project Proposal Guidelines

Copyright © 2016 by Temesgen T. Permission is granted to use, modify, and distribute this document. 1
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 What is Project proposal? .........................................................................................................................................3
1.2 How to use this guideline ..........................................................................................................................................3
2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Background ...............................................................................................................................................................4
3 Statement of the problem ..................................................................................................................................................5
4 Objective of the project ..................................................................................................................................................5
4.1 General Objective .....................................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Specific Objectives ...................................................................................................................................................5
5 Scope of the project ..........................................................................................................................................................6
6 Significant of the System ..................................................................................................................................................6
7 Target Beneficiaries of the System ...................................................................................................................................6
8 Methods/Tools .................................................................................................................................................................6
9 Planning ............................................................................................................................................................................7
9.1 Deliverable: are project results delivered to customers.......................................................................................7
9.2 Activities ..................................................................................................................................................................8
9.3 Milestone: Milestones are the end-point of a process activity. .................................................................................9
10 Overall Plan .................................................................................................................................................................9

Copyright © 2016 by Temesgen T. Permission is granted to use, modify, and distribute this document. 2
1 Introduction
In this project proposal guidelines we should have to know the basic fundamental concepts of how to
writing project proposal. By using this guideline you are expected to develop the project proposal for your
selected title. Before you are starting to write the project proposal you should understand what project
proposal mean.

1.1 What is Project proposal?

A Project Proposal is a document that is written to kick-off a new project. It needs to convince a sponsor
that a project needs to be initiated to solve a particular problem or opportunity in the business/company.
The first step when initiating a project is to document a Project Proposal. It helps you formalize the project
so that it has an objective that needs to be achieved in order to determine its success. Ideally a Project
Proposal will be written by the intended manager of the project. However sometimes it is written by a
business manager if the Project Manager is yet to be selected. It is always presented to senior management
within the business for approval.

Once approved, the next step is usually to write a Business Case which justifies the project financially.
Soon after that, a Project Charter will be written based on this Project Proposal, to scope out the project
and ensure that everyone is clear about what needs to be done.

1.2 How to use this guideline

I hope that you have got some hint what the project proposal and for what purpose we are writing it
before begging the project from the previous section.

This document outlines the sections needed to complete a Project Proposal. You need to replace the content
in each section with your own. Each section includes completion instructions so that you know what you
need to write, to fill the document in from start to finish. You will want to remove these completion
instructions as you go, to create your own customized Project.

This guideline contains the following section. For each section you get what you need to write. The sections
are listed as follows.

1. Introduction
2. Statement of problem
3. Objective of the project

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4. Significance of the project
5. Scope of the project
6. Target Benefiaries from the project
7. Feasibility study
8. Methodologies and tools used
9. Milestones
10. Resources
11. Budget

Let see one by one

2 Introduction
The first step to completing a Project Proposal is to write an introduction part. This section will
summarize the entire document by describing the background for the project, the problem to be
addressed, the objective and the proposed solution. Most of the time the introduction includes the detail
description of background of the project and the company.
< In this document you also identifying the problems of the existing system that you want to be solve for.
The problem is being identify clearly with respect to environmental, internal and external as well as
individual. a brief statement of the problem or need your agency has recognized and is prepared to address
(one or two paragraphs);>

2.1 Background
Before you describe the proposal in depth, you need to provide the reader with a brief historical view of
the company, so that it sets the context upon which the project will be initiated. As this is the basis upon
which the project is created, you need to describe all of the relevant history that has taken place up until
now. For instance, if this was a proposal to create a project to implement a new software package for the
company, then this section would describe historically which software packages had been used until now,
which had succeeded and which had failed, as well as when the software is due for replacement and who
the relevant software vendors are.
<Briefly describe the context, issues, or problems the project aims to address.>

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3 Statement of the problem
Most projects are created to either solve a problem from the scratch or improving the existing system for
better performance. This problem is the reason that the project is being kicked-off, so you need to describe
it here in depth. The problem should be briefly identified and describe in detail. Your problem should be
scientific rather than any kinds of problem.

<Briefly summarize the problem or opportunity you propose to address. This statement provides a basis
for the rest of the document. Write this in terms of the organizational problem discovered, not in terms of
the solution needed. >

4 Objective of the project

In the previous three section above, you have described the general basis upon which the project will be
created. You've described the problem or opportunity that exists in the company and the solution that the
project needs to deliver. In this section, it is now time to describe the project that you are proposing is
initiated.

4.1 General Objective

<In here state the objective of the project. They need to be “Smart” which means Specific, Measurable,
Action orientated, Realistic and Time based.>
………………..

4.2 Specific Objectives

● Specific Objectives are a more detailed version of the purpose (goals) statement.
● They outline what will be accomplished in this project.
● Objective statements will clarify the boundaries of the purpose statement and define boundaries
of the scope of the project.
● Every objective must be accomplished in order to reach the main objective and accomplish the
purpose of the project.
● Consider including as specific objectives
○ Your requirements gathering process
○ A design or solution domain phase
○ A formal implementation plan

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 ○ Testing and quality assurance for the project
○ Analysis and incorporation of User Interface Standards

5 Scope of the project

<Define the extent and boundaries of the project, including key deliverables, stakeholders, and any
limitations. Some example tables are shown below which you can edit or delete to suit your proposal.>

6 Significant of the System

Put the general and specific significance of the system after the accomplishment of the system.

7 Target Beneficiaries of the System

Put the target beneficiaries of this system. Who are beneficial and what? Should be answered in this section.

8 Methods/Tools
In this section we should answer the following question practically by applying the methodology and
tools we are using and why.

● How will you complete this project? What is your strategy for completion?
● What tools will you use? Will you procure or otherwise acquire hardware, software or people
services?
● Will this project change or impact a defined ITS service? If so, what Change Management
process will you use?
● How will you identify and address IT security policies and procedures?
● Are there any implications for people with disabilities? How will you incorporate accessibility in
to this project?
● What options / alternatives have / will you consider for the overall approach? Examples include
open source vs. licensed software, extending existing services vs. building from scratch, and
collaborations with other campuses.
● Work to incorporate the APM User Interface Standards into client-facing design.

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9 Planning
Project planning defines the project activities and end products that will be performed anddescribes
how the activities will be accomplished. The purpose of project planning is to define each major
task, estimate the time and resources required, and provide a frameworkfor management review and
control. The project planning activities and goals include defining: Planning is the main concept in
the software development process. It consists of deliverables activity and milestone in the software
development process.

9.1 Deliverable: are project results delivered to customers

Throughout the development of the proposed system there are deliverable documents which are
listed below:

 Software Project Proposal

 Software Requirement Specification (SRS) Document

 Software Design Document (SDD)

 Testing Analysis Document

 User Manual

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9.2 Activities
There are many activities that will be performed throughout the project. The main
activitiesperformed are Planning, requirement gathering and analysis, designing,
implementation and testing which includes many sub activities in each of them.

 Planning

• Feasibility study

 Requirement Gathering and Analysis

• Requirements elicitation and analysis

• Requirements specification documenting

• Requirements validation

 Designing

• Architectural design

• Component design

• Interface design

• Database design

 Implementation

• Interface Implementing

• Component Implementing

• Database Implementing

 Testing

• Development testing

• System testing

• Acceptance testing

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9.3 Milestone: Milestones are the end-point of a process activity.
Milestones can occur at the end of each work package in the WBS and serve as a
measurable item upon which to base success of a task. Major project milestones
should besummarized and included in the summary project plan. For contracted
work, milestones are often used as a point in the project where interim payments
might be made. If this approach is used, mutual agreement is necessary on the
content of each milestone and thecost associated with that milestone.

While milestones are unique to each project, some example project milestones are
shown below:

 1st Milestone: Requirement Gathering and Analysis

 2nd Milestone: Designing

 3rd Milestone: Implementation

 4th Milestone: Testing

 5th Milestone: Unit Test Complete

 6th Milestone: Integration Test Complete

 Acceptance Test Complete

 System Acceptance by User

 Customer Shipment

 Documentation Delivery

10 Overall Plan
The project schedule provides a graphical representation of predicted tasks,
milestones, dependencies, resource requirements, task duration, and deadlines. The
project’s master schedule interrelates all tasks on a common time scale. The project
schedule should be detailed enough to show each WBS task to be performed, the
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 name of the personresponsible for completing the task, the start and end date of
each task, and the expected duration of the task. There are numerous tools that
support the development of project schedules. Many of these tools prepare either a
GANTT or PERT chart.

Program evaluation and review technique (PERT) charts depict task, duration,
and dependency information. Each chart starts with an initiation node from which
the first task,or tasks, originates.

Gantt chart is common in reporting status and in defining the schedule for small,
simple projects with few interrelationships. A Gantt chart is a matrix which lists on
the vertical axis all the tasks to be performed. Each row contains a single task
identification which usually consists of a number and name. The horizontal axis is
headed by columns indicatingestimated task duration, skill level needed to perform
the task, and the name of the personassigned to the task, followed by one column for
each period in the project’s duration. Eachperiod may be expressed in hours, days,
weeks, months, and other time units. In some cases, it may be necessary to label
the period columns as period 1, period 2, and so on.

“Draw the Gant Chart for the each of the Millstone”

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