IT Project
For my Information Technology Project course we were required to complete our own IT project in the field. This section discusses the project in great detail, discussing what the project was about and what I learned from my experiences. It also discusses the blog I wrote for the project, the Project Plan and the Work Break Down schedule. Most samples are in PDF, so if you do not have Adobe Reader, you can download it using the button below.
The HOBO Project
A few years back, the Goldstein Library in the Louis Shores Building at The Florida State University College of Information had problems with mold. After expensive repairs, the College of Information purchased an HVAC monitoring system, which included small devices called HOBOs. HOBOs are devices that are stationed throughout the library that collect both temperature and relative humidity data. This system was put into place in effort to help with the early detection of mold. This system, over a few years, had collected a large quantity of data. However, there was no procedure in place to render this information useful. As such, all of the money spent on the system had not yet produced usable results.
Pam Doffek, the director of the library, needed simple procedures and documentation that would allow her staff to easily download, convert and determine out of range HVAC system occurrences. Out of range occurrences include any data point in which relative humidity (RH) is greater than 55%, the temperature is greater than 73 degrees Fahrenheit, or a combination of both. The long term goal of this project was to rid the library of all mold concerns. If the problem was to continue and the data remained stuck on a hard drive, the library could once again have problems with mold.
The main objective of this project was to develop a comprehensive system of data collection, organization and problem development determination for the Goldstein Library’s HVAC monitoring system. Another objective was to write documentation for all processes. This included documentation for capturing the data from the devices and the process behind extracting the out of range data points. A third objective was to create a new folder organizational scheme to replace the old scheme. This project also involved creating a map of the library that marks the location of each HOBO device and includes a legend that displays the name of the devices and any other key information. Finally, this project required research on how to put two non-working data collection devices into commission.
My Experiences
Although my major required many projects and group work, this was my first real project. It was the first time I was able to go out into the field and start a real, professional project. I had completed many small projects at work before, but nothing of this magnitude. During this project I learned a lot about project management, project plans, and work breakdown schedules. I also learned how to set objectives, estimate how long it would take to achieve the objectives, and estimate how much they would cost. During the project, I also learned how to use Microsoft Project, discovering that it is a very powerful tool that helps you keep track of everything in a project.
One of the key things I learned by doing this project was patience. Most of the time, I just wanted to complete the whole thing all in one day. Obviously that was impossible, but most of the projects I had tackled before (in a professional setting) were small and could be completed in no longer than a full day. So, I had to learn to be patient and to map out my schedule for completing the project. I also learned that during projects things will go wrong and you will have to deviate from the plan. I thought this project was going to be mostly problem free, but I still managed to run into two or three problems that delayed my work. I was frustrated by these delays, but they helped me in the end. They taught me to be prepared for anything, because in most projects there will be many such problems. By having problems in this project, I learned how to work around them and still get work completed.
During this project I had to write a lot of documentation and I picked up some new tips along the way. When the users viewed the documentation they gave me feedback and I was amazed by the fact that they caught things or corrected steps that I completely missed. Writing this documentation will help me in future projects where I will no doubt have to write up documentation and other written resources such as a project plan. While writing the project plan for this project, I learned that it had to be precise, but yet still detailed and to the point. The objectives have to be clear and achievable. I am sure this was not the last time I will need to write up a project plan and the skills I gained by doing a project plan for this project will come in handy in the future.
Project Documentation
The documentation I had to write for this project will undoubtedly help in the future as I am sure this will not be the last time I will have to document something. By having the documentation reviewed by the end user, I was able to get great feedback and make the documentation as usable as possible. Below are three separate documents that I had to create for the project.
- Downloading Procedures - This documentation demonstrates how to download the data off the HOBO devices and get it into an
Excel spreadsheet.
Download the Downloading Procedures (PDF)
- (390 KB)
- Out of Range Data Results - This documentation shows the user how to take the Excel spreadsheets from the downloading
procedures and extract the out of range points and then save those points to a separate sheet for analysis.
Download the Out of Range Results Documentation (PDF)
- (127 KB)
- Change Device Settings - This documentation teaches the user how to change the device's name and the interval (how often
it records data points).
Download the Change Device Settings Documentation (PDF)
- (112 KB)
Project Blog
Throughout the project, I was required to keep a blog that detailed my weekly experiences with the project. This blog not only helped
others read what I had accomplished in the project in greater detail, but it also helped me keep track of what I had done. The blog
contains about ten posts that go into great detail about every step of the project. The posts included what was completed, what went
well or what went poorly, how I felt about what was completed (or not completed if problems occurred), and what I looked to do next with
the project.
View the IT Project Blog
Project Plan
During the project, we we're required to put together a project plan that included an executive summary, details of the project, objectives, assumptions and constraints, the solutions and alternate solutions, a work break down schedule, and cost estimates for the project. This experience in writing up the project plan was very beneficial as I learned a lot about how to plan, organize and describe a project in great detail. The skills I learned writing this project plan will no doubt help me in future projects. You can view the project plan below.
View the HTML version of the Project Plan
Download the Project Plan (PDF)
- (120 KB)
Work Breakdown Schedule
During the project we created and updated a work break down schedule using Microsoft Project. This was my first experience using
Microsoft Project and I learned that it is a very powerful tool for breaking down projects into manageable parts and is a very good
tool for a project manager. Below is the work breakdown schedule.
Download the Work Breakdown Schedule (XLS)
- (22.0 KB)