Ariba Implementation at MED-X:

Managing Earned Value

Case Study : Group A

Submitted By:

Sophie Kakker 401503029

Pranvi Setia 401503018

Harshita Jain 401502004

Abha Dewan 401508003

Ankita Gupta 401508009

 Summarise the case and major
issues highlighted therein

• It is clearly evident from the values and the graphs that

the project was not progressing as per the schedule

• The burnt value is way more than the planned value. And
not just this, the value earned is less than what it was
scheduled to be, thus increasing the disparity between
the burned value and the actual value
EVA Template: Technical
Infrastructure
 Summary of the case
• MED-X Inc. was a global pharmaceutical company
headquartered in Houston, Texas. MED-X was spending
$3billion annually on indirect goods and services out of
which 1 billion was spent on technology.
• They estimated that a decentralized procurement
model would help save $200 million annually.
• So, they thought of implementing Ariba Buyer solution
that would help organization gain purchasing power and
reduce processing cost and cycle times.
• The project was given to Implementation technologies
with deadline of 1 October, 2001.
• Christopher Martin was the project manager on this
implementation project
• Original project timeline was as follows:
Approx. project start date May1, 2001

Conference room Pilot June 25, 2001

Live date October 1, 2001

• The demo run of the model was successful.

 Major issues
• One month before completion date of the
project it was realized that project could not be
completed.
• Martin did not communicated initial troubles at
early stages of the project.
• Some resources of MED-X were engaged in
different activities when needed for project.
• There was no effective comminication among
project teams
4. Observations for the performance of entire
project
• The two activities on the critical path are Technical Infrastructure and
Software Customization
Technical Infrastructure Plan :
• CPI (Cost Performance Index) < 1 for all 6 months
• CV is negative for 3 months
• SPI (Schedule Performance Index) have been below the desired level of
1 and has had a
• SV has been negative since June
• So, Technical Infrastructure is both over the estimated budget and
behind the schedule .
Software Implementation:
• CPI > 1
• CV is positive
• SPI > 1
• SV is positive
• So, Software implementation is under the estimated budget and ahead of the
schedule .
Combined Project
• CV- positive
• CPI >1
• SPI>1
• SV- positive

• When we combine the two, the project appears to be on track which is

misleading.
Suggestions
• Technical infrastructure is causing major issues as it is over budget
and behind schedule.
• Earned value analysis should have been done regularly and for
both activities separately after every month/achievement of
milestone.
• The project timeline could have been more detailed with specific
dates for achievement of milestones.
• He should have taken measures to counter the delays that had
come in the earlier stages as soon as they occurred.
Q5 - What should Martin have done earlier in
the project timeline to prevent delays?
• He should have performed EVA on each of the critical modules of the
project regularly, i.e., every one month, or every two weeks. It would
have helped him in identifying which activities were behind schedule
and which were over-budgeted.
• When the project began to experience delays in the form of Sun server
equipment being delivered late and system testing running behind
schedule, he should have performed EVA and developed a plan of
action to get the project within budget and back on track by crashing
some activities.
• He should have established project milestones to monitor key project
aspects and would have alerted the project time of the project delays.
• He should have requested a full-time project team
member from MED-X to ensure no further delays
occurred.
• A risk assessment of the major components of the
project should have been done so that a proper action
plan could have been devised to handle them.
Ariba Implementation at MED-X:
Managing Earned Value

Case Study : Group B

Submitted By:

Sophie Kakker 401503029

Pranvi Setia 401503018

Harshita Jain 401502004

Abha Dewan 401508003

Ankita Gupta 401508009

EVA Template: Technical
Infrastructure
 WHY DID TERRY BAKER THINKS THAT
OVERALL PROJECT WAS GOING ACCORDING
TO THE PLAN TH ENTIRE TIME ?

220000 TECHNICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE

165000

PLAN BCWS
110000 ACTUAL BURN ACWP
ACTUAL PERFORM BCWP

55000

0
MAY JULY SEPTEMBER
 WHY DID TERRY BAKER THINKS THAT
OVERALL PROJECT WAS GOING ACCORDING
TO THE PLAN TH ENTIRE TIME ?

220000
• TECHNICAL
INFRASTRUCT
URE
165000

PLAN BCWS
110000 ACTUAL PLAN ACWP
BCWP

55000

0
MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
 How much longer will the
project take
Scheduled time: May-Oct i.e. Days=184

Since, Tech. Infrastructure is causing the delay, the time

required to complete it would be the completion time of the
entire project.

Estimated schedule date= Actual Schedule/SPI

= 184/.96

=192(approx.)

No of more days required= 192-184= 8 days

 Q5 - What should Martin do when managing
future projects to prevent similar problems from
developing?

• A short meeting should be held every week or every two weeks

to report progress and address shortcomings.

• Establish effective communication amongst the project team

members.

• All problems encountered during the project should be conveyed

to the project manager.

• Project manager should report important information to the client.

• WBS should be made to sequence activities and create

milestones,based on which the resources can be assigned.