Getting started: the charter and stakeholders
Before any work, a project needs formal approval. It starts with a business case: why do it, what will it cost, what's the return? (Remember the feasibility calculator in the systems analysis track.) If management agrees, a project charter is written.
| Objective | An ordering app that cuts phone orders by 60% within 6 months of launch. |
| High-level scope | A mobile app for stores, integrated with the ERP for stock, prices and invoices. |
| Budget and deadline | 400,000 SAR, launch before Ramadan. |
| Sponsor | The sales director: funds the project, backs it and clears major obstacles. |
| Project manager and authority | May approve spending up to 20,000 SAR without the sponsor. |
Stakeholders are everyone who affects or is affected by the project. A top reason projects fail is that someone important was forgotten. We map them on a power–interest grid:
Watch outYour job as an analyst at this stage: meet stakeholders, understand their expectations and write the initial requirements. The same skills you learned in the systems analysis track.