1. Project Hermes
Yeehaw Toys
June 7, 2007
Project Team:
o Tod Hadley – Overall Project Manager
o Bryan Liston - Documentation
o Alvin Cobb – Research Manager
o Ian Smith – Resource Management
o Todd Ivanich – Marketing Representative
o Cale Hoopes – Risk Assessment Management
o Christopher Horne – Engagement Manager (relationship to Project Co-Sponsors)

2. Table of contents
Definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations.......................................3
References................................................................................4
.
Scope.......................................................................................5
Time................................................................. .......................5
.
Stakeholders.............................................................. ...............5
.
Cost.........................................................................................10
.
ROI..........................................................................................15
.
Schedule................................................
...................................18
Feasibility........................................................
..........................19
Risk................................................................. ........................20
.
Requirements.................................................................. ..........28
.
Code......................................................................... ...............31
.
Screenshots.........................................................
......................32
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3. Definitions, acronyms, and abbreviations
 AP (Access Point)
 FY (Fiscal Year)
 Hermes (The herald and messenger of the Olympian gods)
 IT (Information Technology)
 LAN (Local Area Network)
 NOG (Network Operations Group)
 OSE (Office of Systems Engineering)
 PC (Personal Computer)
 PDA (Personal
 POS - Point Of Sales System)
 POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)
 PRI Lines (Primary Rate Interface)
 VoIP (Voice Over IP)
 VPN (Virtual Private Network)
 WAN (Wide Area Network)
 WAP (Wireless Access Point)
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4. References
3Com Corporation http://www.3com.com
Cnet.com http://inktomi-cnet.com.com/2001-
1_1-0.html?tag=hdrgif
CDW http://www.cdw.com/default.aspx
CompUsa http://www.compusa.com/services/tech_servicesdefault.asp?credir=1
/
Epinions.com http://www99.epinions.com/
Geek Squad. http://www.geeksquad.com/
Hyland Software http://www.onbase.com/English/Services/TechnicalServices
Nucsafe inc http://www.nucsafe.com/installation_services.htm
Office Depot.com http://www.officedepot.com/index.do
Yankee Group http://www.yankeegroup.com/home.do
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5. Scope, Time & Stakeholders
Project Hermes
Project Justification:
Yeehaw Toys has not fully entered the technical world. Our point-of-sale systems are
varied and not all of our stores deliver information to the corporate office over a broadband
connection. We still have some archaic systems in 35% of our stores which deliver reports
and data on transactions over telephone line. Additionally, data on shrinkage and inventory
is counted on sheets and delivered back to the corporate office for entry by data specialist.
Project Hermes is meant to streamline the communications network between the retail
stores and the corporate office. Additionally, communications will be streamlined by
integrating Voice Over IP functionality in the retail stores which will reduce greatly our
cost for communications in the stores. This project will have a very positive impact on the
bottom line of the corporation. Store managers will be able to focus more on people
management and building customer relationships than counting inventory and building
reports. This will save time and money at the retail level. In addition the corporate office
can have more accurate information on what is happen in the stores and finally be able
ing
to make the small changes which will positively affect the bottom line. The financial
benefits of a completed project will far outweigh the costs of implementing the
infrastructure to support this benefit. Additionally, there is a great opportunity for related
projects down the line once we get this infrastructure in place. There are opportunities for
automating even more of our in-store retail systems included possible automated
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6. purchasing, RFID, etc. This is supported by our network which will allow the corporate
office make changes in real time. We will be a more effective retailer if as many of these
functions in the store can be automated.
Project Characteristics and Requirements:
 Many stores are not equipped with broadband connections in the stores. Stores
without broadband will be connected.
 Broadband providers for each region/store will be investigated and chosen.
 A hardware package will be chosen for delivery and installation in the store.
 The stores will need to be equipped with a centralized server used for
communications to the corporateoffice. This will allow for data collection during
network outages.
 Security techniques will be planned and implemented for the wireless connectivity
in the stores.
 Wireless hardware will need to be compatible with Pocket PC devices for handling
inventory.
 Wireless hardware will need to be purchased for any desktop computers in stores
which do not already have network connection. This is only important for the few
stores who currently only have one computer that connects over a POTS modem. If
there is PC hardware that cannot support wireless hardware, these machines will be
upgraded based on the company’s current PC hardware standard.
 A secure redundant VPN solution will be set up at the corporate office and
configured to work with the wireless network at the Application layer.
 Connectivity to the corporate office will be controlled through a dedicated pipe.
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7.  A redundant firewall solution will be setup at the corporate office to control
communications between the stores and corporateoffice.
 Configuration will be setup to allow for Windows Active Directory authentication
between accounts at the retail stores and resources back at the corporate office.
 This project will not implement any new software for supporting a new POS
system, inventory system, reporting system or any other line-of-business
application.
Project Deliverables:
 Network Diagram
 Hardware Proposal
 Project Plan Document (Resource Timeline)
 Cost and Resources Document
 Requirements Document
 Risk Assessment Document
 Feasibility Document
 Help-Desk Plan for Supporting Retail Stores
 Systems Training Document for Store Managers
 Post-Mortem Document
 Wireless Routers for 70 Retail Stores
 Wireless Network Cards for 70 Retail Stores for machines
 Hardware Upgrades for up to 70 Retail Stores who have machines that do not
support wireless hardware.
 Firewall for Corporate Office
 Broadband Connection for Retail Stores without connectivity
 VPN Hardware for Corporate Office
Project Success Criteria:
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8. Project Hermes will be considered complete and successful when there is a connection
from each of our 70 retail stores back to the corporate office over a broadband connection.
It will also be considered a success if multiple in-store wireless devices can connect to and
communicate with the corporate office over the broadband connection. After the first
inventory cycle, the project will be considered successful if 75% of inventory collection
can be completed using the broadband connection and wireless devices. This is success
criteria dependent on the Inventory project to be completedparallel to Hermes.
Estimated Timeframe:
1 Year – This project should be completed by the beginning of the 2009 FY (July 1, 2008)
in order to facilitate Inventory in Aug-Sept.
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9. Stakeholders:
 Project Co-Sponsors: Vice President of Retail Operations, Vice President of
Information Technology
 Help Desk and Retail Support Team: Director of Retail Support
 Network Operations Group (NOG)
 Office of Systems Engineering (OSE)
 Store Managers
 Inventory Control: Director of Retail Inventory Control
 Project Team: NetSec (Project Management and Execution Team)
o Tod Hadley – Overall Project Manager
o Bryan Liston - Documentation
o Alvin Cobb – Research Manager
o Ian Smith – Resource Management
o Todd Ivanich – Marketing Representative
o Cale Hoopes – Risk Assessment Management
o Christopher Horne – Engagement Manager (relationship to Project Co-Sponsors)
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10. Cost and Resources
Project Hermes
Overview
The purpose of the Cost and Resources document is to provide a budgetary estimate
of the anticipated total cost of implementing Project Hermes. At this point in the project,
we are assuming a variance of -10%/ +25% for the associated costs, meaning that the cost
outlined in this document will end up being no more than 25% more than outlined, and as
much as 10% less than outlined.
There are 70 retail locations that will need to have updated inventory capability,
which is what Project Hermesaims to accomplish. There is also the Corporate Office that
will need to be updated, bringing the total number of locations that will need upgrading to
71.
Personnel
 Installation
o Best Buy® Geek Squad
o $400.00 per drop, 5 drops per retail location
o Drop includes all necessary hardware and wiring
o Total per retail location $2,000.00
o Total $140,000.00
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11. Equipment
 Access Points
o 3Com Wireless LAN Managed Access Point 3750
o $365.00 each, 5 per retail location
o Total per retail location $1,825.00
o Total $127,750.00
 Access Point Manager
o 3Com Wireless LAN Switch WX 1200 & Software
o $3,900.00 each, 1 per retail location
o Total per retail location $3,900.00
o Total $273,000.00
 Handheld PCs and barcode scanners
o Symbol MC35 Wireless Barcode Scanner
o Will also function as cell phone with push-to-talk capability and PDA
o $710 each, 15 per retail location
o Total per retail location $10,650.00
o Total $745,500.00
 Firewall for Corporate Office
o Juniper ISG-1000 Advanced
o Total $26,000.00
 Firewall for Retail Locations
o Juniper SSG-5
o $546.00 each, 1 per retail location
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12. o Total per store $546.00
o Total $38,220.00
 Site Access Point Management Software
o 3Com Wireless LAN Switch Manager
o Total $6,000.00
Services
 Connectivity
o 10Mbps service, including VoIP, cell phone service, long distance
 $900.00/ month service charge per retail location
o Connection charges $100.00 perretail location
o Total $7,000.00
Contingency Costs
 Contingency/ Miscellaneous Costs $100,000.00
Initial Costs
 Personnel
o Per retail location $2,000.00
o Total $140,000.00
 Equipment
o Per retail location $16,921.00
o For Corporate Office $32,000.00
o Total $1,216,470.00
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13.  Services
o Connection charges per retail location $100.00
o Total $7,000.00
 Total Initial Cost
o $1,363,470.00
Annual Costs
 Equipment
o Access Points Annual Support $19,162.50
o Site Access Point Manager Software Annual Support $900.00
o Barcode Scanner Annual Support $111,825.00
o Firewall, Corporate Office Annual Support $3,900.00
o Firewall, Retail Locations $5,733.00
 Support and Maintenance
o 3Com Support Staff
o Contract for Support and Maintenance for all locations
o Total $61,012.50 yearly
 Connectivity Service
o Total per retail location per year $10,800.00
o Total per year $756,000.00
 Total Yearly Cost
o $958,533.00
Estimated Timeframe:
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14. As stated in the Scope document, we anticipate a total of one year to complete Project
Hermes, and it should be completed by the beginning of FY2009 (July 1, 2008) in order to
facilitate quarterly inventory in September.
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15. ROI
Project Hermes ROI Summary:
In regards to Project Hermes, return on investment (ROI) is how we can factor whether or
not this project will earn or lose money once a monetary investment has been made and the
project has been rolled out. Based on our research Project Hermes will show an ROI of
189% after the 1st year. This number is based on a discount rate of 10 percent per year.
Project Hermes ROI/Benefit Detail:
There were three major benefit areas that factor into the actual benefit(s) if we were to
implement Project Hermes. It should be noted that one of the four areas are intangible, but
are facilitated only through the implementation of Project Hermes and directly affect the
bottom line. The areas are as follows:
 Reduced Inventory Management overhead
o Our current inventory process includes a team of 8 people at each store
which provide inventory control and asset management. Most team roles
are redundant. The currently antiquated process we have in place now
predicates inventory tracking and management using paper, then entering
that information into a computer terminal. If we were to implement Project
Hermes, it would expedite the data entry process and reduce the number of
people needed by half.
o The paper saving benefit
 $125.00 per month/per location
 $1500.00 per year/per location
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16.  $105.000.00 per year all locations
o Reduced employee overhead benefit
 Average employee wage $23,000.00
 Average yearly wage per location for 4 employees $92,000.00
 Total for all locations $6,440,00.00
 Reduced Telecommunications expenditure
o With the advent of the Internet, there has been a push to find new and
inventive ways to make it a tool, or even create tools to utilize it for
something other than electronic commerce. A tool that can just that is the
voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP allows a shift from
traditional land-line telephone technology to the utilization of the Internet
Protocol for voice communications. With the introduction of VoIP, we can
have voice and data connections to our store locations over a single wire.
With this, we can reduce our traditional long distance charges and
completely by-pass the phone company when making intra-store calls.
Using VoIP technology we will be able to reduce the cost of our long
distance expenses by 80%.
 $226,000.00 Current Annual company long distance bill.
 Benefit of implanting VoIP via Project Hermes:
 $181,000.00
 Increased inventory insight through enhanced inventory control mechanisms and
just-in-time (JIT) ordering system
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17. o Though indefinable, it should be noted that the ability to have items in stock
when a customer is ready to purchase will increase ROI though customer
satisfaction. Another aspect of JIT ordering is the reduction of bulk stock
and the hard and soft costs associated with an inefficient ordering process.
The discount factor used in our equation for ROI is calculated at a rate of 10 percent per
year.
Discount Factor = 0.91
The total cost of the project is $2,322,903.00.
Cost = $2,322,903.00
The total benefit of Project Hermes is $6,726,000.00.
Benefit = $6,726,000.00
Total Discounted Benefit = $6,120,660.00
Total Discounted Cost = $2,113,841.73
ROI = 189%
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18. Schedule
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19. Feasibility Report for Project Hermes
Overview
The purpose of the Feasibility document is to determine the practicality of a project
by gathering information and performing an analysis to determine whether it is likely to
succeed and to offer an alternative plan if it is determined not to.
Assessment
Is the need for the product real?
Per numerous reports released by Yankee Group the correct VPN solution can
optimize productivity of an enterprise by an enormous margin compared to non VPN
solutions. Streamlining and securing company processes into a consistent format is a
proven method to reduce waste and increase productivity and profit regardless of company
objective.
Will this product affect company competitiveness in a positive manner?
Enabling a high speed, low process system to allow the expedition and accuracy of
a point of sale system will inevitably increase productivity by reducing and removing the
percentage of error and allowing less manpower and time to be used up by the process.
Are the cost projections realistic and acceptable?
Utilizing multiple review sites and vendor sites for cross comparison of product
prices and reasonable alternatives, it cam be determined within a range of less than
$100.00 per service sited and product recommended that the listed prices in the Cost and
Resources documentation are reasonable and competitive. Each service sited and product
submitted for review was compared not only to themselves but to products and services of
like performance.
Conclusion
The research conducted reveals a low cost by comparison to similar services and
competitively priced for technology and products required in order to bring this project to
completion. It is our finding that the project is feasible in its currently submitted format.
There is no need for an alternative plan at this time.
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20. Risk
What might go wrong and how have we prepared?
Yeehaw Toys has undergone this project with the understanding that there could be many
project oriented risks that could delay the project orprovide a negative impact to the
company. These risks include acquisition costs over time, technical training of in-store
managers and inventory personnel, underestimation of broadband costs i remote locations,
n
current firm contracts for land-line POTS in individual stores, and a potentially
underestimated contingency budget. This document will try to address all of these issues.
 Risk: Acquisition Costs over Time
o This project is undergoing estimation based on multiple suppliers for costs.
The project could go over budget if there is a correction in the price of IT
and security equipment. This could have a severe negative impact. Our plan
for dealing with this is built into our project contingency. Since the
equipment we estimated in our cost documentation had a fixed price, we
should set aside a good percentage of our contingency to potentially cover
any price fluctuations in equipment acquisitions. Twenty percent (20%)
should be used to cover this potential risk ($20,000).
 Technical Training of In-Store Managers and Inventory Personnel
o Currently, we have set aside training dollars to cover education of managers
and inventory personnel. However, we are a toy company. It’s very possible
that the technical nature of this project will be challenging to our store
personnel. The training dollars may not be enough. Additionally, we may
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21. need to acquire extra labor to cover this issue. Our plan for dealing with this
is to currently cover this with training dollars. If needed, we will have to
hire additional people to take care of the systems in major markets.
 Underestimation of Costs for Broadband
o Since the telecommunications industry is a fluctuating market, we have the
risk of not being able to guarantee these prices in 12 months. Our plan here
should be to set aside some contingency for line setup, possibly twenty
percent of our contingency should be set aside just to cover price
fluctuations in the broadband market.
 Current Firm Contracts for Land-line POTS in Individual Stores
o As we opened stores over the years, we negotiated POTS lines with the
local phone companies. As of this time, there has not been enough due-
diligence to know whether or not these contracts are still binding or have
any time clauses in them. We might need to set aside ten percent of
contingency in order to cover court costs and analysis to make sure that we
can sever any of the contracts we discover.This risk has a low probability.
 Underestimated Contingency
o The budget for the main part of this project is at $1.2 million dollars.
Currently, we’ve set aside less than ten percentfor that budget which is a
high risk. As you can see from the other risks here, we need to account for
these additional problems that we might encounter. A good plan would be
to revisit the cost plan and attempt to frontload contingency from the future
budgets in order to ensure quality of the project at launch.
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22. In addition, we see risks to the installed system that we should consider to inform us of the
possibilities of problems in the future which will compromise the success of the project.
These risk events include hacking of the wireless network, network outages, theft or
vandalism of access points and management system crashes. System related risks are listed
below:
 Hacking of the Wireless Network
o There is the potential for disruption of inventory and order systems. The
system is set to use WPA encryption and all devices authenticate against a
RADIUS server at the home office. Even if a hacker is able to gain access
to the network they will still be required to authenticate with the corporate
servers. Our corporate firewalls provide a lot of protection. This risk has
low to moderate potential.
 Network Outages
o There is a disadvantage that stores will be unable to authenticate if the
network is down. This means that only the cabled computers will function
properly. All stores will be able to continue sales as normal but they will
not be able to place orders or upload data to corporate. Our service
agreement with the IPS guarantees a 99% uptime so this should not be a
huge problem. Also, while the system is managed centrally, each store
operates independent of all other locations. This risk has low potential.
 Vandalism of Access Points
o The destruction or theft of a access point will render a portion of the
network non-operational. The system will see the loss of an access point
and will trigger an alarm for IT. The system automatically sees gaps in the
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23. network and will attempt to compensate. The access points use a
proprietary technology and are useless to the average user. Access points
also look like smoke detectors and thus appear as less of a target. This risk
has low potential.
 Management of System Crashes
o There is a potential of the loss of ability to manage the wireless network.
Each switch maintains a copy of the configuration for the access points in
that location. A switch located at corporate will act as backup in case of a
failure a switch at a store location. (I just spent $6000 of the contingency
budget) In case of loss of the central management system a new system
could be brought on-line the backups restored and total functionally restored
in about 4 - 6 hours. The system would continue to run as usual if the
management system is down. This risk has low potential.
What potential opportunities might we try to exploit?
There are many possibilities for coming under budget on this project and completing it
early. This is a very good opportunity for the company. The opportunities include: costs for
broadband reducing because of a saturated market, a reduced cost for wireless equipment
due to new technology introduction, additional trained labor resources for installation and
configuration and simple infrastructure in the stores that canbe built over to complete the
project early. Because the broadband market is always in a competition between cable,
satellite, fiber and copper technologies, it is likely that we might see a competitive cost
reduction within the year for running broadband service to the stores. This could save us
considerable funds. Additionally, as new wireless technologies are released, older
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24. technologies might be purchased at a reduced cost. We do not intend to be early adopters
so it’s possible that we could acquire some of our equipment later in the project and save
funds that could be used for training or contingency. Since IT staffing has become easier
and wireless technologies have continued to move into the stores, it is likely that we might
have at least one potential wireless expert in each of our stores. If our due diligence shows
this, we will save some time and money on training resources. We could potentially gain
here by using that one person to train addi ional resources in the market.Finally, since we
t
have only completed cursory due diligence on infrastructure alreadyin the stores, it’s
possible that installation and configuration will be easier because we will not have to
remove existing infrastructure or we can use existing infrastructure as a part of the system.
This would be a great benefit.
Plan for Continual Monitoring of New Risks:
A risk register will be created to track the initial risks of the project with many data points.
This register will be held in a database and accessed dynamically using Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server 2007. This will allow the team to analyze and correct the risk register
over the lifetime of the project. The initial register will be created using quantitative and
qualitative analysis of risks based on due diligence performed. A SharePoint Web Part
which will be available to every project member will track the Top Ten Risks from the
register. Ongoing analysis will be performed on a bi-weekly basis and will be managed
through a project team risk status meeting. If that meeting discovers new risks related with
the project, not only will those risks be added to the register but they wil inform what
l
additional tasks or workarounds might need to be carried out to cover the risk.
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25. Additionally, escalation to the sponsors will be determined in these meetings and will be
carried to them through the Overall PM and Engagement Manager roles.
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26. Responsibilities for team members in Risk Management:
Below is a list of the resources involved in the project and their rolein risk management.
 Project Co-Sponsors: Vice President of Retail Operations, Vice President of
Information Technology
o The co-sponsors will have the final word on taking care of risk. They will
need to be sufficiently briefed to make these decisions. This will be the job
of both the overall project managerand the risk manager to make them
aware of the possibilities.
 Help Desk and Retail Support Team: Director of Retail Support
o This support team needs to understand and implement a plan around
training in order to cover their risks.
 Network Operations Group (NOG)
o While this group must be concerned about labor resources,they should
make sure that all system level risks are addressed up through the project
team.
 Office of Systems Engineering (OSE)
o Systems Engineering needs to be involved to point out any risks regarding
acquisition and configuration.
 Store Managers
o The store managers will assist in due diligence. As risks inside individual
stores become visible, they need to communicate what they find to the
project team.
 Inventory Control: Director of Retail Inventory Control
o The inventory control director needs to be responsible for assessing their
staff and determining the technical level of the staff. They need to produce a
report of this to cover the risks of underestimation around training.
 Project Team: NetSec (Project Management and Execution Team)
o Tod Hadley – Overall Project Manager
 Responsible for delivering risks to Sponsors
o Bryan Liston - Documentation
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27.  Managing risk assessment documentation and risk events in the risk register.
o Alvin Cobb – Research Manager
 Responsible for due diligence around stores, equipment and technology
markets.
o Ian Smith – Resource Management
 Responsibility for assessment of labor risks.
o Todd Ivanich – Marketing Representative
 Responsible for assessment of overuse of marketing funds.
o Cale Hoopes – Risk Assessment Management
 Aggregator of risk information and analysis.
o Christopher Horne – Engagement Manager (relationship to Project Co-Sponsors)
 An additional communicator with project sponsors about risk.
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28. Requirements and Constrains
Description of Product
The Hermes wireless network project has beendesigned to add functionality and a
means of communication to each of our store locations. The main goals include reducing
costs and simplifying the current inventory and asset tracking processes as well as adding a
new location-to-location method of communication.
The users that will be largely affected by the new network will be those involved in
inventory and asset management. Once the network is in place employees will be assigned
a hand-held device that connects directly to the wireless network. These hand-held devices
will allow live data input into the inventory database as items are scanned and assessed.
This is replacing a long process of manually counting, documenting, and then hand
entering the item information into the inventory system database one item at a time.
Users that often contact or communicate with other stores will also notice a change.
Phones will be changed over so that long distance will no longer be used to call from
location-to-location, but Voice over IP (VOIP) will replace this costly communication
method.
Hardware
The hardware required at the corporate offices for Project Hermes will include
close to 7 management switches and a management server used to manage the switches and
access points.
Software
Hermes will be setup to work with the current software configuration and will
require minimal changes at this time. The Hermes project leaves the door open for
software possibilities down the road, but will not be included in the scope of this project.
Client machines and hand-held devices will be able to connect to the wireless
network was long as the supported Operating Systems has been updated with the most
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29. recent updates and patches. At this point there are no known limitations of operating
systems.
Work Environment
The work environment will be the retail and warehouse floors at each store
location. The entire floor should be covered with wireless access so that employees can
always be reached on their assigned wireless devices and calls will not be dropped while
moving around within the store.
Training and Documentation
Hand-held device training as well as a quick employee VOIP training with the
phone system will be provided upon installation. The training sessions will be held on the
day of the install either before opening or after closing; whichever is most convenien to
t
store employees and managers.
Major Business Decisions
Purchases that must be approved in order for this project to succeed are the; 1) main
wireless switches to be housed in the corporate offices, 2) wireless access points to cover
each location with adequate wireless signal, 3) Wireless Controller Server to setup,
configure, and manage the wireless network.
Wireless Network and VOIP Installation:
Deployment
Step 1 Purchase of hardware
Step 2 Configuration of access points
Step 3 Installation of Access points
Tuning
Step 1 Set Auto Tune on each location
Step 2 Complete building evaluations
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30. Step 3 Document and save results
VOIP Conversion
Step 1 Installation of PRI lines at corporate
Step 2 Redirect of phones to VOIP network
Step 3 Shutdown of old POTS lines
Training -
Step 1 – Training of IT on new systems
Step 2 – Training of Managers
Step 3 – Training of Employees
Maintenance-
Step 1 – Monthly documentation and backups
Step 2 – Tuning on annual or biannual basis as needed.
Step 3 – Continued training of new employees.
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31. Code
Firewall Rule Set (outbound from locations)
Allow port 80 to Internet
Allow port 443 (HTTPS to Internet)
Allow all traffic to Corporate
Block all other traffic
Firewall Rule Set (Inbound to locations)
Allow port 80 from Internet
Allow port 443 (HTTPS from Internet)
Allow all traffic from Corporate
Block all other traffic
ACL Rule Set for Wireless Switches
Allow only HTTP, HTTPS and DNS traffic
Block all other traffic
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32. Screen shots
Tod will insert screen shots here.
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