Technology is an incredibly powerful factor when it comes to your business operations, so we wanted to share how a solid IT strategy can make a significant impact on your company. We’ll explore how poor IT implementation and strategy can affect performance, as well as what you need to do to prioritize your IT.
It might be an understatement to suggest that things don’t always go smoothly in business. The truth is that when one problem is solved, another is often created. This is why we lean on our technology. These “solutions” are intended to fix many of the speedbumps, but that doesn’t mean that choosing, deploying, and supporting these systems don’t come with some problems as well. Today, we look at three reasons an IT project could fail.
Any project manager will tell you that there are countless issues that can get in the way of a successful implementation. To nobody’s surprise, business technology can aid project management by streamlining operations and making the entire process much easier for everyone involved. We’ll dig into the details about how project management software and value-based managed IT services can help you complete projects on-time and on-budget.
Small businesses often have to rely on different means to achieve the same level of project management as enterprises. This is due to the demands of project management being significantly different in scope, but also the way that your company implements new technology solutions. Instead of worrying about the specifics of project management, you can outsource these responsibilities to a managed service provider.
If you’ve ever managed a major IT project, you’re probably well acquainted with Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” Every project is going to have some rough patches. The key to overcoming these challenges lays not with the execution of the plan, but with the preparation. Here are four things to consider when you’re planning your next long-term IT project.
Know Your Needs
Believe it or not, understanding exactly what your company needs from a project and translating that into a well-defined strategy with realistic goals, may be the difference between success and failure. First, it’s best to look at the big picture.
Budgeting for the Unknown
Prices go up. Projects get delayed. Accidents happen. You need to accept the fact that you’re going to run into an unplanned incident or two at some point throughout the duration of your project. The best way to make sure that your budget doesn’t come up short is by anticipating that there will be unforeseen expenses. Whenever possible, it’s preferred that you give yourself a bit of ‘wiggle room’ within your budget. Of course, you can’t predict the future - but you can look to previous projects for an idea of what sort of snafus you are likely to encounter. Giving yourself a bit of cushion when planning out your budget might end up saving you big time down the road - and if it turns out that you didn’t need that extra money, then congratulations! Your project was completed under budget!
Determine Benchmarks and Measurements
Especially important during a long-term IT project, figuring out ways to measure and gauge the project’s progress before you begin the execution of it. This will help you maintain forward momentum, keep your budget in check and show areas that need improvements for the next time a similar project is required. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are ways to measure that success. Keeping track of the following metrics will help you get a grasp on the way your projects progress throughout the execution:
Keeping Everyone Informed
Too often in a project’s execution, only the project managers know how the project is fairing. Everyone else is only privy to the sections of the project that apply directly to them. Project managers are there to drive the project - and part of that is communicating with resources - both inside and outside of the project. For example, if your project is going to require your network to be offline, you should give advanced warning to those who will be impacted by this downtime. It is not only courteous, but helps to keep your project on track. There is nothing like having to delay your progress because there was an important meeting scheduled at the same time you had planned on taking the network offline.
There are many programs and applications available to those who are looking for ways to improve project organization and communication. Project management software gives project managers a unified solution where they’re able to track inventory, budget, KPIs, resources and a whole host of other moving parts.
As with most things in life, projects rarely go as planned. The only thing that a project management team can do is make a plan, anticipate needs, and be ready to face whatever challenges are thrown their way. Do you have an IT project in mind but are unsure of how to manage and execute it? Contact The Connection, Inc today at (732) 291-5938.
Have you ever tried to manage a major IT project yourself? If you have, you know that it’s a huge time sink and that there’s a lot involved with the process. We’ll discuss four of the best ways that you can save time and resources while managing your latest technology implementation project.
Understand the Needs of Your Organization
What does the project do for your business? For example, are you implementing a new infrastructure design that makes data more easily accessed by your users? Maybe you found a better email system that you want to use over your old one. Or, maybe you understand that the cloud is the future of your business and you need to migrate all of your data. Whatever the project is, make sure that you know exactly what you hope to gain from it.
You want to ask yourself how the change benefits anyone else involved, too. Will it help your employees better fulfill their duties? Will it make your services more readily accessible to anyone who buys from you? Basically, you need to understand if it’s something that will be mutually beneficial for everyone involved. If it’s not, then why are you doing it in the first place?
Budget for Unexpected Circumstances
When you’re implementing a project, you have to follow the guidelines stated in the project’s budget. However, this isn’t always possible, as unexpected circumstances would lead you to repeat certain tasks, which naturally leads to wasted assets and wasted time. Furthermore, changes in the price of resources and labor could affect the timeline of a project. Suppliers may not be able to meet obligations, or prices may skyrocket to break your budget.
Basically, you should ask yourself what could go wrong when you begin implementing a new IT solution, and ensure that time is allowed just in case something happens which is out of your control. If you do this, the worst-case scenario is that your project is completed on-time and on-budget. If it’s finished as intended, however, you have a lot of extra time and capital to spend on other tasks following the implementation.
Find Ways to Judge Success
Key performance indicators should be a well-known part of your project implementation process. KPIs are what show how well your process works, and they can make or break the project implementation process in both the present and future. If you keep track of metrics like these, you can use them for future projects to make changes accordingly. Here are some of the KPIs that you should consider.
Keep Everyone Informed
A project management team is generally made up of highly-skilled, specialized workers who are working together toward a common goal. Anyone involved in the project management process needs to stay in touch with the progress being made toward that goal so as to make sure that tasks aren’t done more than once. Most importantly, though, is that it’s important these tasks get completed properly so that they don’t need to be done more than once.
You can keep track of all tasks and resources assigned to a project through the implementation of project management software. It creates a single point of contact for all resources involved so that they can keep track of all progress made. It’s just one of the ways that project management solutions can help you keep your projects on-track and on-budget.
All of this might sound like a bit much, which is why we recommend that you go through an outsourced IT provider like The Connection, Inc for your IT project management needs. To learn more, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.
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