Jun 3 2009 10:00AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Project Management,
post implementation review,
project manager,
Software Project,
project completion,
project sign-off,
project closure,
software implementation,
project feedback
Both vendor and customer have to understand that the real journey of a product starts only after a successful implementation of software at customer site. The challenges get a new meaning once the project team leaves the customer site after project sign-off. Both the managements can celebrate the successful completion of project. But it is better to hold on this celebrations for a while, till customer really learns to live with the product, starts tasting the real fruits of the product committed earlier. Let the key users start managing the show on their own, run the complete process in live scenario and get satisfied with themselves and the product. The project team that comes at customer site for implementation has a role related to post implementation review prior they go back home after successful closure of project. Similarly the management (customer) have to clearly understand their critical role once the vendor project team goes back after the completion of project. It is the key users and management (customer) now to run and manage the show. No doubt that the vendor team is always at the back to support and assist them in achieving this. Let us assume that the project is over and team is about to leave the customer site. At this juncture it is the prime responsibility of vendor and customer project managers to shake hands and understand the importance of post implementation review in following terms:
The Project manager from vendor side has to hand over the post implementation review plan to customer at the time of implementation sign off and explain clearly each and every agenda of the post implementation review. The clarity in terms of product, managements, users, usage and product is very important for assessment purposes after a stipulated period.
The project manager from customer end has to ensure to get the post implementation plan for feedback purposes at the time of implementation sign off. This will not only leave the project open for another some time in terms of providing a lease for customer team to assess and experience the product in complete isolation in their own terms.
The purpose ultimately is to share the overall health of product, the key users, and the management.
May 29 2009 10:00AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
post implementation,
post implementation review,
Project Management,
project board,
project sign-off,
project closure,
Software Project,
software implementation,
project acceptance,
software performance,
product performance
When is to perform a post implementation review? A witty answer could be – obviously after implementation. Ha! Definitely a successful closure of implementation could declare a project closure with a formal project acceptance report or project sign off. So shall we have a post implementation review as soon as we have a project sign off? Nah! That would not solve the purpose. Give an appropriate time to the customer team key users to settle down as the captain of the ship and sail it smoothly. One day or one week smooth sailing will not tell you the turmoil or undercurrent storm about to come in future. Correct. Then future is too long. That means keep waiting for turmoil. But mind it, all ships sailing in the sea do not experience storm. Similarly all products after implementation and project sign off do not guarantee a serious disaster.
Product performance in actual sense requires a certain timeframe to establish and to give confidence to end users. Some part of post implementation review related to team performance (implementation) can be answered quickly, maybe immediately after the project closure. But the other part needs a considerable amount of time to understand the product from different perspectives and accordingly present a right picture in the review report.
Certainly, then, atleast a period of minimum three months is required to experience the product and then fill in the post implementation report. Ideally, I would say, wait for six months, use product in all respects, aggressively, and then the top management need to sit with their key users and project board to evaluate, assess and fill the post implementation review.
May 25 2009 10:00AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Project Management,
post implementation review,
project implementation,
project sign-off,
implementation team
A Post implementation review is conducted after a substantial period from implementation sign-off. This review is to ascertain customer management’s and users’ experience on product in absence of product implementation team. The product has been implemented successfully and the team is gone. Ofcourse sufficient learning, knowledge, exposure and material have been imparted to users by the implementation team.
Post implementation review by the customer management with key users will spell out – user’s depth in using the product and product’s reliability and stability. The format of post implementation review document should be designed by the vendor management for the purpose of understanding the status of project after a certain period of usage post successful implementation. Filled by customer management in agreement with key users’ experience, the report is sent to vendor for their assessment.
May 13 2009 9:35AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Project Management,
project stakeholders,
project sign-off,
Project Lifecycle,
project milestones,
project achievements,
project stages,
Software Project,
project manager,
project vendor,
project customer
Sign-off at various stages has a significant importance during project lifecycle. Everyday sign-off can be a headache for customer, no sign-off can cause headache for vendor, so there has to be a balance of sign-offs of milestones, achievements and stages of project so that the sanctity of sign-offs is retained thereby earmarking the progress of project. Both, vendor and customer have to be very careful in this aspect of project management as it is crucial for all stakeholders.
At Vendor side the Project Manager has to educate the customer management and project manager over the benefits of timely sign offs. Sign-off should not be there just for the sake of it. It should add substantial value to the project.
At Customer end the Project Manager and management should respect the timely sign-off practice but also ensuring that the activity which is being signed off has finished in actual, rightfully and rightly.
May 4 2009 9:40AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Project Management,
Software Project,
project organization,
project sign-off,
project completion,
project overrun,
project failure,
project time,
project revenue,
project approach,
project metrics,
project progress,
Project Plan
Project management is a joint effort of vendor and customer teams. Project Organization members have to play their respective roles timely and religiously to get the best of the results. Both have to go hand in hand right from the start of the project till end and even beyond. The relationship does not end with the successful completion of the project. Rather a new journey starts with the project sign-off. The baby borne by the vendor team with the help customer team changes the hands with the project sign-off. If these responsibilities are not well understood well in advance, it may lead to overrun and may end to the total failure. To avoid a project overrun the vendor and the customer have to trigger the alarm well in advance as soon as they sense a sign of overrun arising out of any reason.
At Vendor end the core responsibility of project manager is to train the customer project manager in project management so that customer project manager takes the lead in project and ensures that there is no overrun in terms of time and revenues.
At Customer end the customer Project Manager has to be pro-active in his approach to escalate the matter to his top management in case he feels in advance that project is going to overrun (with reasons identified and agreed upon mutually). Some suitable metrics can be used as project plan to trace the progress of the project in accordance with the project plan.
Apr 24 2009 10:06AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Project Management,
Software Project,
project momentum,
project velocity,
project cost,
project time,
project organization,
customer engagement,
project sign-off,
project closure,
project training,
Project Plan,
Project Planning,
management involvement
Project overrun is simply a project crossing its boundaries set by the organization. These boundaries may vary from organization to organization depending on how they blindly or how over-extensively (both extremes) they want to look at it.
5 ways to control project overrun could be:
1. Requirements: With any change in requirements from customer, effort estimation and change in plan is important to drive the project in right direction.
2. Customer engagement: At customer site (or earlier as and when customer involvement is required) if customer project team is not justifiably involved in project by means of specifying requirements, providing master inputs, in training, timely sign-offs at various stages, hands-on exposures, etc. effects project drastically and plan may go haywired, without anybody’s accountability to prove, if alarm is not raised well in time.
3. Milestones: If appropriate milestones are not identified and monitored at every stage of the project, it affects the project finish off in time.
4. Management involvement: If management let the project go off without their involvement in it, it has high chances to overrun.
5. Celebrations: No celebrations of achievements during the project can decelerate the tempo and momentum of the team at both ends to finish off the project in time.
Apr 20 2009 10:05AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
project manager,
Project Management,
project implementation,
implementation phase,
project lead,
project ownership,
UAT,
business study,
business need,
software training,
implementation process,
implementation plan,
project team,
Risk Management,
Risk Plan,
post implementation,
process owner,
reconciliation,
transaction entry,
project sign-off,
project closure,
project failure,
project success
The customer project manager has to take the lead and ownership of product as soon as it is launched at customer site for implementation. The UAT, training and implementation process can only be effective in case customer project team gets fully involved into each and every activity of the implementation phase. Infact the implementation plan prepared by vendor project manager should be the responsibility of customer project manager to execute.
Customer Project manager and management has to clearly understand the risks involved during the business study, implementation and post implementation phase as highlighted by the vendor Project Manager and to act thereupon to overcome those risks with suggestions from vendor project manager.
These risks could be in terms of consequences involved:
if requirements are not complete and well defined,
the involvement of users and process owners during business study, implementation, UAT, masters creation, transaction entry, reconciliation etc.,
if sign-offs not happening in time, etc.
Even if the sign-off is given and product is not put in use, there is a chance of project failure at both ends.
Feb 25 2009 10:02AM GMT
Posted by: Jaideep
Software Project,
software business,
software project management,
project objectives,
business survival,
growth,
revenues,
profits,
maturity,
Project Lifecycle,
standards and methodology,
software metrics,
stakeholders,
transparency,
project completion,
project sign-off,
customer satisfaction,
customer delight,
customer requirements,
software requirements,
Team building,
team role,
team responsibility,
team accountability,
software quality,
project quality,
first time right,
project overrun,
continuous learning,
Increase in revenue,
Avoid revenue loss,
Reduce costs,
Avoid cost increases,
Improved service
Certainly and obviously, every business has a set of objectives. Every business strives for survival, growth, revenues, profits, satisfaction and maturity. The clearer the objective are, the easier it is to achieve them. To achieve the objectives, if the destination is clear, it becomes easier to set the direction of the business, to set the milestones, to chalk out the roadmap, to set the drive, to decide the pace and to achieve them. The top 20 end objectives of any software project can be listed as below (note that the hierarchy is not as critical as the understanding of the gravity of each of the objective):
1. Control on Project Lifecycle
2. Standards and Methodology
3. Metrics
4. Stakeholders rights
5. Transparency
6. Pro-active approach to avoid post-mortem
7. Universal approach for similar projects
8. Timely completion, sign-offs and payments
9. Customer satisfaction and delight
10. Customer requirements and both end clarity on objectives of the product
11. Team building
12. Roles, responsibilities and accountability
13. Continuous Learning from failures/ overruns – no repetition of same mistakes to achieve continuous improvement overall
14. First time right approach
15. Quality right from start – ongoing – every step
16. Increase in revenue
17. Avoid revenue loss
18. Reduce costs
19. Avoid cost increases
20. Improved service
