Our IT project management services cover all aspects of the project life-cycle.
Business Case
… a conscientious project manager with an excellent understanding of business practices and challenges …
We start with the business case for the project:
Has it been “sold” to the decision-makers and funders?
We can assist in developing the business case for the project and in setting out the high-level requirements, the impact on the business unit, the impact on related business units, etc.
Buy vs Build
We can assist you in determining whether it is better to buy a solution or have one custom built. This includes a review of available commercial applications, in comparison with a high level estimate of overall costs for a custom-built application if necessary.
Planning
We prepare the Project Plan, help identify personnel for the creation of the Requirements Document, review high-level architectural options and set out an over-view of the issues around testing, data migration, implementation, training, governance and support.
Requirements / Business Analysis
The Requirements Document is one of the most important parts of the whole project. It describes what functionality is needed, UI issues, reporting requirements, etc. This is the vision which will be realized by the system ultimately implemented and it covers not only present but future needs.
IDT has particularly strong business analysis skills and is accustomed to working with all levels of the organization to identify and document requirements. These can serve as a yardstick aginst which commercial options can be measured; or as the basis for the design and build of a custom solution.
Review of Commercial Options
We will assist you in identifying potential commercial options, which can be bought and installed with little or no customization. These days many commercial products operate more as platforms than out-of-the-box applications, but after the correct configuration they will meet your needs.
If no potential commercial option is available, a custom-built solution should be considered.
Commercial Options |
Custom-developed Solution |
|
Vendors will be short-listed for interview, with the results of the meetings being measured against pre-determined criteria. A gap analysis is carried out, mapping the Requirements Document against the features presented to identify missing functionality. |
Designers/Developers will be short-listed for interview, with the results of the meetings being measured against pre-determined criteria. The successful parties will be contracted and an estimate of design costs established. A Design Document is prepared by the system architect. This is mapped to the Requirements Document to ensure that all features have been taken into account. Following the Design, an estimate of build costs and timeline will be prepared. The build phase will be closely monitored as to time and costs, with monthly reporting on progress and estimated cost to complete. |
Hardware vs Cloud Considerations
Is your server able to cope with the demands that will be put upon it? Do you have the appropriate server software: SQL Server, SharePoint, Exchange, etc?
Is a cloud-based solution right for you? There are many options to allow you to farm out some or nearly all of your IT hardware and systems requirements to reduce over-head costs and the stress of maintaining your own system at 99.99% up-time.
Data Migration
What data will be migrated? Who will clean it? Will it be manually keyed or electronically imported?
Testing
Identify appropriate staff to test the system – brave people with knowledge of the line of business.
Training
How intuitive is the system? How many people can be trained at once? How much does each person need to know to get started?
Implementation
Who will install and test the setup? Will business be ported to the new system gradually or in a ‘big bang’?
Going Forward
Who is the Owner of the system? How will bugs be reported and fixed? How will new features be determined?
Throughout our work with you, we take a collaborative, team approach. We help you step back from the crunch of everyday pressures, to take a look at where your business is going and what your complete needs are.