Project Planning Guidelines

It is usually said that the information technology projects always have delays and cost far more than originally budgeted, and without the results set from the beginning. This can happen for a number of reasons that I will describe next.

Most of the information technology projects have multiple components or sub-projects that are not well identified, which effectively makes the length and cost of it to be much higher, even if it is achieving its objectives of functionality and service as originally stipulated.

There are also some responsibilities unique to the customer such as the redesign of processes, the processes of migration, coexistence, cleaning data, definition and implementation of security profiles, definition of testing applications, and many others that can delay the project.

Another crucial aspect has to do with the amount of changes that were made to accept the applications. In "accelerated” implementations they are virtually abolished, as the process of defining the requirement, programming, testing and acceptance is quite long and would cause severe delays in project implementation.

The clear definition of the scope in terms of changes is crucial both for the development of the project, and for the subsequent maintenance of the applications. When developing an application, it is important to define the project in different stages marked by blocks of functionality and complete them on different versions of the application.

It is intended, by implementing a new system, to make things easier for the company and users. However, if you miss a revision to the current process and procedures, it is conceivable that at the time of putting into production the system will encounter operational hurdles that must be tackled in the middle of change.

Finally, do not neglect two processes that have to do with the current information: the coexistence and migration. The first is that you will have two systems (the old and new) operating simultaneously for a few months. For example, is likely to charge under the new system, but that accounting is still in the old or the new system is ready but the accounting assistants are still in the old system. The decision on putting applications into production is closely linked to decisions on conveniences at this stage of coexistence.

The migration is for the relocation of the current and historical information on current systems to the new one. Be careful with what you need on the new system.

The information technology projects do not necessarily have to last or cost more than originally agreed, it depends on how aware you are about these and other considerations, that typically are learned in the field.