PDF of this tutorialPlan the Planning Effort
It is vital to understand what it is that is being planned. The company is not simply planning for a type of technology improvement but, rather, for the new business process that supports the change. Companies must plan for the way people will react to the change, and probably most importantly, they must plan for the way customers will react to and accept the change. It is crucial to understand the value that any change will bring to customers.
Deciding Scope
It is crucial that the company determine the scope of the project before planning. Questions to be asked include the following: Is this just billing, or does it include customer care and a whole new operations support system (OSS)/base-station system (BSS) infrastructure? What part of the business is to be supported? Why is the company making the change?
Setting Business Objectives
Companies should follow rules for good objectives: SMART criteria. They should also know what to do if the company does not meet business objectives. What are the trigger points for the project? What kinds of things would make the company cancel the project? If, $200 million into the project, it becomes clear that the project will exceed the budget by $200 million, is that the time to stop?
Forming the Team
Select a leader who has great access to resources. Ask them to define their roles and, more importantly, the roles they will want other team members to play.
Scheduling
It is important to be conservative. Once dates are mentioned, there will be little room for maneuvering.
Developing an Execution Model
Know what it is that that the company would like to execute. Although it may seem to be simply the implementation of some hardware and software, customers will probably believe it is a new way of doing business. Find out the company's business objectives. Many expect the technological change being implemented to affect the business in a myriad of ways. Rather than deny that it is possible to have the impact the customer expects (as many information technology [IT] professionals do), work with the customer to outline a plan that can enable both organizations to achieve the customer's goals. Questions that can help develop an effective execution model include the following:
- How will the end result come together?
- Will there be an integrator or a software package?
- How much will be kept in house?
- What is the implementation time frame?
- How can achievement of the client's goals be assured?
- Is this too big to implement all at once? If so, what is the phasing strategy?
- How will changes be made throughout implementation? After implementation?
- Are the communication efforts included in the plan clear, consistent, and focused?
- Have the users been included in the effort? Does it look like an afterthought? If so, it probably is, and the clients will notice.
Conducting the Planning Effort
Developing Requirements and Solution Architecture
Unfortunately, rather little effort is devoted to developing requirements these days. Best practices often mean that a company would rather use preexisting requirements than develop its own. This can speed up the time to implementation, but there is still important work to be done. When companies decide to use best practices, this means software will not be customized. Instead, business practices must be altered to fit the software; then the requirements shift from software requirements to business performance requirements. Figure out what processes must be changed and how they will be changed. Customers should not be expected to know how to change their own processes or even to know that such change will be necessary.
Finding and Working with Vendors
Many companies begin with the assumption that a premade system will work. This solution is appropriate for certain environments, but companies must find out who the best vendors are for their billing needs. Invite vendors to the company during the preplanning and planning phases of the project. It is important to understand how the software works and what it will bring to the business. Perhaps more importantly (as solutions become more focused on a single, convergent theme) what is the value-add each vendor will bring? Can the vendor bring business processes to the party? Can it customize business process for a specific company? What kind of legacy does it want to leave for the company?
It may cost money to find answers to these questions. Because of the competitive nature of today's marketplace, technology companies are reluctant to place personnel on site for more than a day or two when they could be billing elsewhere. Consider a small, two- to four-week engagement so that the company can assess the provider's ability to work with the project team. While such an engagement can cost several thousand dollars, when considered in the overall context of the project, it makes good sense.
