Most project managers know that for a system implementation to be successful, it is imperative that the work processes be aligned to the system processes and that users be trained in a timely manner - far ahead of the delivery of the technology. As part of due diligence for any proposed system, the project manager must have the answers to four key questions:

• What degree of change will the new system bring to the processes currently being followed?
• Will the users be willing to make the necessary changes?
• Are the users ready to make the necessary changes?
• What is the latest time by which the users must be made ready?

More than 75% of 219 IT executives interviewed earlier this year by Meta Group Inc. indicated that a lack of in-house project management skills is a major workforce issue for them*.

The lack of experienced project managers is so acute, that many consultancies are waiting to see whether IT-intensive regulatory compliance efforts, such as meeting the mandates of the Sarbanes-Oxley and USA Patriot acts, will lead to a resurgence of project management efforts.

Many IT staffers don't have a systematic status-tracking process in place and simply run into barriers. Then they blame the barrier for being there. And normally wait until the end of the project to start training end users. Smart project managers (and sponsors) know that user training must begin well in advance of any system implementation.

Many problems are caused by interface issues between new products and legacy systems. GPL Integrated IT, LLC understands the need to investigate the data interface and how it relates to external systems. This is a perennial problem that must be investigated as a part of the project planning process. Some key aspects our project managers understand the need to investigate on behalf of our clients are:

• What is the quality of incoming data?
• What volumes of data will need to be handled?
• What will be the frequency of data transmission?
• Will there be any media/infrastructure incompatibility?
• Will the data be available in a timely manner?
• Are there any cross-system data dependencies?

Project scope parsing is all about: chunking a large project into smaller, progressive scope modules. GPL Integrated IT, LLC understands how to make sure that your complex projects are broken into smaller manageable chunks too prevent your project from failing.

1. What are some project management best practices to help your IT staffers on their next project?
2. Conduct Through Due Diligence.
3. Schedule User Trainings Early to Find Problems
4. Have a System in Place to Create and React to System Status Alerts
5. Investigate and Understand System Interfaces
6. Break Down Larger Projects Into Progressively Delivered Smaller Chunks.

Many in-house IT technicians don't have all the basic skills needed to coordinate large projects. Contact GPL Integrated IT, LLC, whether for document review, to ask for a second opinion, or to mentor IT staffers during the analysis phase of your next project and we'll help you outline an overall plan that will prevent project management shortcomings from hurting your next IT project