Not everything goes smoothly for a business. In fact, there are times where you feel like you’re driving a clown car filled with conflicting problems. Like any other part of business, when implementing new technology, there are several things that can go wrong. It can be frustrating, nerve-wracking, and a downright disappointment when it doesn’t live up to the promise. Let’s look at some of the reasons why your IT projects fall on their face, and what can be done proactively so you don’t run into the problem.
Lack of Business Alignment
In many businesses, the brass depends on people to come to them with ways to incorporate technology as they reasonably lack the technical knowledge to oversee or implement such things. Besides, their focus should be on the operational health of the company. This reliance on outside minds can sometimes come at odds with the direction they are taking the business. Unless management is fully behind an IT project, you will likely see some dollars wasted planning projects that are never going to get off the ground.
In order to avoid these situations, it is always a good idea to set up a policy that all new and important IT decisions have to not only have full clearance but projects that are green lit should also have regular and consistent status updates. This can ensure that management can alter workflows slightly to avoid a large amount of profit-sapping downtime. It also ensures that the project has the commitment needed to ultimately provide the promised benefits.
Cost Control
A lot of times IT projects fail because there is a lack of financial commitment to seeing the deployment through. This can happen for several reasons: a shift in demand makes you question your path forward, you are presented with new ideas while implementing a technology, or the project itself simply runs over its allotted budget. Regardless of the reasons, IT projects are one of the first expenses to get cut when an organization deems cuts are necessary.
One way to avoid this is to hope for the best and expect the worst when coming up with a dollar amount for any new technology project that you go to implement. Once you get an estimate and decide to go ahead, go full ahead. Don’t start a project until it is completely backed by the proper financing. Some IT projects are lengthy and expensive, you need to plan for inefficiencies when green-lighting any IT project.
Bad Communication
Poor lines of communication can really be a problem for the ultimate success of IT projects. Effective and efficient communication with stakeholders, management, and the entire project team is essential for a successful technology deployment, regardless of the project. It only takes one member of the project to lack the communication tools and skills to derail an otherwise efficient implementation.
To keep this from being a problem, the groundwork for project management should be in place before any other part of the project commences. There are several team communication platforms to choose from, ones with video conferencing options and peer-to-peer instant messaging tend to be the most effective when trying to see a new IT project to a successful conclusion.
Poor Project Management
Probably the most important aspect of running any successful project is having an effective project manager or management team. This not only entails the deployment and the management of the tools involved in the management of a project but also managing the expectations of every member of the project team. Project managers, including business owners and executives that take on projects, have to have a grounded view of all aspects of the project. A project manager that has overly optimistic goals can be a major problem. It’s tough to implement technology without a conscientious approach to understanding how the new tech will fit in with the other technology already deployed by the company.
If you can’t get an experienced project manager in-house, consider outsourcing the project management to a trusted IT services provider like Business Solutions & Software Group. Our certified technicians can not only provide comprehensive IT project management, but we can also procure the technology you need, implement and test the technology before it hits your team, and even provide you with tips to properly and efficiently train your team.
If you would like to learn more about how Business Solutions & Software Group can help you enhance your ability to get the technology in place to help your business grow and prosper, give us a call at Business Solutions & Software Group today.
