FACTORS IN CONNECTION AND GOING LIVE

We dealt with Project Control and Handover in the earlier Step - INSTALL HARDWARE, though these two items still feature at this Step. What we will concentrate on here are the major risks pertaining to going live.

A major project decision has to be taken early on in the programme, about which of two measures will be adopted as the means of transfer to the new system ;

Big Bang. Will the contemporary system close down, to be replaced in its entirety by the new one, at one operational intervention ? or
Migration. Will the contemporary system contract over time as a phased take-on transfers work to the new system ?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The decision should rest with the overall balance of benefits against cost for each organisational setting. Ways of teasing out those details could include running SWOT and PEST analyses of the two choices.

S = Strengths

W = Weaknesses

O = Opportunities

T = Threats

P = Political

E = Economic

S = Social

T = Technological

Most experience so far has been of running two systems side by side, as Teleworking has seldom ended up as the sole method of working particular processes. This cohabitation has proven to be manageable and rates as a success in Teleworking investment terms.

Two other items demand special attention at this stage ;

System and Information Integrity. Whether transfer, or cohabitation, is managed by Big Bang or Migration, the first imperative is to maintain operational integrity of the system and its information. Until risks are managed to the extent that this can be guaranteed, no transfer should be sanctioned.
Security. Budget and operational deadlines must not put security at risk. Shareholders, customers and the Data Protection Agency all demand that safety of information and security of access remain highest level priorities.

In the excitement of project implementation it can be easy to forget the why. Why are we doing this? To improve service, or increase yield, or reduce waste. The job of project managers is not only to get the project in, but to ensure business goes on as usual.

Last Updated on 10 December 2002 by COLIN TIERNEY