How does a project affect my budget?

The quote I’ll use to start this article is very ‘on brand’ for Socium… “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end”. Now I know what you’re thinking, why would a lyric from Semisonic’s, Closing Time be on brand for Socium? Well, this quote was actually from the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca. In Stoic philosophy, his quote applies to their cold view of the circle of life and that things end so that other things can begin. In today’s post, I’m going to apply this process to IT Projects and how taking a calculated approach will help you more effectively plan and realize that new procurements don’t have to be painful. Which instead can lead to a new beginning filled with ease of transition AND a low impact on the budget. 

In our last article, we discussed Due Diligence around evaluating technologies before you choose a vendor. 

1. Pain Point or Business Need Identified

2. Due Diligence / Vendor Evaluation

3. Vendor Selection

4. Project Planning

The next step in the lifecycle of an IT Project is vendor selection and then Project Planning. Now, I’m sure a PMP could school me on Project Implementation, but today, we’re going to focus on pre-contract project planning. Planning is very important to minimize the overall impact on your annual budget.

We're all acutely aware of how blindly buying a new technology can lead to budget issues when we don’t plan well. For example, a vendor pushed a client of mine for a big-bang implementation.  Under this scenario, we would train all users and stand everyone up within a month.  Against my advice, they elected to move forward with this plan, so savings faster could be realized faster.  Unfortunately, there was immediate fallout.) In some instances, it is because of technology challenges, in others, business challenges, and in others still contractual challenges. This put my client in a tight spot. They were absorbing the new technology cost while carrying the old cost, essentially paying double for a single solution.  Once Socium got involved, we completed additional technological due diligence, established additional training cadences, and developed a change management process to avoid business issues.  Additionally, Socium Consulting understood the disconnect process for the client’s different vendors to minimize double billing.  The big bang was possible, but these kinds of migrations take a lot of energy!

Another recent example of the importance of project planning is when a client thought they were ready to transform their legacy network technology to a next-generation network before understanding the complexities of their existing contracts.  They got caught up in the features and flash of the WYSIWYG editor, the visual reporting, and the subscription pricing model. They had already pulled the trigger on a POC and were very close to making a decision, but when I was reviewing their telecom contracts, I found a problem. They had correctly identified the end date of some contracts, but other sites had staggering end dates, and the technologies would have been incompatible. Socium Consulting designed a rollout strategy that aligned with the end dates of all the different contracts. Project planning and implementation planning helped determine how to route between the two networks, leading to a modification of the proposed budget and changes to how this project would impact the annual budget. 

I could go on with many more examples, but like Seneca’s quote, “the end is the most important part. Without the end, there can't be a new beginning”. IT is replete with salespeople trying at all costs to sell you their product. The newness, features, and purported value can sometimes blind us to the due diligence process required to successfully end [one IT product] and take advantage of our new beginning [technology]. 

I’ll sum this up by saying I can’t give away all of my secrets for success, but there are 5 factors that I would consider crucial to pre-contractual project planning:

1. Evaluation of the current contract

2. Current Technology decommissioning

3. Future Technology implementation timelines

4. Annual Budget Financial Ramifications

5. User Impact

Now, I can't miss the opportunity to tell you why Socium Consulting can support these processes for you. Companies may undertake major IT projects/mitigations in a certain technology at most, every 3 years. Meanwhile, I have been through hundreds of implementations of different types of technologies and circumstances. I’ve also worked closely with many of the primary vendors and their legal structures, which gives Socium a unique perspective on helping with project migration. 

So, Closing Time (I couldn't resist)... When you're in the market for new technology, start the due diligence process early by using my 5-step approach (or better yet, let me start it for you). Ultimately, you'll thank yourself for properly bringing some finality to the era's previous technology, and you'll begin in the right place with your new technology: operationally, Financially, and technically. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.