Integrating
information and communication applications 
The success of an ICT
(Information and Communication Technology) project depends on the efficiency of
the communication between the teams involved.
Many
tiers of supplier are necessary for the end-to-end service.
Imagine Sam in London and Peter in Munich, who need to share
application resources.
The supplier system is shown schematically as follows:
Are
their needs fully satisfied or even
identified? Do the true requirements actually reach to the
implementing engineer?
The choice of technology is often less critical than the performance of
each interface between provider entities.
By ensuring service accurately reflects needs at each interface,
contract negotiations are facilitated. Providers understand the
effect of their performance on the overall project and the entire
supply chain becomes
more transparent.
Creating the
critical links
The pre-mission
audit establishes contact
with all players of the ICT management process. Contact is also made
with new players as they arrive on the project, ensuring a fluid
inter-team communication
environment.
With all
players readily available, the coordination
of the ICT project integration is accelerated.
This approach is particularly
pertinent in ICT
projects: the
partnering
teams are usually of different professional cultures, such as
purchasing and
engineering aswell as the increasingly diverse community of application
users.
Benefits
Successful partnering leads to quality
assurance of service for business and mission critical applications.
Improving team interfaces builds foundations for future projects and leads to efficiencies, such as in
billing accuracy and timely delivery, both of which generate cost savings.
This is a scalable service offer,
ranging from small
deployment projects to international
corporation program management.
|
Creation of a simple web site for a local association.
|
| Length: |
2 days |
| Delivery: |
1 month |
|
The true requirements of the association are carefully audited with the
aim of creating just the right web platform for their needs: no
unnecessary complexity, simple and efficient appearence and
implementation.
An evolution path is agreed upon with the client. The basic site is
implemented and the evolution steps prepared for future missions, as
and when required.
|
|
|
Launching of a complex web site for a European Consortium.
|
| Length: |
20 days |
| Delivery: |
8 months |
|
The existing pre-launch web site for a new forum is audited and, recommendations for its improvement
validated with the consortium leaders. Close coordination with the web
site engineers ensures implementation in time for the forum launch.
Web site requirements are allowed to evolve during a post-launch
animation period. New requirements are documented in written reports
which are discussed with the forum management. Imlementation of changes
is negotiated with the web site engineers and optimised with respect to
technical feasibility and cost.
|
|
|
Setting up specialised infrastructure
processes as
a web site for a multinational
corporation.
|
| Length: |
10 days (x2) |
| Delivery: |
2 months (x2) |
|
Two missions enable the creation of a
specialised intranet web site and its subsequent migration to a new
intranet platform a year later.
The initial mission audit with meetings with multiple client partners
is critical to the understanding of the client processes and also for
negotiating the interfaces between the partner teams. The first web
site created is a very detailed implementation of the client's project
management cycle, with quality gate representation and online
documentation (meeting minutes, tracking updates from weekly teleconferences with
remote team partners, seminar presentations, partner team
directories).
The migration platform of the second mission allows the implementation
of a password-protected area for internal engineering followup and confidential supplier relationship
management. The web site receives praise from the client because it is
highly adapted to user and project
requirements, leading to
easy information sharing and
the boosting of team performance.
|
|
|
A multinational
corporation deploys IT services internally as an on-going
support activity.
|
| Lengths: |
Ranging from 4 to 20 days
|
| Deliveries: |
Typically 4 to 9 months |
|
Internal corporate customers with
special requirements involving four or five
tiers of project partners, include corporate financial services,
research labs and, IT engineers migrating to voice over Internet Protocol service
(VoIP).
Each service implemention involves a complex chain of hardware,
communication protocols, supplier responsibilities and overall budget
control.
Working in weekly meetings with each customer and in separate meetings
with each supplier, it is possible to construct an accurate mapping
between the customer requirements and the supplier reliability.
This high frequency of contact with the project partners is a
successful method for controlling the overall budget and infrastructure
system performance since it provides opportunities for risk control
(correcting partner misunderstanding, cost surprises, performance
issues, etc.). Such regular contact discipline is also the ideal
platform for escalation management, both supplier-facing and
customer-facing.
|
|
