Project Lifecycle
Once solution design, costing and customer approval are complete, the implementation stage of Datapoint’s service delivery takes place through the following key phases: initiation, planning, preparation, execution and completion.
Initiation
The first phase concentrates on achieving continuity between those involved in the prior sales and design effort and the implementation team taking over. Once business requirements and the solution design are confirmed, procurement of technology from Datapoint’s vendor partners is put into motion.
Planning
The next phase is detailed planning to establish milestones, dependencies and the overall project management infrastructure. The output of this work is contained in a number of reference documents which include Scope of Works, Risk Register, Communication Plan and Project Plan. Once approved by the project board, the scope of the project is then managed through a formal change control process.
Preparation
The preparation phase which follows next in the sequence of activity is crucial to the project’s overall success in that its aim is to identify and plan for issues that will impact the successful installation of the solution.
A number of investigations are undertaken to ensure that everything is fit for purpose. These include site surveys to check that the hardware can be accommodated and a network readiness assessment is undertaken. Checks are also made to ensure all ordered equipment has actually been received on site, serial numbers are registered with the manufacturer and licensing is prepared.
At the same time, detailed documentation will be produced to define and confirm both system and user requirements which then forms the basis of downstream activities such as user/system acceptance testing and training manuals.
Execution
The execution phase comes next and is centred on the activities of the project engineer and the installation team. This team carries out the installation based on the Scope of Works and the system and user requirements analysis. Certain solutions are pre tested in our own production environment (iLAB) before reaching the customer site in order to minimise risk.
Once installation and configuration are complete, system tests are conducted, covering both standard system settings and user specific configurations. This then develops into formal user acceptance tests and completes with formal sign off. With this authorisation, the project engineers cut over the system from test environment to production. This is typically undertaken over a weekend to minimise disruption.
Once the system has been fully cut over, further testing takes place to ensure that the system is ready. At the same time, Datapoint’s International Operations Centre(IOC) begins ramping up to assume support responsibilities by testing that remote access to the systems is in good working order.
Completion
The final phase of service delivery is focused on project completion. Key activities include project sign off, project handover to operational support, document consolidation and handover.
The last activity is a post project review. This provides a forum for an overall assessment of the project against all stated deliverables and deadlines and may incorporate analysis and review of formal stakeholder feedback.
Further information or enquiries about Datapoint’s project lifecycle services are welcome and can be made via our contact us facility.