|
|
|
Suggestions for Microsoft Project Server (EPM) deployment
(to view more suggestions, click on Suggestion
#2 - #4 above)
#1: Consider the
source when you are getting or paying for
advice about Project Server. We think you need to get as
much advice and help that you afford to prepare for a
Project Server deployment, but we think it is
smart to keep in mind the underlining objectives of the
people providing the help or insight. Clearly,
Microsoft can be a great source of information
but sales are their priority and they want you to purchase product
and to do so quickly - the more the better.
Most Microsoft deployment
partners are motivated to argue that you need to
pay for "billable bodies" (consultants) onsite for contiguous
periods of time. From their perspective the
longer they can stretch the engagement the
better. They do this by arguing that you need to
hire them to implement this system and that it
is a turn-key system much like building a house.
(A builder, in theory, builds the house you want
and then turns it over to you to live in it as a
static and completely functional product.) They
suggest that the best approach to take is to
hire them to come in, gather requirements,
install the software, configure and customize
Project Server, show you how to do a few things,
and then hand the system over to you with the
understanding that you will likely call them to
come back and do further customization, solve
problems, and possibility deploy to other
groups.
With the customer's interests in mind, and
from our lessons learned, we do not think this
approach will necessarily lead you down the road
to success. Instead, we think there is a better,
more cost effective way to deploy EPM.
 Tag:
We think that you should think in terms of
developing a sustainable system. A system that
uses your resources during all phases of
development, that is maintained locally, and
that provides measurable value to the
organization. This is not easy to do primarily
because a sustainable system is not in the best
interests of the software seller or the many service
companies providing technical and business consulting and training.
For example, many people will move to EPM 2007
simply because they will be convinced that the
value they did not obtain with EPM 2003 is now
available in 2007. Or that cost of maintaining
2007 will be less than it was for 2003. Oddly
enough, many people will move because they will
believe that there will be less pain associated
with 2007 than they have experienced with 2003.
 Experience:
There are exceptions to this approach of selling
highly consumable systems over sustainable ones. One of the
consulting firms we have been associated with
since the late 80s have built a consulting and
training practice on developing internal leaders
to completely take over the consulting and training
activities usually outsourced to experts. In fact, as one of the oldest
corporate training firms the world, they are
credited with designing the train-the-trainer
concept decades ago.
But software, with few
exceptions, is not sold on a sustainable model. Many will charge
you maintenance fees and spend large amounts of
marketing dollars in an attempt to get us to
upgrade to newer versions. For example, we have
read estimates that Microsoft has spent $500
million to convince us we need and want to
upgrade to Vista. That there is a big WOW in it
for us if we do.
|
