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Good People Behaving Badly

By Helen Streck posted 09-16-2011 14:21

  

This article was co-authored with Norman Weiner, SVP Technology, Kaizen InfoSource LLC.

Business Unit perceives the need for a new technology to improve productivity and increase revenue.  The technology is mission critical and will impact the operation of other business units. 

The technology is software.   Implementation may require additional servers, storage, operating system licenses, cabling, power and cooling.  It could require custom programming to integrate with other software.  The performance of the software may impact the flow of data to and from the company’s twenty locations.  The new technology has to be incorporated into the disaster recovery and business continuity plans already in place. 

In collaboration with IT, Business Unit develops a business case for acquisition which will have a rapid return on investment.  Business case includes all capital and operating costs required for acquisition, implementation and ongoing support.  Request is approved and funding is provided.  Project receives a “green light” for implementation.   

A definitive project plan results from collaboration between Business Unit and the required IT disciplines. The new software is installed in a test environment which replicates the production network.  Testing in IT is completed.  A beta group is selected to test the features, functionality, and performance of the software in production.  Necessary modifications are identified and implemented, training curricula are developed, Helpdesk staff is trained for post implementation support.  A communication plan is developed and executed to explain the purpose and benefits of the new software.       

New software goes live.  Over the course of several months the software is successfully distributed to all end users.   The benefits of its acquisition are realized.  IT regularly reviews calls to the Helpdesk to identify any issues which may have arisen in production, and to see if improvements can be made.   Business Unit and IT go out for drinks to celebrate. 

As you awaken you realize you were dreaming.  You rub your eyes, check the clock and can’t believe it’s time to start another day.  As you dress, flashes of your dream resurface:  collaboration, communication, project planning, testing and evaluation, communication plan…. SUCCESS!  Yeah… you were dreaming. 

Now you have to face reality – check in for next week’s part 2 of people behaving badly.

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