It Project Implementation

Abstract

This paper defines technology implementation and discusses the steps that are required for the implementation to take place. It also outlines the different processes required for implementation in organizations, and the greater community.

Introduction

Technology implementation refers to the introduction of new technologies to either an existing organization, or to a larger community, such as a business. Technology implementation can refer to the process a school would undergo in order to introduce computers into a classroom. Further, technology implementation can refer to the process required to introduce new technology to a larger community. For example, the introduction of Microsoft's operating system as the standard operating system used across North America and the rest of the business world, for both business and personal use, is an example of technology implementation. Technology plays a major role in the daily lives of people all over the world. Perhaps the most commonly cited example of new technology implementation is the relatively recent increase in the use of desktop computers for personal and business use.

With the increase in technology, how does an organization begin the implementation process? There are many steps that need to be taken in order for an organization to implement a new system. The steps include: plan and activation, release planning, defining the requirements, functional analysis, technical analysis, configuration, data migration, testing, deployment, user training and control and end.

Plan and Activation

In the planning stages of planning the objective is to take the ideas and intentions from the individuals who see the need for the project in their organization and convert these ideas into a formal, planned, resourced and funded project. They need to convert it in a way that clearly defines the objectives, constraints and the scope of the project. These individuals need to establish a convincing business case for the project to gain commitment and approval to the project from the appropriate level of senior management. This will allow the project to be set up firmly for success as well as the probability of producing a high quality product on budget and on schedule.

Activation is the step in which the project is launched. Activation also includes training of the project participants, establishes the physical environment in which the project is conducted, as well as building and maintaining support for the project. The project support includes a commitment of budget and finances, public relations and a buy-in to the project and its anticipated results. The objectives of the activation project tasks are to initiate the project, ensuring the availability of resources, including: people, skills, facilities, equipment, hardware, and software to maintain support for entire project. Once there has been an approval from senior management, a scheduled date or pre-defined timeframe can be given.

Release Planning

Release planning is the next step to implementing new technology. This step is to develop a release strategy to guide the overall analysis, design, configuration, testing and development of the new application. A complete assessment should have been done prior to the planning stages to determine the organizations reasons for implementing a new application and what kinds of application functionality would best serve the business in achieving its goals.

The release strategy should be a logical roadmap for the advanced delivery of functionality to the organization's end users. It should also be taken into account how other systems will interface with an existing databases and systems and how it can impact or be impacted by other projects within the organization.

Requirements

The purpose of defining the requirements stage is to ascertain for the end-users what functionality they expect and would like from the new application in order to use it to do their jobs and achieve their goals. By analyzing existing systems and business documentation and conducting interviews with managers, users and technical infrastructure teams, the project team develops and understanding of how the business operates and its supporting infrastructure.

Functional Analysis & Design

This stage is focused on analyzing data and functional requirements and breaking them down into components to create a stable functional specification to conduct configuration work. This is where the customization of some parts that an organization wants included will happen. This stage is also used to identify the logical data objects of the business and user actions on those objects that must drive the application so that the user interfaces can be designed accordingly.

Technical Analysis & Design

The purpose of this stage is to identify the components and configuration requirements of the hardware/software technical architecture to support the users of the application with attention to the capacity planning for increasing user and transaction volumes. Both the technical architecture that is needed to run the application and the overall technical architecture to which the application is connected must be detailed. After the architecture has been thoroughly reviewed, the hardware/software components are evolved.

Configuration

During the configuration stage, the application is configured based on the design.