HARDWARE, SOFTWARE TOOLS AND people are required to implement an IT project. But how do you get these disparate elements to work together seamlessly? A good manager using a proven management process is an essential element. But, tools such as project-management systems provide a control panel that enables project managers — on the customer or the service provider side — to allocate resources, manage workflow, collaborate, check versions, track deadlines and govern projects.
While corporate-sourcing managers know what benefits they can get from using a project-management system in the ordinary course of IT initiatives, they may not be adequately informed of the necessity of such systems in global services delivery. In an offshore-outsourcing arrangement, the project manager — often in a Program Management Office — is required to track multiple projects and collaborate with geographically dispersed teams into which he has low visibility.
Historically, outsourcing customers relied upon commercial software to manage projects. But now there are new, low-cost or even free options, including open-source project management systems and software, offered by service providers. But customers need to consider whether these alternatives can manage multiple projects, enable collaboration and ensure that deadlines are met with quality deliverables.
It’s easy to understand why a service provider would seek to differentiate itself by offering customers proprietary project-management software. This could save the customer the hassle of purchasing or integrating third-party project-management software. By relying upon the service provider’s product, there’s no question the two sides will be on the “same page.” But there is a serious question of how relying upon a service provider’s product will help customers juggle projects in a multisourced environment. The money customers save by not purchasing third-party software may flow into the administrative overhead of learning and deploying multiple project-management software products.
Yet, the advent of project-management software provided by suppliers is not without skeptics. “The downside — I really see two elements,” explains Eugene Kublanov, VP, neoIT, an advisory firm specializing in services globalization. “First, in a multisourced environment, a client would be forced to use multiple tools. And second, companies normally use a package already for their internal projects; employees know and have been trained on that package. It would be counter-productive to tell them to put that product aside and get retrained and start using a service provider’s.” Kublanov says that some service providers have accounted for this incongruity by providing data hooks between their proprietary project-management software and commercially available products.
Manage Multiple Projects
The business requirements that dictate project plans are constantly in flux, both for the client and service provider.
