I have been involved in software implementation project for 3 years, and now we are working to transition from "Project" to "production" environment. There are limited resources ( grand total of 11 analysts/programmers for an extremely complex system), and we have been experiencing high turnover rates. The technical resources are divided into two different areas, half reporting to the IT director, and half reporting to the functional area. In moving to a "production" environment, I am being told that all these resources should report to the IT area. Problem is, that throughout the project life, the IT resources have repeatedly been pulled away from tasks, not sent to training, and missed critical deadlines, while the IT folks on the functional side have put forth extreme effort to keep us on track. Needless to say, there is some animosity between the two groups, and extremely different perceptions of levels of responsibility. The functional sponsors of the project fear that the move to IT, while creating opportunities for the IT folks within the organization, would result in the abandonment of the systems we have worked so hard to put in place. Please note, the IT Director and the Functional Sponsor do not report along the same lines in the organization, and natural differences in what is considered priority at the organizational level occur. Any suggestions on how to address this issue, or experiences others may have would be welcome. Saving Changes...
For those looking for some good transition documentation, I would recommend looking at the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 Service Transition Documentation. I am in the process of integrating the ITIL and PMI concepts in the testing and transition phases for several IT projects, and I believe this will greatly enhance the transition from project to production, since it focuses efforts on the transition to providing services and continuous improvement. If someone is interested in the draft documentation, I will be happy to share... Saving Changes...
Transition is a process and it needs to be customised by the organisation - I tend to agree with Michelle McKinnon's approach. In addition and has been implemented by reputable organisations is to have the Transition Department - this will consist of the Senior Transition Manager and xnumber of Transition Managers assigned to specific projects. The idea\concept is to engage with the Business at the beginning of the project and with IT as too often the Business has complained that this system although at UAT was all well when the system goes live the Business found that it lacked input and understanding with hidden costs not identified by the Project. So Transition sits in the middle between IT, Business including external vendors that could be providing support. Determining the Transition process is the first stage, templates follow later and these can be designed to suit your needs.
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