Largest project I may be doing under $50k.

Construction Consulting Information Technology

Derrick A. Ford Consultant| Ford Consulting Services, LLC Whitestown, In, United States

Hello community. I am really excited to put my first post here!

I am starting one of my first large consulting projects on my own. It is an IT infrastructure upgrade project. Its pretty simple....Installing 31 access points, a few switches and firewalls, installation of new cabling, moving some infrastructure from one corner of a building to another, VoIP phone configuration, and post migration support.

I am looking to see if there is anyone who may be able to give me some advice on this process. Specifically for any lessons learned from someone who has done this type of project before. Maybe some excerpts from someone's risk register on those items. Any general information on wisdom is also welcome.

I don't have an issue with building all my documents from scratch but don't want to re-invent the wheel if its already built. All of my previous engagements have been $10k and haven't had to get real formal. I am going to give them a labor and hardware proposal in the next day or two and just wanted to pick the brains of those more experienced than I before I have to hopefully generate a PM plan.

Thanks for letting me participate here!

-Derrick

Posted: Jun 17, 2020 9:55 PM (Updated by author: Jun 17, 2020 9:57 PM)

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Derrick A. Ford Consultant| Ford Consulting Services, LLC Whitestown, In, United States

Jun 18, 2020 7:43 AM

Replying to Jonathan Lee

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Try looking through the Templates on projectmanagement.com. I've found a few unexpected gems there in the past. Good luck!

I found a couple. Thanks for the advice. It took a while though.

Posted: Oct 21, 2020 10:28 PM

Derrick A. Ford Consultant| Ford Consulting Services, LLC Whitestown, In, United States

Jun 18, 2020 8:16 AM

Replying to Kiron Bondale

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Derrick -

I'd suggest starting by asking your client if they have any standards or templates for project management as they may want you to follow theirs.

If not, then let the complexity and size of the project dictate how much/little documentation and process you follow.

With IT infrastructure upgrade projects, you'd want to keep an eye on things like:

1. Performance
2. Rollback plans
3. Post-implementation vendor support
4. Health/safety regulations (e.g. where can cables run)

to name just a few...

Kiron

I did pay very close attention to the legacy network vs current network performance and nerd benefits that came with those.
Rollback is always scary because you can't test it unless you have a duplicate or another set of HW. This case I did when doing 1 for 1 replacement and adds. That makes the firewall switch so much easier.
This project was also nicer because I was able to take my time and document as I went at my pace and make it understandable and transferrable.

Posted: Oct 21, 2020 10:31 PM

Derrick A. Ford Consultant| Ford Consulting Services, LLC Whitestown, In, United States

Jun 19, 2020 3:50 PM

Replying to Daniel Schutzberg

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Derrick - I have had some experience in the project scope as you describe it. A critical item (especially since you are dealing with COVID-19 and physical distancing) is a site survey. This activity should help you identify where items will be deployed and what connectivity issues (risks) you may encounter as execute. Agree with your client/stakeholders on the best way to communicate and provide updates; I wish you success on this - which by the way may not be 'on budget', but a happy, referenceable customer to help generate your $75k project (or bigger)!

Thanks for the luck. They ended scaling some back because they had a 30T HVAC malfunction a couple weeks out before I started and we were able to adjust and still came in on budget. It was much smaller around $15k but it was good overall. They had some interns working there which I got to use. They were actually pretty good. I never had to go back and correct their work.

Posted: Oct 21, 2020 10:34 PM

Derrick A. Ford Consultant| Ford Consulting Services, LLC Whitestown, In, United States

Jun 21, 2020 9:10 PM

Replying to MARK A ANNUNZIATA, Sr

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DF-
I see you are receiving great nitty-gritty technical advice here.
Let me add something from the high-level PM perspective!
As lessons learned from my experience on a high rise project in KSA, I sat through a meeting with all the su8bs and stakeholders for the communications plan for the 20 story towers and adjacent 10 story offices. this included many wap locations as well as gear at each floor. all designed to be hard-wired.
Well, being a non- structured wiring type of guy, after a 1-hour presentation of 100's of conduits exiting our main control area in the basement, I asked why we were not using F/O cable. We all collaborated on the F/O design for the next5 hour, achieving significant cost savings and much higher efficiency, not to mention the elimination of many conduits.
The client was converting the local area to F/O so this pleased his excellency greatly and allowed us a redundancy we did not have with the original design- a win for everyone!!
All the result of a suggestion from the guy in the trenches!

Good luck with your contract!
M
.

Thanks, Mark. I liked hearing that. Those lesson learned always make me smile because those are truly a win win! FO is the next item to be installed! The last piece of the ISP fiber pull will be completed by 11/8/2020. They're getting permits and locates to pull because we moved the DEMARC/MDF to the opposite corner of the building. More suitable there instead of next to city power main and sump pumps and NG lines.

Posted: Oct 21, 2020 10:38 PM

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