De-bunking some of the biggest myths we’ve heard about information technology and information communications technology deployments.
Myth 1: It’s All About Your Field Tech Network
While having an army sized field tech network all over the country may leave you feeling like you’ve covered all of your bases, you may have overlooked a crucial piece to your puzzle. It’s not about the army; but your generals – or in this case, your project managers. According to CIO.com’s survey of IT executives and project managers, “The number one problem is not assigning the right person to manage the project.”
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Myth 2: A Field Tech is a Field Tech is a Field Tech (they all have the exact same skillset and experience…)
Speaking of field techs, another major industry myth is that every tech is created equal. Everyone is trained in everything, right? Wrong.
While there are standards across the industry that most techs are, in fact, trained and even certified in, that doesn’t mean that they are all equally experienced. Achieving consistently good results in a deployment spanning multiple locations requires skilled oversight and a solid training process.
That takes an expert acting as Project Manager, not just a dispatcher. How does the saying go? It’s not about the QUANTITY, but the QUALITY? This old adage still rings true here.
Myth 3: Everyone can do volume
You’ve done one, you can do them all! That’s the mindset we find a lot of the industry in. Unfortunately, this too is busted.
Most technology rollouts are uniquely different, and with those differences come their own set of risks, hurdles, and potential failure points. What’s more, many companies who believe they can, are in fact, not equipped to handle volume technology rollouts and a lot of times, this leads to expensive changes down the road or project failure.
Again, delivering consistent results at volume takes expert Project Management.
Myth 4: You’ve Planned for Everything
We can honestly say this is physically impossible. Even when you have the perfect mix of highly skilled project managers, capable field techs, and impeccable working conditions – “stuff happens”, and let’s face it; most project rollouts don’t even have that “perfect mix”.
Don’t fret, though, this doesn’t mean your project is doomed to fail. The values your partner rollout company works by will stand you in good stead here. Having the right plans (and backup plans) in place, and the right people on the job, your technology rollout hiccups can be just that: hiccups. An inconvenience, but a manageable one.
Myth 5: It’s all about price (the lower, the better)
While you might think you’re getting a steal with that bargain deployment company or those rent-a-techs, you’re actually sacrificing much more than you think.
According to a survey done by Aberdeen Group (“First-Time Fix: Revisit a Metric Driving Success”), an average bargain deployment company only achieves “Right First Time” success between 60-70% on their technology rollouts. So, while you may appear to have saved on the initial purchase, those extra expenses are lurking just around the corner.
The cost of a deployment stumble (or worse, a failure) is hefty. It could cost you time, valuable resources (ie. Internal PMs or techs, or office usability), and let’s not forget money.
Don’t fret, though, this doesn’t mean your project is doomed to fail. The values your partner rollout company works by will stand you in good stead here. Having the right plans (and backup plans) in place, and the right people on the job, your technology rollout hiccups can be just that: hiccups. An inconvenience, but a manageable one.
