Computers and Technology Internet and Businesses

Software projects: 5 tips to successfully carry out a business plan

Peter11 September 2, 2022

0 85 5 minutes read

5 tips to successfully carry out software projects image

CINTELLIC accompanies customers in all digitization initiatives in the CRM environment. This requires a balanced competence in technical and professional issues in order to continuously ensure the added value of projects and to lead customers to their goals. The support of software projects is a core competence, which is why CINTELLIC invests both in building up the competence of the consultants and in strategic partnerships with business applications solutions.

Advantage through competence

CINTELLIC certifies consultants in the area of requirements management as Certified Professionals for Requirement Engineering (CPRE). In agile project management as a Professional Scrum Master (PSM I). Both skills are needed to define requirements in agile software projects (user stories), coordinate with development teams, and verify the implementation packages in tests. In addition to the necessary knowledge of methods, CINTELLIC consultants can draw on an extensive portfolio of reference projects from different industries in order to incorporate experience and best practices into customer projects.

Reaching the goal together with partners

Right from the start, CINTELLIC relies on cooperation with software vendors who offer CRM software solutions that are relevant to our customers. This gives CINTELLIC the opportunity to send consultants to module-related vendor training courses and also has access to extensive training material. As a result, CINTELLIC customers benefit directly from the detailed knowledge of our experts and the available resources from the software vendor. CINTELLIC closes the gap between the vendor and the client, as our experts bring in-depth knowledge of both the vendor and the client, thus minimizing friction losses.

Software projects initially raise numerous questions for customers rather than providing quick answers. It starts with the decision for or against a software project. After customers have received sales documents for new modules or a new tool, and sales staff from the respective software provider may also have been on site, various questions arise:

Which of these promises can I really trust?
Which of the functions will really help my business?
What goals do I actually want to achieve with the project?
Who do I need to involve from the organization?

CINTELLIC specializes in answering precisely these questions. In the following sections, you will receive practical tips from us that you can use to set the right course.

5 PRACTICAL TIPS TO CARRY OUT SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE PROJECTS

1. Set goals from the start

Content: Many customers see pressure to act and instinctively want to first collect all the information, an actual analysis carry out and then decide what the goal of an initiative should be. However, it becomes sensible to establish objectives right away that are more focused on a strategic target picture (“I want to grow average customer revenue by 5 %”) and less on potential execution processes (“I need a new campaign tool”).

Based on this objective, the way there becomes much clearer and you can see that there may be other measures that need to be tackled in addition to the software project. In addition, setting a goal at the beginning helps to be able to objectively evaluate the success of the project afterward. If the target has not been met, this contributes to the learning process of the company and one has the opportunity to take further measures to close the gap.

Recommendation: Strategic goals are always derived in relation to the corporate vision. Where does your supervisor or your company want to go in the current financial year and which initiative would make a meaningful contribution to this? If your project idea stands up to these questions, the first step has been taken. Based on the strategic goal – CRM strategy – operational goals (e.g. the introduction of a specific tool) can then be derived.

2. Carry out stakeholder analysis

Content: The right people must be involved throughout the project, both from the business side and from the IT side. It should be taken into account which role the individual people play in the project context. Typically there is

Decision-maker/management
Departments/Product Owners
IT departments/application owners

In the technical and IT areas, it is important to note which people either only deliver, who are directly involved in the implementation of the project milestones and which people only need to be kept informed.

Recommendation: It makes sense to maintain a stakeholder matrix in which, among other things, the name, position, area (see three points above), role, and important contact details of the respective persons are recorded. This creates transparency in the course of the project and makes the responsibilities clear for all project participants.

3. Define deliverables for software projects

Content: In projects, there are many dependencies on various specialists and IT areas. In order for project milestones to be reached, deliverables from these areas are required throughout the course of the project so that the project can progress successfully. For example, you may need information on process flows from the department to define the use cases, existing test data from IT to create the test cases, or releases from both departments to prepare for the go-live. It can be assumed that not every project participant is fully aware of who has to deliver what and when. This should be clarified at the beginning of the project in order to avoid resource bottlenecks during implementation and to ensure that planned milestones are met.

Recommendation: It is advisable to list deliverables at least at the divisional level. If necessary as part of the creation of the stakeholder matrix. You can assign these to the individual project phases in order to also include the time component. It is also advisable to describe upstream and downstream dependencies between the delivery items. Downstream: What downstream steps require this deliverable?

4. Define framework conditions for software projects

Content: In the operational implementation of software projects, this point is sometimes the most important! The main question is: What steps do I need in the individual project to be successful? You should already have part of the answer from the compilation of required deliverables. However, this point encompasses more. It is also about availability (of data, systems, or people), approvals, priorities, or conditions for a successful go-live.

Recommendation: The starting point for this, we use different project phases. For example the definition of goals, the definition of requirements, testing, go-live, and introduction. Project, test, and change management phases should also be taken into account across the board. The framework conditions identified should be discussed and approved with the core team in a kick-off. At the start of the project, just like the stakeholder matrix and deliverables.

5. Obtain commitment for business applications solutions

Content: If we take the above points into account, this point should arise by itself. However, it often happens in projects that individuals or departments lack a commitment to objectives (what?). This point refers both to the project sponsors who provide the necessary resources for the project. Also, to the people involved in the operational implementation.

Recommendation: A commitment should be there at the beginning of a software project. Here, it demands responsibility! It is advisable to take minutes of kick-off meetings and to record decisions on how to proceed as these. And then send them to all participants. The protocol then serves as a stopping point should conflicts arise in this area during the course of the project.