Lay the Foundation for a Successful IT

Project

Let’s Meet.

Ted Theodoropoulos• Acrowire Founder & President• 20+ years as a business owner• 10 years in IT Audit/Risk Management

at Bank of America• Former member of Microsoft SQL

Server team• Certified Scrum Master / Lean Six

Sigma Black Belt

Paul Bedford• Acrowire Solutions Architect• 30 years experience with MS

technology stack• 15 years experience with MS

SharePoint technologies (on premises – cloud – hybrid)

We are Legal IT Experts.

SharePointCustom

DevelopmentPortal Branding/UXPlatform MigrationManaged Services

GovernanceInfo ArchitectureSharePoint MD

• We help law firms leverage the latest technologies and methodologies to meet business objectives through:

App DevApp ModernizationGreenfield App Dev(Desktop/Mobile)

ASP.NET MVCHTML5/JavaScript/

CSSMicrosoft Azure

SQL Server DB/RS/IS

System Integration

EnvisioningIT Project Planning

Cost EstimateProject Charter

Solution ConceptRisk Assessment

Capabilities Overview

Wireframes & Surveys

Style Tiles & Mockups

What We’ll Cover Today

• Introductions• Three Metrics for Success• Poll• The Reality of Project Failures• Why Projects Fail• Why Projects Succeed• Taking Action Towards Success• Q&A

The Three Metrics of Success

Meets Deadline

sSUCCESS

Delivers on Budget

Meets Requiremen

ts

But, how do we get

there?

Let’s Poll.

What percentage of IT projects are successful?

1 to 25% - 26% to 50% - 51% to 75% - 76% to 100%

The Reality of Project Failures

Only 39% of projects are deemed successful, while the remaining 61% are

failed or challenged.

On Average…

45% of projects DO NOT MEET deadlines33% of projects DO NOT MEET business objectives42% of projects DO NOT deliver on budgets

The WHY Behind Project Failure

Firm decides a new intranet

is neededIT initiates

project

IT gathers feedback from

willing participants

Partial requirements

kick off informal RFP

Vendors respond with limited info

Vendor selected based

on unclear criteria

Project Begins!Framework

decisions are made

Iteration 0 is ready based on partial

requirements

New stakeholders

emerge

New requirements

are givenStrategy is now

in question40-60% of budget has been spent

Redefine strategy and requirements

Repeat until correct

Planning

Execution

Delay Events

Cross Your Fingers

The WHY Behind Project Success

Firm decides a new

intranet is needed

Cross disciplinary

team is assembled

End users are

surveyed

Project Charter / User Stories / Risk Assessment

Wireframes / UI/UX Style

Tiles

Project Begins!Iteration 0 is

ready based on full

requirements

Planning

Execution

Information Architecture

Proper planning is critical for: Winning over key stakeholders Preventing triggers for rework Avoiding moving timelines Delivering on budget Meeting user requirements

Solution Concept

Infrastructure

Requirements

Confirm a Business Case is Valid

Can you clearly articulate why your project is being

undertaken?

Project Charter

Each project begins with an

idea, a vision, or a business

opportunity.

How that translates to

business objectives begins with a

Project Charter.

Get the Right People at the Table

Gather critical input and feedback from stakeholders/users groups. Identify & Prioritize

Objectives User Stories Wireframes SurveysAttorneys

HRMarketing

Finance

Admins & Support Staff IT

KM

Survey End Users

User Stories

The user story describes the

type of user, what they want and

why.

A user story helps to create a simplified

description of a requirement.

UI/UX Style Tiles & Wire Frames

Information Architecture

Information Architecture (IA) focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling content in an effective and sustainable way. The goal is to help users find information and complete tasks. 

Ontology: Do you know what you mean when you say what you say?

Taxonomy: Have you provided logical structures that bring meaning to what you present?

Choreography: How is meaning affected across affected channels?

Infrastructure Requirements

Ensuring the correct infrastructure, be it on-premises, private, public cloud-based or a hybrid design will be a driver for the project technical approach.Choice of infrastructure will have many inputs: Cost Compliance Security requirements Workforce mobility Availability and scalability requirements Geographic footprint of the organization and

internal resource capability

Evaluate Third Party Tools & Technologies

• Base evaluations on specific business requirements• Do not rely on marketing demonstrations alone• Be wary of vendors that charge for assisting with proof of concept

evaluations• Talk to existing users of the tools and technologies you are

evaluating• Ensure your technical team fully understand the technical

approach employed by the vendor for their product

Risk Assessment

Step 1: Identify potential risks.

Step 2: What is the risk timeframe?

Step 3: Determine probability.

Step 4: Determine Impact.

Step 5: What events might forewarn or trigger the risk event?

Risk is defined as “An uncertain event or condition that has a positive or negative effect on a project’s objectives.”

Solution Concept

The solution concept describes a recommended approach to addressing the requirements set forth by the business and provides recommendations where appropriate.

Application Form Pages

Link Page Template

User Added Content

Rendered Web Pages

Content Page Template

Cascading Style Sheet

JavaScript

Links Page

Project Plan

With the information from the envisioning exercise and the solution concept it will be possible to create a high level project implementation plan.

• Milestones

• Resource Requirements

• Cost Estimate

Now You’re An Expert.

Maintaining your next IT project can be done internally with the right people, right knowledge and right sequencing.

Our goal is to supply you with relevant knowledge to help make this happen.

But, We're Still Here to Help.

Finding the time to proactively manage key stakeholders and document critical requirements is often a challenge for law firms.

Learn about Envisioning today and how this defined process of project leadership can ensure success for your next IT initiative.

Questions and Answersinfo@acrowire.com