Saturday, August 15, 2009

Challenge IT Project in Small Medium Enterprise

What would be the challenge in implementing a project in Small Medium Enterprise (SME) ? Some critical success factors in implementing a project are User / Management Support, Project Scope, Infrastructure to support the project, Business/Process Understanding of the industry, Change Management, adequate resources and Personnel Leadership by Project Management. In a Small Medium Enteprise where many of these factors often can't be provided, implementing an IT Project can be a tough job. It is often that a system integrator wants to implement a project in SME environment has taken this factor too easy which then put the project into a difficult situation.

The challenge can comes in every factors which not because the SME does not want to support the project however it is merely the capacity is not there. In that situation, a system integrator must be able to calculate the risk and find a chance to educate the SME before the project is started. It is must be overlooked because the customer size is relatively small then the project could be easier. This could be trapped that a new project manager will face.

In that situation some key suggestion including :
  • Strong Project Management Leadership on both side
  • Drive by the higher management can help a lot
  • Find an informal leader to be the advisor of the project
  • Implementing a good change management approach is important
While it looks quite familiar in many project however in SME those aspect can be even critical, because those are only the basic - minimal requirements before a project can start.