How to implement an IT Project nicely and easily?

Nowadays many commercial companies create IT product that becomes the basis of the business. An example is the Yearful startup (London, UK), who created a calendar for planning the whole year and setting milestones in it.
There are also many organizations that are very successful in the traditional market and, to increase profits, create a new sales channel in the network. This was done by Computer Repair Doctor (Florida, USA), which implemented an online system for operating a franchise network of laptop and cell sites. In turn, SRTime (Katowice, Poland) specializing in consumer electronics has created an online system for managing and monitoring the work of heavy equipment on construction sites.

Each of these companies is therefore looking for a professional service in the field of providing dedicated software that exactly addresses the needs of a growing number of clients. It’s easy to find the right software company by command or online – a company with experience and an interesting portfolio of satisfied customers, who will undertake an IT project for the client.

But how to realize such a project nice, easy and pleasant?

We present the answer to this question based on our many years of experience in the industry and the implementation of over 600 projects. And that’s a lot of experience.

A well-executed project is …

A client who talks with our company about the implementation of an IT project has no programming knowledge. He knows perfectly well what the business problem is. A well-executed IT project responds to the client’s need by presenting the appropriate production quality, carried out within the assumed time and budget. Speaking colloquially, “he does what he has to do. And nothing more”.
In order for the IT project to be successful, it is necessary to run six elements in parallel and correctly, which we will present below.

1. SET THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

You go to the car dealership. You cross the door and find the seller, immediately happily informing him that you want to buy a car. What did the salesman just hear? That you’re open to suggestions, maybe Mercedes will please you, but actually Bentley would not be angry. But only when he meets your needs, expectations and financial possibilities, will he be able to present you with an adequate offer that has a chance to meet your expectations.

The software development is exactly the same.

An IT company with experience in the implementation of custom projects knows the methodologies that allow the creation of professional design specification. At White Label Coders, we offer our clients the use of Agile’s User Stories method, which consists in listing the functions of the created system from the perspective of roles that will occur in it: users, administrators, accountants, brokers, sellers, consultants, etc.

Thanks to this approach, it is easy to create a list of business priorities in the project, and then focus on their implementation. Jeff Sutherland in the book “Scrum, or how easy it is to do twice as much twice as fast”, states that when creating software, the rule is confirmed by decades of research that 20% of software functionality creates 80% of its value. “

Why is it important? The essence of a good IT project realization in my opinion is the fact that the project “does what it is supposed to do”. So we need to know what we want to be able to deliver.

2. ALLOCATE RESOURCES FOR THE PROJECT – BUDGET

What budget will you spend on the project? A reliable company will always ask about it, because such knowledge will allow it to carefully prepare appropriate proposals.
If the client’s defined budget is modest, then it is probably difficult to provide a custom solution and focus on finding available “boxed” solutions.
If the client says simply: “Now I spend little money, then more”, the programming company should set the priorities in the project in such a way that in the first stage, the elements with the highest business value can be realized so that the return on investment is realized as soon as possible and the project started earning.
In turn, the client who “now has the money, and then he will see …” will put on the order of the priorities, so that the business value will be delivered as soon as possible.
At White Label Coders we have decided that we do not enter into cooperation if our client declares openly that he did not allocate the budget for the implementation of the custom project.

A rigid budget can also be a bad idea. Therefore, it is common practice to set the priorities and settlements based on hours worked by analysts, software engineers, UX designers, project managers, and testers during the project. At the stage of preliminary talks and creating the concept of an IT solution, the specification never describes 100% of the functions.
Also in the course of implementation, simple topics will get complicated and difficult ones will be underestimated.

3. YOUR TIME IS ALSO A RESOURCE IN THE PROJECT

How to find time to cooperate with a software company – this is a question for you ?

At the stage of defining the scope of the project, it is difficult for a software company to work when you do not know the answer, and you know the needs and habits of the project recipient best. That is why they want to ask thousands of questions, consult ideas on an ongoing basis and have the opportunity to hold meetings to constantly provide business value.
Therefore, it is worth taking the time (decision-maker in the company) and constantly cooperating with the software contractor, verifying the effects of his work, give clear feedback to get a satisfactory solution and the effect at the highest level of quality. This is a critical element on which your success depends.

4. ASSUME THAT THE ORIGINAL ASSUMPTIONS WILL CHANGE

We start with the concept of IT project implementation, determined by the company and confirmed by the client. And really everyone has a good will to implement the original concept, and here …
The situation of your company changes, important external conditions bring new premises concerning, for example, functionality in the project that will determine the success of the project, and have not been known before. Then the original concept seems insufficient.
The topic may be much more difficult to implement than everyone expected.
So there is no point in implementing the project according to the original concept, but it should be verified and adapted to the realities of the situation, verifying all previous stages of the project and updating its scope, dates and budget.

5. AGREE ON THE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION DATE

Framework dates of the implementation of an IT project can be determined based on the set scope of the project and human resources delegated to its implementation, but they can be confirmed only after the commencement of programming works and during the works. It is worth dividing the project into stages, and the implementation of individual stages on time, resulting in the delivery of constantly increasing business value, also favors the completion of the entire project on time.

6. EXPECT GOOD QUALITY OF PROJECT MANAGMENT AND GOOD QUALITY OF DELIVERED SOFTWARE

The client who orders an IT solution in our company works with the best team of specialists who know each other.
We implement IT projects using agile methodologies. In everyday practice, we use Scrum and Kanban elements. Thanks to this, we provide good quality of the final IT product dedicated to the client. And this is a system that does exactly what to do and nothing more. As in the defined range.
Each system can be extended indefinitely, but then we risk that we will not meet with the accepted scope, and the project will have no end.

That is why it is better to start new projects with a proven programming company and build more value for the end customer with a company with whom you will stay in a partner relationship until the end.