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One step at a time: Give your IT project room to evolve to meet changing needs


operator The Gym Group: “Understand what your business needs and produce a clear brief. If you aren’t an IT expert, which most gym operators aren’t, get specialist help and advice. It will save you money, time and heartache later on.”


reduce the risk by thinking small Industry veteran and technology expert Rob Gregory believes the increase in IT complexity is forcing a move to smaller steps within a project: each step dictates the next stage, with flexibility required along the way to accommodate learnings and changes in technology. Rather than mapping the project out from the word go, savvy operators are realising that you don’t have to move a mountain to make progress, and that taking one step at a time can be an effective way to keep staff on-board as you progress, as well as preventing a system from becoming obsolete before it’s even completed. “Constant change in such areas as


social networking and cloud computing has increased complexity for all parties. This has challenged suppliers and made it diffi cult for operators to keep abreast of, and understand the impact of, all these changes,” says Gregory. “A key realisation recently has been regarding the need to separate projects into smaller pieces to reduce risk.” If you want further reassurance


before jumping in with a supplier, you could ask for a sample site confi guration. This will involve the proposed supplier taking your requirements and scenarios and building a system for you, but without it going live. You can then run your scenarios as a compliance check and to make sure that your minimum requirements are met. If you’re happy that the proposed system fi ts your scenarios to the


october 2011 © cybertrek 2011


desired level, the next stage is to run a pilot. This will help you to iron out all the operational aspects and agree on the specifi c success criteria that would dictate a ‘go’ decision. You’ll often be amazed how what looks good on paper can quickly become impractical under real life usage. The good news is that businesses do seem to be latching onto some of this


‘smaller thinking’ – a trend that is borne out by the latest edition of the CHAOS report, which indicates that project success rates have seen a greater than 100 per cent improvement since the fi rst study in 1994. Asked for the reasons for this improvement, the chair of Standish, Jim Johnson, observed: “The primary reason is that projects have got a lot smaller. Doing projects with iterative steps, as opposed to all project requirements being defi ned upfront, is a major step forward.”


achieving objectives With increasing pressure on time and


budgets, there is even less margin for error when it comes to project success. If you can state your requirements as scenarios, get into an open dialogue and keep things small, you have all the tools you need for choosing the right supplier and working together for a successful project, with objectives achieved and operational value delivered.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Stuart Dyson is the founder and former managing director of SDA Solutions. Contact: uk.linkedin.com/in/stuartdyson


healthclub@leisuremedia.com stuart dyson


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 57


Get in touch to find out how you can start saving


and making money, year after


Get in touch to find out how you can start saving and making money...


t: 0844 847 5827 e: info@ez-runner.com w: www.ez-runner.com


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