Iterate your Data Migration project

Instead of running your data migration project as a waterfall project, consider developing the data migration iteratively. Break the data migration into areas or entities that will need to be migrated, and then start understanding the dependencies between the various entities.

Once you understand the dependencies, start the mapping of the entities that have no, or the fewest dependencies. Once a high level mapping is done, start the development and migration of these as soon as possible. This will allow you to test the data migration routines and processes as soon as you can.

Data Migration Timing

A significant factor of data migration projects is the timing of when the data migration and the customisation/implementation/development of the functional are going to happen. This is not an issue if you are doing ‘a pure’ data migration with no development or customisation efforts. A pure data migration project assumes that you have 100% functional fit between the source (where the data is coming from) and target (where the data is going to) systems.

If you don’t have a pure data migration project, you need to understand the dependencies between the development/customisation and the data migration. To avoid rework, progress the data migration in the areas where there is to be little or no changes first, and then move on to the remaining areas as the technical design has been done.

Iterate your Data Mapping

Don’t waterfall your data migration mapping. As the project progresses, there are bound to be changes to data migration requirements and mapping rules. Avoid getting the mapping done and signed off up front as the management of the changes through the life of the project can be a real headache.

Data Migration Methodology

Our Data Migration Methodology has been built up over our years of experience and we have incorporated extensive testing, reconciliation, review and validation into our data migration methodology.

How JMR Consulting Ltd can Help with Your Data Migration Project

JMR Consulting UK Ltd’s core expertise is based upon its Financial Services heritage and 15 years of operating in the Finance and IT sectors. Over this period, JMR’s staff have developed key application migration and data migration solutions and a constant focus on our service philosophy which is at the core of JMR’s business operation.

This post was written by Jo-Anne Owen, a member of the Professional Services team at JMR Consulting UK Ltd. If you would like more information about data migration or our professional services, please call us on 0845 052 0900 or email info@jmruk.com. If you would like to become part of our professional services team, please email jobs@jmruk.com.

Data Migration is a challenging project because interacting with the business at the right level can be complex because the business sometimes feels that reviewing each data item is ‘too complicated’, ‘self-explanatory’ or ‘a waste of time’. And for a variety of data items that are there this is reasonably relevant. But, don’t run the risk of not reviewing each data item with at least 1 business representative when you are doing a data migration project

My early Data Migration Experience

This happened on an early data migration project that I was involved with. A field that seemed ‘simple’ would be ‘Customer Full Name’. This is something that was held in the Source system as a Free Text field, but in the Target, this field is dynamically created using the First Name, Initials and Surname. Thus the project team decided that the Customer Full Name would be discarded and it would be reconstructed in the target system as part of the data load.

Data Migration Lesson Learned

Months later the UAT team were doing a review of data and found that for all cases where the client was under the age of 16, the parent/guardian information had been ‘lost’. Upon further investigation, we found that the users had used a workaround for the deficiencies in the source system. The workaround involved inserting the part/guardian details into the Customer Full Name field where the client was under the age of 16 so that the parent/guardian would receive all correspondence for the minor.

Of course, this workaround would have been discovered earlier had we done the analysis of the data, or even spoken to a few users about this field prior to the mapping. Even though the problem was reasonably easy to fix in the data migration, the error caused concern in the user community regarding how much of the migrated data could be trusted, and how thoroughly the analysis and mapping had been done because something as ‘simple’ as this could be missed.

Data Migration Methodology

Our Data Migration Methodology has been built up over our years of experience and we have incorporated extensive testing, reconciliation, review and validation into our data migration methodology.

How JMR Consulting Ltd can Help with Your Data Migration Project

JMR Consulting UK Ltd’s core expertise is based upon its Financial Services heritage and 15 years of operating in the Finance and IT sectors. Over this period, JMR’s staff have developed key application migration and data migration solutions and a constant focus on our service philosophy which is at the core of JMR’s business operation.

This post was written by Jo-Anne Owen, a member of the Professional Services team at JMR Consulting UK Ltd. If you would like more information about data migration or our professional services, please call us on 0845 052 0900 or email info@jmruk.com. If you would like to become part of our professional services team, please email jobs@jmruk.com.

Over the last nine weeks we have written a series of blog posts highlighting nine major project management pitfalls. All projects suffer from three basic constraints:

• Cost of the project
• Time to test and implement
• Project Scope, or more importantly scope creep

We have discussed real-world issues that we all have to deal with, how we can avoid these issues in our business and complete our projects on time and on budget. The project failure points were not in any particular order and for completion we have summarised them all in one post. Enjoy!

Project Management Pitfall #1 – Inaccurate Scheduling

When we sit down and start building a project, we need to sit down with the SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) to solidify our estimated times for each portion of the project. You really need to stress to the people giving you the estimates that they need to be accurate. Read More

Project Management Pitfall #2 – Lack of Project Management Tools

Get the right project management tool. If you have a large project team of 20+ members with projects that span multiple cost centers or some other outsourced vendors and freelancers. You want to consider choosing a project management tool that provides the ability to function over multiple, non-standard platforms and has a Web-based interface or online portal. Read More

Project Mamagement Pitfall #3 – Assuming for the SME’s Role

You’re the project manager, you’re not the developer, software engineer or the network expert. Provide your project team with accurate and clear expectations that have been given to you by the stakeholders or project champions. Your job is not to know how to do their job – your job is to deliver the expectations to the experts and see the project through to completion. Read More

Project Managment Pitfall #4 – Being Too Passive

Be the Alpha Male or Female — take charge and be assertive. If someone is not meeting your needs, remove them from the team. Don’t worry about hurting feelings or walking on eggshells around members of your team. Do what the role calls for and take charge and manage the project. Read More

Project Management Pitfall #5 – Making Assumptions

As project managers and team leaders we need to ensure that everything is spelled out clearly and concisely for each team member. Before a meeting ends, call out each team member by name and ask the simple question: “Are there any questions or concerns?” Read More

Project Management Pitfall #6 – Failing to Follow Up

Walk the team floor and make sure you constantly remind everyone of delivery dates and project goals. As project managers, it’s up to us to emphasise the priority of assigned goals and follow up often to ensure they are getting done correctly and on-time. Read More

Project Management Pitfall #7 – Scope Creep

Every single project I’ve ever worked on suffered from scope creep in one form or another. Remember to define the project specifically with clear goals. Understand the Quality requirements presented to you by the stakeholders and project champions and stay on target. Read More

Project Management Pitfall #8 – No Pilot Phase

Pilot your project like you want it to fail. Pick the worst-case scenarios, pilot the project, and don’t be afraid to pull the plug when it fails. Read More

Project Management Pitfall #9 – Incomplete Sign-off

Handle the project sign-off as if you are preparing for a day in court. Get real signatures and real paper from each stakeholder and your project champion. Celebrate the project completion if you have a small budget for it, and be sure to file the paperwork. Read More

Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd, we have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects and we are experts in robust project management disciplines. We promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us. To find out more about how we can help you with project management, please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.

In our Project Management Pitfall post last week we discussed Project Management Pitfall #8 – Not Having a Pilot Phase. We described the concept of a pilot phase and why it is important. We stressed that it is a test or a trial to validate that the planned system works as intended. It is used to check that the proposed project supports your processes and is aimed to answer some basic questions about the proposed system. This week is our last in a series of nine posts and we finish on the issue of an incomplete sign off.

Project Management Pitfall #9. Having an Incomplete Sign-off Process

Keeping a close eye on quality, costs and all the other issues that we have discussed in this series of posts is no mean task. However, they are all vital for a successful project manager and are all vital to the success of any IT project. It’s also equally important to decide when the project should end and who should sign off each stage.This is where good project management comes in. From the outset you need to establish who has the authority to sign off the various stages. This might be a team member, the project manager, a senior manager from the stakeholder group or the project champion owner. Make sure you establish this up front with absolute clarity.

It is a good idea to handle the project sign-off as if you are preparing for a day in court. Make sure that you get real signatures and real paper from each stakeholder and from your project champion. Finally, after you have a signature from the project champion or senior management, copy it, distribute it to the team, congratulate them, celebrate the completion if you have a small budget for it, and be sure to file the paperwork according to your businesses file retention policies.

It is a good idea to implement a form project sign-off sheet and include critical project details, such as: project name, project manager, start and completion dates, project duration, project sponsor, goals, deliverables, team members, internal department affected and clients.

Benefits of a formal sign off process

We always recommend a formal project sign off process. Project sign-off officially ends the project and helps ensure you finish well with no loose ends and that the project is brought to an orderly and agreed close.

How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help

Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd, we have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects and we are experts in robust project management disciplines. We promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us. To find out more about how we can help you with project management, please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.

A message from Aju Alexander….

2011 was a busy year for JMR Consulting UK. We have continued our consulting work in assisting companies to develop and put in place the processes required to meet the requirements of the Solvency II directive, provided a project review for a large migration project as well as provided consulting and assistance with project management, business analysis and application development.

Launch of IDIT Software Suite

One of the key successes for JMR has been the launch of the IDIT Software Suite in November 2010 and the subsequent securing of deals in the UK. IDIT Technologies (the owner of the IDIT Software Suite) have since merged with the global international software group and long term friends Sapiens.

JMR Consulting UK Structure Change

In light of the changes, Kali Bagary has stepped aside as MD and moved to the position of Chairman, to continue the partnership with the IDIT software suite and Sapiens. He will continue with JMR UK but in a leadership and directional role, rather than having hands-on day to day involvement in Operations.

Aju Alexander is the new Managing Director

To take his place as Managing Director, I will be taking over. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, I am Aju Alexander. I have over 18 years experience in enterprise IT outsourcing and consultancy and a wealth of experience managing professional services and service management businesses.

Aju Alexander Background

I have managed complex enterprise wide solutions to FTSE 500 companies, across industries that include Financial Services, Retail, Construction, Supply Chain, Sports, Manufacturing, Hospitality, New Media, ISV and Pharmaceuticals. I have developed a balanced understanding between business requirements and IT capabilities, which I carry forward in my role as Managing Director of JMR Consulting UK. As an ITSM Certified (ITIL Service Management) consultant, I have been involved in helping companies with IT governance and service delivery. I am a strong relationship builder with stakeholders in the business, customers, partners and suppliers and have a solid understanding of business processes and global delivery methodologies.

JMR Consulting UK in 2012

In 2012, we will continue to focus in Insurance and Financial Services, providing consultancy and services in areas such as, software selections, project implementation, data analysis, migrations, Solvency II, project management and various other areas.

Thank you – Aju Alexander

In our Project Management Pitfall post last week we discussed Project Management Pitfall #7 – Scope Creep on projects. We described the concept of scope creep on IT insurance Projects and the impact of uncontrolled changes or continuous growth in a project’s scope. We highlighted that this most often occurs when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled. This week we move on to the topic of failing to have a pilot phase.

Project Management Pitfall #8 – Not Having a Pilot Phase

But first, what is a pilot phase? Sometimes a pilot phase is called a proof of concept. A pilot phase is simply a test or a trial. It is the validation that the planned system works as intended and that it is set up in a way that properly supports your processes and is aimed to answer some basic questions about the proposed system. In other words, do the screens collect the right information? Are we getting the reports out that we need? Do we have the situational awareness that we need to make decisions? Does the process make sense to the users? These are the types of questions that are answered in a pilot phase. A pilot phase or proof-of-concept is usually small and may or may not be complete. This will depend on the risk profile of the project.

The key focus of a pilot phase should be to pilot the project like you want it to fail. Make sure you pick some of the worst-case scenarios, pilot the project, and don’t be afraid to pull the plug if or when it fails. A proof of concept pilot phase is an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed IT solution (software) on a small area and in a controlled manner. A pilot phase is an excellent risk mitigation strategy for a business planning to implement and new IT system. The pilot helps determine whether the software is appropriate for use and how easily it can be configured, providing hands-on experience for business managers, IT staff and users before a full commitment is made to the investment. The implementation of any IT project into a business needs a pilot phase. In fact, I would say that it is vitally important to success. This may seem elementary but it simply does not always happen.

How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help

Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd, we have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects and we are experts in robust project management disciplines. We promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us. To find out more about how we can help you with project management, please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.

In our Project Management Pitfall post last week we discussed Project Management Pitfall #5 and talked about the risk of making assumptions and how that can be a very dangerous thing especially on complex IT and insurance projects. As a quick recap, we advised about not assuming anything about your project and to make sure that as a Project Manager you walk through the project step by step with your entire team, communicate each step, and get sign-off on each one. Today we are going to discuss Project Management Pitfall #6 and discuss the risk of NOT following up.

Project Management Pitfall #6 – Failing to Follow Up

Most projects have a set of pre-defined project meetings. From most of the projects we’ve worked on these are usually, weekly or bi-weekly meetings but on many projects these aren’t enough to keep the project moving at the most effective pace possible. We advise that to be effective, a good project manager needs to be more hands on and focus on some of the smaller things. As one of my best project management mentors once said to me “It’s not the big things that make a difference but making sure all the little things get done”

Project Management is Complex

In today’s more complex working environments, project team members may be in different offices or even countries. So it is a good idea to have a project management tool that keeps each team member’s phone number listed next to his or her name. If you don’t see them everyday, make sure you call them just about once a day to follow-up with them on their status. If you can then it is a good idea to “walk the floor” and walk from office to office with handy notebook and poke your head in just to remind everyone of delivery dates and project goals for those team members who are fortunate enough to be in the same building as you.

My experience has told me over the years that many project team members will wait until the day before or even the day of the project meeting before they actually perform their required task. This is not because team members are lazy or disorganised but often members of the project team, also has a full-time job with plenty of other obligations to meet each day. As project managers, it’s up to us to emphasise the priority of their assigned goals and follow up often to insure they are getting done correctly and on-time.

How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help Your Business

Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd, we have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects and we are experts in robust project management disciplines. We promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us. To find out more about how we can help you with project management, please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.

In our Project Management Pitfall post last week we discussed the Project Management Pitfall #4 and stressed the need for the Project Manager to be assertive and take charge of the direction of the project. We used the phrase that the project manager needed to be the “Alpha Male or Female” and to take charge and be assertive. Today we are going to discuss Project Manager Pitfall #5 and discuss the risk of making assumptions.

Project Management Pitfall #5 – Making Assumptions

JMR Consulting UK Ltd with Clients

Making assumptions can be a very dangerous thing and no more so on projects. So don’t assume anything about your project. Walk through the project step by step with your entire team, communicate each step, and get sign-off on each one. In the past on successful projects, I have been partial to using a little technology in project review meetings and recording the proceedings. Later, I used to transcribe the meeting notes and email them to everyone that was included in the meeting. Depending on the risk or profile of the project, n some cases we included the stakeholders and other business members who were not in attendance at the project review meeting. With the wide use of iPhones, Android phones and tablets this is evern easier to do nowadays than when we employed tape recording machines.

The point to not assuming anything is that as project managers and team leaders we need to ensure that everything is spelled out clearly and concisely for each team member. It is a good idea to employ a direct tactic like before a project meeting ends, call out each team member by name and ask the simple question: “Are there any questions or concerns?” Address them and don’t assume anything and in that way you will avoid Project Management Pitfall #5.

Maintaining Abosolute Clarity is Key to Project Success

The point of this process was to maintain and communicate absolute clarity to all the project team members, business leaders and the stakeholders involved in the project. Project management is a difficult role and isn’t for everyone and a good Project Manager has to keep many balls in the air and also has to manage his or her working team but also to make sure that the wider team in informed of all planning decsions taken at project review meetings. Making sure that there is absolute clarity at every stage in the project is an excellent discipline to follow and avoiding project assumptions is a key control mechanism that all project managers should follow.

How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help Your Business

Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd, we have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects and we are experts in robust project management disciplines. We promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us. To find out more about how we can help you with project management, please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.

Image from phaseware.com

Today we are going to discuss Project Manager Pitfall #4 but before we dig into this specific pitfall, I was thinking about the number of large projects that I have seen fail. We all know that every project is unique and at the same time many IT projects are unsuccessful. So what is it about IT projects that dooms so many of them to failure about two-thirds of the time?

First, let’s consider an amazing fact. When I first started working in the technology space in the 1980s, IT projects were deemed to have failed about 60 to 70 percent of the time. Now, almost 30 years later, they still fail at the same rate! At JMR Consulting UK Ltd we work mainly in the Financial Services Sector and specifically in the insurance space and we also see a high rate of project failure in the insurance industry.

So there are some key questions that we need to cover off in this series of blog posts where we discuss project management pitfalls:

• Haven’t we learned anything over that time?
• Hasn’t our technology improved to the point where we fail less?
• Haven’t we found methodologies that will meaningfully impact the failure rate?

And if we look at the stats from the experts, the answer, sadly, is no. I’m tempted to say that the reason many projects fail is that they’re just too long. Then again, we don’t want to rush things when we’re pouring millions into a key insurance systems replacement or upgrade. In the end, probably the best course is to engage in smaller projects that take less time and that allow for a great deal of modification after they are complete – but that is a conversation for another day.  We are where we are so the better prepared we are for change, the less likely we will deem our projects as failures.

PM Pitfall #4. The Project Manager is Too Passive

Image from jiiscinfonet.ac.uk

As we discussed last week in Project Management Pitfall #3, if you are the Project Manager you are not necessarily the Subject Matter Expert for all aspects of the project. As Project Manager, you have been tasked with leading the team to complete a specific project. Often times, members of your team will have very good advice, don’t be afraid to listen, but do be afraid to let them change the direction of the project. As Project Manager you need to be the Alpha Male or Female – take charge and be assertive. If someone is not meeting your needs, remove them from the team. Of course, be mindful of your HR rules and associated policies.

Project management is a difficult role and isn’t for everyone and not everyone is cut out to be a leader and if you’re not by nature a good leader, then you’re probably not going to make a good Project Manager. A good Project Manager has to keep many balls in the air and also has to manage his or her team. A good Project Manager has to realise that managing a project is not a popularity contest and it is important to be firm and fair. This means that you need to worry less about hurting feelings or walking on eggshells around members of your team and focus on getting the job done. At the end of the day, this is business and if you are in a Project Manager role, you are here to make your projects successful and not to make friends. So do what the role calls for and take charge and manage the project, not the people.

How JMR Consulting UK Ltd can Help Your Insurance Business Successfully Deliver Insurance Projects

We have worked very successfully with some of our major clients to deliver fairly complex business projects. Here at JMR Consulting UK Ltd we promote the use of project management best practices on all our projects. If you want advice or help with your projects or project tools and software, please contact us.

To find out more about how we can help you with your projects or any of your key project management challenges then please get in touch by using the contact form, sending an email to info@jmruk.com or calling us on 0845 052 0900.