We have purchased a scheduling tool in order to consolidate our procurement processes within our company. The project management software we bought tracks and documents data on schedules, budgets, and resources, enabling timely tracking management of deliverables, dependencies, and risks. When evaluating a project management application, we should first ensure that we have the business practices in place to take advantage of the software. Project management tools can help to automate existing processes, but they offer little value to organizations that lack the processes and expertise to use them properly (Shaw, 2006).
The first step to ensure our success is to hire qualified technicians to install and configure the software for us. It is important that we hire qualified personnel for this job so that we do not end up with programming errors. Spending a little more money on this step could pay off in the long run. This step could require us to buy a new server and software to run the tool and house the project database.
Endeavour Software Project Management
Endeavour Software Project Management Home Page
Microsoft Project 2000, showing a Gantt chartWe may need to upgrade all computers company wide. Projects that involve new technology are more difficult to execute than those that involve familiar technology implemented in familiar ways.
The next step is education and training. Learning takes place in three areas; on-the-job experience, education, and knowledge transfer (Kerzner, 2006). Project management software has limited value without knowledge of project management practices and a pre-existing program to put those practices into effect. Estimating costs, allocating resources, and scheduling activities are at the core of project management. Performing these tasks requires historical information, an understanding of the nature of a given project, and other knowledge that is based on human input. Although software can assist in these tasks, expertise is required (Shaw, 2006).
After testing of our software is complete, we will...