This is the THIRD of SEVEN articles looking at the Challenges of Implementing IT Changes, a practitioner’s view. In this article we look at the challenges experienced when implementing new systems into an existing environment.
It is interesting how this one challenge has become more complex as the years have progressed. 20 years ago, this activity would have been less complex than we have today as systems were typically standalone. It is true systems themselves have become more complex and increasingly systems are linked together in a spider’s web mesh these days. Take one system down and it impacts ten others.
This challenge means we need undertake a detailed due diligence before we start anything to ensure we understand the full landscape and system inter-relationships. There are typically TWO key activities that are impacted by the following Challenges – a). Implementation of a NEW System, or b) a Data Centre Migration which results in systems being separated and then integrated into the systems in the new Data Centre (typically this will also encompass some new Infrastructure etc. which can further complicate the project).
The following challenges have been identified by the Bushey Team, and we have collectively added some of our experiences in what to look out for and how to overcome them: –
1. Compatibility Issues
One of the foremost challenges is compatibility. I don’t think I have been to any organisation who hasn’t said that their legacy systems are at the core of their business infrastructure. I remember one organisation informing me that they were employing specialists out of retirement as they were the only ones who knew how to keep their main system working.
Operating old systems like this can cause issues as legacy platforms are not maintained and do not support the latest architecture so interfacing new server and network infrastructure may be limited as old hardware and firmware doesn’t and cannot meet the latest standards.
I had another client who engaged us to undertake a Data Centre migration and stated that they had a critical system which could not be turned off as it may not reboot. The problem was that the only option was to physically move it. I told the sponsor then – if it was a few kilometres up the road, I may try but we are moving these 500 kilometres so we will look for an alternative approach (it never got moved as the system was retired before we had to move it).
2. Data Migration
Although the quantity of data has increased considerably over the past few years, I am pleased to say the migration of data has been made a lot easier, you can easily send multiple Terabytes of data down a high bandwidth circuit now, meaning the live data still remains in situ whilst a replicated copy is loaded onto the storage hardware in the new Data Centre.
Implementing a 10Gb/s circuit is also a lot easier to procure and install, we recently did a migration and from ordering to using the service was less than one month.
Integrating and upgrading Data Warehouses which years ago was almost an impossible task is now made all the much simpler as specialist data conversion applications exist to simplify the activity, if the data design is well thought out and documented.
3. Change Management
Changing the culture of the end user is always a challenge. This is a common item which is missing from many projects we regularly see that have stalled and we have been asked to recover. A complex project has been started by IT, and it has come to complete stop as IT can’t proceed as they don’t have the necessary information, and the Business has not been sufficiently engaged and does not know what IT is doing. I would like to say this is an exception but there are far too many of these types of failure occurring.
In our Second Article we discussed Stakeholder engagement, and this must be done at the commencement of the Change/Project to ensure there is alignment. In Article FOUR (our next one) we will look at Cultural Change Management in more detail, providing some easy wins.
Unless the End User community is fully supportive of the initiative then this will become a very difficult implementation for you.
4. Budget Constraints
I can confidently state that this item on budgets and balancing the budget is the same issue we have had since I started in IT (a long time ago).
Organisations must balance the need for innovation with budgetary constraints. Unexpected costs, such as those arising from delays or unforeseen technical issues, can strain financial resources. The art of constructing a budget that will come close to the actual implementation comes with experience, there is unfortunately no simple way of achieving the outcome. It will need negotiations with various stakeholders and management to pull an acceptable budget that is approved.
5. Regulatory Compliance
Ensuring compliance with industry regulations and standards is not a negotiable item when delivering a project. The Project Team must be very clear as to the requirements before starting and including the Compliance and Risk Officers would be highly recommended from the start. The new norm for all systems being implemented today is they must adhere to data protection laws, cybersecurity requirements, and other relevant regulations. Noncompliance implementations can lead to some very embarrassing discussions with the regulator that can be followed with a fine, not to mention potential damage to the organisation’s reputation (seen as more impacting than a financial wrap across the fingers). It’s crucial to conduct a thorough compliance audit before, during, and after the integration process (and include the compliance and risk teams in the audit process).
6. System Downtime
Integrating new systems with existing ones often requires some downtime, which can disrupt business operations, unless it is effectively planned. Most organisations run with Maintenance Windows, and these should be used through effective planning. Implementing Test environments and/or pre-building the platform in a UAT environment can minimise the downtime and derisk the project. Our policy is to derisk all activities and wherever possible replicate or prebuild the environment which ensures the old/live system remains in place should you need to roll back (unfortunately this is not always possible and then we move to detailed planning to ensure that all tasks are clearly understood).
Most issues that occur are as the result of poor planning and these can be alleviated if an impact assessment was undertaken and identified risks were mitigated. There will be a point that occurs when the risk is accepted, there is no funding available to prebuild and the stakeholders accept the team building the solution, this is where something can go wrong, but this is where a project becomes exciting.
There are many challenges and although project/changes are taught to be a linear journey, in reality those with the experience and detailed knowledge can take anything but a straight line to the finish, but at least the journey is a smooth and predictable one.
Our next article number FOUR will be on Cultural Change Management.
We are Bushey a boutique IT Change Advisory and Project Management organisations that helps organisation successfully overcome their IT Transformations.
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