How we do it

Getting started the right way

At the heart of every successful project is the execution of a strong communication plan. iSoftStone injects communication methodologies throughout the project lifecycle ensuring business stakeholders receive the right information, at the right time, and in the right way appropriate for the project. Project plans, timelines, business impact, issues, and risks are communicated regularly and succinctly, and project status is measured and communicated as appropriate.

We are serious about successful project management, and our framework to manage your project provides an overall plan, work breakdown schedule, milestone activities, and other collateral essential to a healthy and well-purposed project. On top of this we apply a project management methodology that is best suited for the scope of the project. Regardless of whether we use Waterfall, Agile, or a hybrid approach, our focus is rooted in delivering quality and excellence throughout all phases of the project.

Fundamental to the success of any project is effective risk management. With a proactive approach for managing risk, we look beyond an immediate need to formally address multiple issues that may span across various platforms or environments. Our technical expertise enables us to recognize potential areas of risk and develop mitigation plans to avoid unnecessary disruption during the project.

Project Management Office

ISoftStone’s governance plan is a 6-step methodology that helps facilitate operations, task execution, and guidance for how our teams work together to manage expectations.

Step 01

Governance committee:

Stakeholder involvement

Create a governance committee involving stakeholders across different business units. Build up governance by introducing features using a defined timeline while minimizing the impact to users.

Step 02

Governance plan:

Know the space 

Engage with business and IT stakeholders to assess the current state, make recommendations, and formulate a go-forward plan. This up-front analysis includes:

• Considerations of functionality, integrations, and current state to identify how user experience can be improved or simplified.
• Comparing and contrasting capabilities to identify gaps.
• Understanding content and relevance as it applies to the overall strategy and roadmap.

Step 03

Best practices and documentation:

Deliver need-based results

Every customer has a different way to approach their business. By tailoring technology to meet specific needs of an organization or industry requires knowledge on how the business operates and mapping those requirements to a final solution or service. This creates experiences that deliver outcomes empowering the customer:

• Show multiple ways to solve issues with pros/cons.  One solution for one customer is not necessarily the right solution for another.
• Based on feedback, suggest and deliver the best way to resolve issues for the customer. 
• Monitor and refine – continuous assessment and monitoring up through and to delivery.

Step 04

Taxonomy and architecture:

Improve the experience

Provide recommendations across all areas project: design, architecture, taxonomy, security, customizations, and features.

Step 05

Training strategy, outline, and recommendations:

Inform your users

User adoption is key to successful delivery.  Users need to understand why they need to adopt new processes and what the outcomes will be.  

Lead with information

• Set the stage by explaining why the process is changing. Answer the questions, “What’s in it for the user?” 
• Schedule brown bag sessions to inform users of upcoming changes and what can be expected.
• Outline new features and capabilities that will improve processes. 
• Create change management, communication, and platform adoption plans.

Gain Support

• Provide documentation and user guides for common tasks and scenarios. 
• Leverage videos for “how-to” or “did you know” demonstrations which can be shared across projects.
• Foster 2-way communication through encouraging user involvement by allowing continual feedback.

Step 06

Executive presentation:

Show the return

iSoftStone has proven experience communicating executive level status throughout the life of a project, but we also offer dashboard-style reporting to provide additional insights. Our dashboard capabilities can sit on top of your environment to provide clear and concise information around project and execution tasks, monitoring activities, and support ticket tracking.