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.
iSoftStone listens to you
No one knows your business better than you do, and we want to fully understand what you do so we can deliver the best solution to perfectly meet your needs, and the needs of your customers.
Established governance model
iSoftStone has established a Project Management Office (PMO) as a means of defining and maintaining process standards related to projects and their successful delivery. This serves as a method and guide to the organization as projects are initiated, to project teams as they engage and execute the work, to management as they supply the required oversight, and to clients and stakeholders as they interact with project team members. The PMO methodology is integral to iSoftStone’s strategy of continuous improvement and the continued successful delivery of projects on time, in scope, and within budget.
The PMO also ensures effective communication related to project health and progress, processes, issues, and risk. It maintains a strong focus on business benefits and provides a framework to monitor project outcomes. It establishes the roles, authorities, and responsibilities of project participants in each phase of the project. Our PMO delivery organization has five primary goals:
Scope
Monitor and maintain requirements to ensure that the project remains in-scope through all phases to final delivery.
Quality
Deliver projects that maintain the iSoftStone standard of high quality and 100% customer satisfaction.
Budget
Track resource time and cost against deliverables to ensure budget is maintained and project is profitable.
Risk & issue management
Identify, assess, and prioritize potential risk and implement solutions to manage, control, and eliminate the risk.
Execute
Execute and deliver projects on time as defined in project schedule.
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.
Quality assurance framework
Delivering quality solutions to our clients is a cornerstone of iSoftStone’s commitment to providing a great customer experience. Part of our QA framework includes identifying and managing risk. Our approach to Quality Assurance hinges on the following activities:
- Measure progress against the project roadmap checklist
- Send weekly status reports to identified stakeholders
- Conduct monthly and quarterly business reviews
- Conduct milestone delivery reviews and signoffs
- Identify and proactively address risks through risk assessments and mitigation strategies
iSoftStone – We transform experiences with the future in mind.
For over a decade, iSoftStone has been the technology partner of choice to over 700 clients, including 90 of the Fortune 500 companies.
With our global scale of over 70,000 resources, combined with our local presence, iSoftStone is able to leverage multiple engagement models which allow us to use project teams that are the best fit for your needs.
With the combination of our technology practices, industry knowledge, and our deep expertise in developing enterprise class solutions, iSoftStone is uniquely positioned to partner with you to develop the solution that is perfect for you.
