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Project planning, implementation and management
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Conversion contractor selection, management & administration
- Quality Control
By virtue of contracting the conversion to an outside firm, the user's project manager has relinquished the
quality control fiction during the conversion of any one work package (ie. one telephone exchange). He
may return a package for rework if it does not pass the acceptance tests, but checking the quality of the
work on a half completed package cannot be considered. This is because the cost-efficient processes used
by most conversion contractors do not produce a product to review until the end of the process. If the
user's acceptance criteria have been detailed and the conversion specification is well understood, then the
contractor should have no problem in delivering a product which will pass the acceptance testing.
- Communication
There are three main lines of communication necessary between the user's members and the contractor's
members of the project team: project manager to project manager; computer operator to computer operator;
and records technician to records technician. A situation where either project manager says "all
communication must go through me" will be detrimental to the successful execution of the conversion.
The disadvantage of more than one line of communication between two companies is the potential for lack
of control by one of the two project managers. A written report of all telephone conversations copied to
the project manager will avert such problems.
- Penalties
What penalty can be imposed on a contractor who does not meet his contractual obligations? Financial
penalty clauses for failure to meet schedule or quality should be avoided. Penalty clauses will tend to
introduce unwanted tension between the contracting parties. They will also increase bid prices due to the
additional financial risk involved and the certainty of higher administration costs to complete
documentation required for each minor schedule delay. A suggested method for including a penalty clause
is to offset it by adding a bonus clause to reward the contractor for any early deliveries.
The future well-being of any contractor depends on his reputation. This reputation is certainly not
enhanced by producing inferior quality work behind schedule. If a conversion project is behind schedule or
if it must be returned for rework, it is highly possible that the contractor has already accrued financial
penalties without others being added.
If a contractor consistently fails to meet his contractual obligations, then the contract should be canceled
and no further work awarded to him.
Administration
The management of any project requires a certain number of administrative duties. The secret of a
successful project is to find the right balance of administration time. There is a minimum requirement
without which the project will not proceed, and at the other end of the scale there is a theoretical limit
which will completely bog down the project manager with paper work. The optimum amount of
administration will allow for the sound management of a project without spending excessive time on paper
work.
- Communication Methods
Good communication has been discussed as a management tool. The methods used and the recording of
this communication are project administrative functions.
The telephone should be used as the primary communication link between the user and the contractor.
Frequent telephone conversations are the best way to maintain a good working relationship between the
parties. All project related information discussed in a telephone conversation should be recorded in
writing and distributed in a standard project distribution.
The frequency of project meetings will depend on the distance between the offices of the contractor and
user and on contractual conditions. Certainly a kick-off meeting at the beginning of a conversion contract
is recommended to introduce team members to their counterparts and to discuss project specifications and
procedures. Too many intercompany project meetings can be nonproductive.
Written communication between the two parties is essential, especially for dealing with contractual matters
and for transmitting paper documents or computer tapes. The facsimile has become a common mode of
communication between contractor and user. It is especially convenient for solving problems discovered
on the source records.
- Progress Reports
Progress reports are an administrative tool that will help the user project manager keep abreast of the
project schedule. The project report frequency should be determined before signing a contract while a
mutually acceptable format may be decided upon before the start of actual work on the project. A typical
progress report would report the percent complete of each task on each work package that the contractor
has received. The report should be concise and received by the user within a few days of the end of the
reporting period.
- Invoices
The method of invoicing should be spelled out clearly in the contract. Typically on conversion projects
there is monthly invoicing with an amount held back until final acceptance of a converted package. The
amount invoiced may or may not be supported by progress reports depending on the requirements of a
contract. Invoices should be processed and paid within the time specified to help the contractor offset his
high labor costs at the beginning of the conversion period.
- Extra Work
The amount of work performed beyond the scope defined in the contract will depend on the completeness
of the conversion specification and the number of unlmowns at the time of the contract signing. Excessive
extra work will cause hard feelings between the parties and should be avoided. The user project manager
should try to anticipate the quality of extra work on a project by making himself aware of the gray areas of
the specification - those which cannot be adequately defined prior to starting work.
A good rule of thumb is - the lower the contract price in comparison to other bids, the more claims for
extras there will be. Often the idea of extra work is not mentioned in a contract using an "out of sight - out
of mind" philosophy. The rules for claiming, documenting and paying for extra work should be detailed in
the contract in order to avoid problems at a later date.
Conclusion
There are many things to consider before entering into a contract for the conversion of records to an
AM/FM/GIS system. With a capable project team, a thorough knowledge of the conversion phase of a
project, and a well-thought-out selection process, a user organization should have few problems in contract
management and administration. The selection of a qualified contractor is the most important step in the
conversion phase and it should not be left to chance.
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