IT Project Planning and Implementation :an experience sharing

IT Project Planning and Implementation :

an experience sharingMs Candice LAM

Deputy Executive DirectorThe Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation

Rehabus –Mission and Objective

• Mission– Advocate for barrier-free transport and environment for

people with disability– Support equal opportunities for education, training,

employment and social participation

• Objective– Provide a fully accessible transportation service for

people with disability

Rehabus – Services

• Provide transport services for people with mobility difficulty for– employment– education and training– medical appointments – meetings and services– social activities– shopping and travel

Rehabus – Type of services

• Operate a fleet of 87 vehicles to provide– Scheduled Route Service

– Dial-a-Ride Service

– Pooled Dial-a-Ride Service

– Feeder Service

– Weekend Recreational Routes

Rehabus –Service Development Strategies

• User Liaison Group

• Rehabus Information Technology Strategy– Phase I : Rehabus Information Management System

(RIMS)

• ISO 9001:2000

• Continuous Training and Development

RIMS Development History (1)• Pre-RIMS Era : the “Roadshow” Project• 1996 - 1997

– Funding application and approval : Project Launch• Oct 1998

– Order 14 Summons began : HKSR vs Vendor• Aug 1999

– 1st Court Hearing• May 2003

– Last High Court Hearing • Oct 2003

– High Court Judgement : HKSR won the case• Dec 2003

– Legal process continues : Vendor’s appeal

RIMS Development History (2)

• 2000 : Project Re-defined– Consultancy Study on Information Technology Strategy

for Rehabus by Dr T H Tse and Dr Stanley Wong– Formal definition of functional requirements for the

Rehabus Information Management System (RIMS)

• 2001 : IT Outsourcing – Project Initiation– May to June : Vendor Selection - review proposals,

interview vendors, select vendor, prepare agreement– July: Project formally started by HKUST

RIMS Development History (3)

• 2001-2002 : Development & Implementation– July 2001 to July 2002 : User Requirements, Software

Requirements, Architectural and Detailed Design, Coding, Unit Test, Integration Test

– August 2002 : RIMS delivered for site installation– September/October 2002 :

• User Acceptance Test with 400+ pages of test procedures specification

• Reliability Acceptance Test for 4 weeks

– November/December 2002 : RIMS Implementation

RIMS Development History (4)

• 2003 : System Enhancement– Customer Billing Interface– Barcoded Report Generator– Online Tracking System

Why RIMS? The Constraints of Manual Operation• Work on estimated service quota• Lack of systems and standards in operation• Repeat working steps, e.g. data copying• Operation inefficiency: re-entry booking information from

the manual system to the computer• Demand labour-intensive statistics compilation and report

generation : immense time and effort to produce management reports

• With the increase in demand and operation scale, manual system cannot meet with the growth --> manual scheduling is much more difficult

• Difficult to check errors during booking process, e.g. duplicate booking or errors in scheduling

RIMS•Booking handling

•Scheduling assistance

•Information management:

–Customers

–Drivers

–vehicles

•Report generation

Take booking & direct input into RIMS

What is RIMS? (1)

Main Features of RIMS

• Online web-based information management system working in an intranet environment

• To automate the booking operation• To establish electronic information flow

– driver and vehicle information– customer information– road network information– route plans and schedules– statistical information

Benefits of RIMS• Facilitate and streamline the daily booking operation by the

instantaneous on-line retrieval of customers, drivers, vehicles, and bookings information

• Instantaneously capture essential customer and booking information• Improve the accuracy of the daily work capacity estimation• Eliminate possible glitches due to frequent changes in booking• Reduce the duplication of manual paper work• Facilitate the scheduling of routes, drivers and vehicles• Improve the utilization of vehicles, drivers and routes• Facilitate the generation of reports and statistics

The Project Team Approach (1)Organization Chart

Faculty Advisor Project Administrator

Senior Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Software Engineer

System Architect

Software Engineer

Software Engineer

Logistics Architect

HKUST (ATC/IEEM)Project Manager

IT Advisor Quality Advisor

System Administrator

System Supervisor

Operation Staff

Operation Staff

Operation Staff

Operation Staff

Operation Supervisor

HKSR (Rehabus)Project Manager

Multi-level of communications:• Management• Supervisors/Architects• Users/Engineers

The Project Team Approach (2)

• The IT Outsourcing Development Team: A new challenge – Frequent travels between the HK-based people to Nansha– It is a challenge but it works

• Solution Provider Team consists of : – Hong Kong-based : Project Managers, Systems Analyst, and

Logistics Architect– Nansha IT Park : Software engineers, Programmers, and Testers.

• Barriers overcome are:– Dialect, cultural, work practice– The involvement of front-line staff in the Testing Stage.

RIMS Implementation Process (1)

• During system implementation, the effort is shifting fromthe Systems Development Team (IT Outsourcer) to the User (Rehabus)

• The IT Outsourcer brings in the system (hardware, software, application) but it is up to the User to implement to make it a success

• Setting up of an Implementation Planning Team headed up by an Implementation Project in August 2002

RIMS Implementation Process (2)

• The Implementation Planning Team consists of :– Implementation Project Manager (Rehabus)– Representative from HKUST, including QA– System Administrator & Trainer– Facilitators (IT Advisor, HKSR Management)

• Implementation Planning Team Meetings (Progress Tracking):– Meet 8 times since June 5, 2002 till Feb 20, 2003– To be terminated when the system is fully implemented

• Weekly meetings between the Implementation Project Manager and the front-end users– Systems administrator and trainer work closely with the front-end

users (Communication)

RIMS Implementation Process (3)

• The Implementation Partners (IPM, SAT, and HKUST-QA)– Listening to front-line users concerns and addressing their critical

issues– Educating front-line users: a time consuming but worthwhile

experience – Prioritization of necessary changes – Accepting reality – e.g. change design for scheduling module

because of processing time constraints; still no finger-pointing• Segregating implementation into 2 sub-phases:

– December 2002 – customers, drivers, vehicles and orders– April 2003 – full implementation with scheduling and reporting as

it is practical to overhaul the scheduling logic• Importance of Leadership and Commitment

Lessons Learnt (1)from the Roadshow Failure

• Insufficient understanding between the Solution Provider and Rehabus

• Insufficient user requirement study before signing the contract

• Fitting the solution “Roadshow” to an ill-defined business problem

• Lack of project management and system development methodologies of the Solution Provider

• Lack of computerized Information System expertise in Rehabus

Lessons Learnt (2)RIMS Project Development Strategies (1/2)

• Vision - the Information System Strategy (2000) sets the direction for the Rehabus IT Development

• System Objectives – brought in by the Functional Specification for the different phases of information systems development

• User Requirement Definition - defines what is necessary at implementation level pertaining to the system objectives

• V-Model (IEEE Software Process) – brings in the systems development life cycle (SDLC), much to the credit of HKUST

– User Requirement Definition– System Requirement Definition & Prototype– Architectural & Detailed Design (hardware & software)– Testing stages – Unit, Integration, System, and User Acceptance Test

• Progress Tracking – by Project Management Meetings– 8 meetings from September 6, 2001 to November 7, 2002

Lessons Learnt (3)RIMS Project Development Strategies (2/2)

• Teaming : Cusomer & Solution Provider– Communication between management and staff level: across

levels– Communication between Rehabus and HKUST teams: across

organizations– Frequent communication at work levels– Problem Investigation : Team of customer and solution provider– No finger-pointing; see problems as opportunities for improvement– Immediate action taking for urgent and important issues on both

sides; leave the irrelevant issues aside– Disagreement handling: resolution-oriented– Integrating strengths: Rehabus’ application knowledge and

HKUST’s IT and Logistics knowledge; compensating each other’s weaknesses -- SYNERGY effect

Lessons Learnt (4)Change Management Challenges

• Cultural changes in Rehabus– Manual and paper system to computerized system– Impact of individual (manual system) to impact of the whole team (chain

effect of input errors, etc)– Staff were reluctant to change at the very beginning : transparent and

frequent briefing and sharing was needed to change their mindset– Recognition from Management: Problems and difficulties, effort of

groups– Those who could not adapt to the cultural change have to seek other exits

• Change in personnel and policies• More than 100 Formal Change Requests to User Requirements

Definition : from small to significant changes

Lessons Learnt (5)Organizational Challenges (1/2)

• No Computerization experience with Rehabus before –desperate in need of advice and assistance from IT management perspective

• Significant learning curve from management, operations, and work practice perspective

• Parallel with ISO-9001:2000 certification : two major organizational changes simultaneously in 1.5 years

Lessons Learnt (6)Organizational Challenges (2/2)

• Change in the business processes– Requirements changes, e.g. additional drivers to share the vehicle

policy change --> change in operation process --> algorithm change

– Architectural changes, e.g. expanding the hardware platforms, changing the database design, etc.

• The level of acceptance by users– Operators– Route and schedule planners

• Remote development team due to budget constraints– Remote project management– Team communications issues

RIMS Critical Success Factors (1) • Enablers (facilitators)

– IT strategy : Dr T H Tse and Dr Stanley Wong– Solution provider : Mrs Agnes Mak– Project champion : Ms Candice Lam– IT advisor : Dr Edith Mok

• Customer-side project team– Senior management, project manager– Supervisors, end users– 3rd party IT/quality advisor, when IT management expertise is

required

• Relationship between the customer and solution provider– Partners, not enemy– Team integration

RIMS Critical Success Factors (2)

• Communications at all levels– Senior management– Supervisor / architects– End users / engineers

• Formal development process– IEEE software lifecycle & documentation– UML (Unified Modeling Language) process model– Formal Technical Reviews

CRN - Mission and Objective• Mission

– Enhance the quality of living of people with chronic illness and their families

– Promote an equal society for all• Objectives

– Provide community-based psycho-social support for people with chronic illness and their families

– Advocate self-help and mutual-aid of patients

CRN - Services• Community rehabilitation and carer training• Wellness training and social activities• Visits• Psycho-therapeutic groups• Patient groups’ support• Information• Public education

CRN - Network

• HIA Centre, Kowloon• Kornhill Centre, Hong Kong• Li Cheng Uk Centre, Kowloon• Wang Tau Hom Centre, Kowloon• Prince of Wales Centre, NT• Tai Hing Centre, NT• Tai Ping Centre, NT

CRN One-Stop Service System (1)

• Project Objectives

Service enhancement and business improvement through a better link with (potential) service users and service partners

CRN One-Stop Service System (2)

• Project Components– Enquiry and registration of programmes and services– Enquiry and booking of venues and facilities– On-line resource library on chronic illness

-- loans and sales– Database on service users

-- individuals and groups– Database on volunteers– Database on service partners

CRN OSS –Project Development Strategies

• Well-defined user requirements• IT advisors• Customer-Solution Provider team approach• Agency commitment• User Group• Project Management Team

CRN OSS Critical Success Factors (1)• Enablers (facilitators)

– IT strategy : Mr Simon CHAN, Mr Stephen LI and Anthony TONG

– Solution provider : Dr Edith MOK– Project champion : Ms Candice LAM, Mr LEUNG Kam-tao– IT advisor : Mr Gus CHOW

• Customer-side project team– Senior management, project manager– Supervisors, end users– 3rd party IT/quality advisor, when IT management expertise is

required

• Relationship between the customer and solution provider– Partners, not enemy– Team integration

CRN OSS Critical Success Factors (2)

• Communications at all levels– Senior management– Supervisor / architects– End users / engineers

• Formal development process– IEEE software lifecycle & documentation– UML (Unified Modeling Language) process model– Formal Technical Reviews

CRN OSS New Challenges to Organization

• Technical/system support in terms of IT career

• System integration• IT audit and strategy

General Reasons for IT Project Failure

• Change of key personnel• Change of service process• Insufficient understanding and interpretation of

requirements• Lack of communications between customers and

solution providers• Lack of IT expertise• Lack of resources – funding and staff• Lack of competency in Project Management

Recommendations forSystem Development Outsourcing (1)

• Select a reliable solution provider with track record and stable team members

• Look for quality standards, such as ISO, or CMM (Capability Maturity Model)

• Make sure the solution provider has domain knowledge that map to your needs – MIS, accounting, logistics, supply chains, etc.

• Be prepared to cultivate relationship with Solution Provider

• Assess strengths and weaknesses of the User Side• Consider use of a Project Steering Team

Recommendations for System Development Outsourcing (2)

• Agree on the Statement of Work and Project Outcome at the start with the Solution Provider, if possible

• Be flexible e.g. project close-out time, project finish time, implementation time table, etc.

• Start small -- when it works, try something bigger

• Effective communication with the Project Teams, consisting of the Solution Provider,User Teams, and Management Team

Looking forward• Agency management

– open mind – commitment– learning organization

• team -- unit -- organization

• Caring community– volunteer IT advisors– government support

Thank you