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Paul Longhurst

The power of the sequel – why Phase 2 helps your implementation

When working on large projects such as replacing a PMS/accounting system, Phase 2 can be seen as the graveyard of hope where ambitious ideas are placed to placate those requesting something that falls outside the plans of the firm’s project leaders. However, this is to ignore the benefits of a well conceived Phase 2 which can be used to great effect in helping to safeguard the milestones and budgets of an initial implementation that will always be under greater scrutiny, especially if delivering a brand new product to the organisation.


When 3Kites is assisting on a project, we recommend including all of the functionality that is required to replace the outgoing system whilst adding a limited number of bells and whistles to help justify to the business why it is spending so much time and money here. If the project is viewed as little more than a like-for-like replacement, even where the new system is more efficient, users may wonder what all the fuss is about. By providing something new and genuinely useful such as dashboards to help manage work, the project can be seen as delivering real value for money.


However, throwing everything into the initial implementation can overload it with unnecessary complexity. This, in turn, can extend costs and timelines leading to lower priority areas being squashed in the rush with the result that some insufficiently considered functionality is deployed and subsequently ignored by a frustrated userbase. We believe it is better to pick and choose carefully what will be delivered at each stage, leaving Phase 2 (and possibly beyond) to build on the success of an initial deployment. A properly planned Phase 2 can then become a way of ensuring ideas falling outside of the initial scope are not forgotten, with users having confidence that once these ideas are agreed and added to the list, they will be delivered. That is a sequel worth waiting for….




If you'd like to know more about how 3Kites can assist your firm, then please contact Danielle.Leacock@3Kites.com


Click here to read the article as a pdf.



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