Thompson Partnership has experience of projects of many sizes, from short local implementations of departmental software to the replacement of all operating systems on twenty sites Europe-wide with two thousand end-users. We are able to help companies to plan their projects correctly.

Our Way of Working
Because we believe that companies must take ownership of their own systems in terms of management commitment and management decisions, we prefer companies to assign an internal project manager, with ourselves acting as mentor if necessary. We help companies build a project structure with steering committee, project team and QA as roles and a structure in terms of phases and documentation required. We then work with the project team, adding in our own technical, analysis and presentation skills. We follow a five-phase model:

1. Preliminary Analysis
2. Analysis
3. Realisation
4. Implementation
5. Optimisation

Each phase is documented at completion, and the person responsible for QA checks the documentation. The steering committee signs off each phase.
The managing director and the directors of every affected area must sponsor the project

Factors that Affect Project Success

• Methodology
  There are many methodologies available that are designed to help to control projects in terms of costs, objectives and quality. These methodologies can often be 'sledgehammers to crack a nut' when they are used in small projects. Of course, they also add administrative cost to projects, so it may be important for the smaller project to use a cut-down methodology.
  The dangers of using no methodology at all cannot be overstated. Many projects do fail, and most often the failure has to do with specification and the control of changes to the project. If a project does not move through phases, and the phases are not signed off, the project may be doomed to continual revision by competing interests.
  Thompson Partnership has experience of a relatively simple methodology with which we have successfully brought projects to completion.
  
  
• Ownership
  There are no pure IT projects. IT projects produce systems which are composed of informed managers, trained employees, procedures, software, hardware and external support services. People use the tools of IT as a means to an end. If projects are seen as tasks for a specialist IT or Projects team, there will be severe difficulties in getting the co-operation of departments to make the changes in those departments that are necessary for success. Almost all projects have management implications in terms of the way people work, and the directors and managers of the company must take responsibility to agree those changes swiftly, or the cost of their delay will be added to the project.
  For this reason Thompson Partnership recommend that project management should be internal and that senior managers and directors are involved and committed to the project.
  
  
• Sustainability
  It must always be born in mind throughout an entire project, whether it will be possible to run the new system once it is in place. If the proposed 'perfect' system needs twelve hours input per day and one operator has been allocated to it, a problem will inevitably arise. In the smaller company this is a far more serious problem than in the larger company. It is better to lower our sights and develop a more rudimentary system with 80% of the ideal functionality.
  
  If the expertise walks off-site when the temporary project leader leaves, it is only a matter of time before the system fails or costs are added in bringing in further outside expertise. For this reason, we believe that an internal project manager is necessary and that good project documentation is vital.