This is the part of the sub-web covering the Implementation of Applications Software. To go to the overview of this sub-web, please click Overview. To go to the web-site home page, please click Home.

At the inception of the implementation project, the progress of the whole implementation must be planned. Every relevant element, for every party involved in the implementation, including customer, supplier, and external contractors (such as electricians), must be considered, as the scope of the project is, usually, far wider than just installing an item of software. It should, for example, identify all significant groups of users, and their training schedule, all resources, and key dependencies, as well as the management structure of the project, naming project managers, members of the steering committee, et cetera. As a brief guide, of some elements to consider, we have included, in the page called Tasks, an extract from an implementation proposal.

The schedule should include, not only the basic elements, but also all significant components of them, identifying responsibilities and key dates. This is referred to as the Implementation Plan, and should be widely circulated. This is the key document in monitoring progress, so it needs to be sufficiently detailed to identify every non-trivial activity. On large, and very large, projects, there may be a high-level plan and a number of lower-level ones. The important thing about this plan, however, is that it should be regularly monitored, reviewed and, where appropriate, revised.

If you have project management software available, it could well be useful to use it to maintain the plan.