Collection of my thoughts on applying project management in IT transitions.

1. PMI Virtual Library
© 2009 Project Management Institute
Applying Project Management
in Technology Transition—
A Bird’s-Eye View
By K.S. Biju, PMP
Executive Summary
With the spiraling of acquisitions, mergers and outsourcing during the current economies of scale, technology
transition has gained a great deal more attention in recent days. Technology transition is defined as the detailed desk-
level knowledge transfer and documentation of all relevant tasks, work flows and business processes from a provider
to a client or from an owner to a support organization. Extensive due-diligence is required in assessing what activities
need to be transitioned and to what extent. The identified activities should go through a knowledge-transfer phase.
Whether you are dealing with rocket science or software development, transition is a natural phenomenon in almost all
technology life cycles.
Transition often includes organizational politics, cultural changes, “fighting fires,” and those finer aspects of
“heart, mind and soul” of the people impacted by the transition. Although there are several approaches to managing
large transitions effectively, this article focuses on using a project management methodology as the primary vehicle.
However, this article is not simply a discussion of how A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®
Guide)–Third edition (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2004) would fit into a transition cycle. Rather, it is an
attempt to explore the different phases and activities of a transition cycle and how some of the project management
techniques can help make life easier for a transition manager.
Technology Life Cycle,Transition and Project once a sustainable support framework and team have been
Management established. A major challenge of these adoption and support
A
phases is to manage the technical and functional knowledge
typical technology life cycle has five phases, as of the product or service by minimizing knowledge leak
shown in Figure 1 on the next page. Technology as much as possible. Because there are limited industry
transition consists of a set of coordinated activities best practices available for knowledge management and
that help the technology move forward from the adoption documentation, the success criteria depends mostly on
phase to the support phase. Strong emphasis should be given the effectiveness of “due-diligence” and the expertise of
to risk management and mitigation to tackle any service the people involved, coupled with strong human resource
interruptions. A transition will not be successful without management. Extensive planning, forecasting and clear
proper scheduling, communication and risk management thinking are vital to ensuring that a product or service will
based on modern project management practices. Normally complete the transition from the innovation phase to the
the transition starts with the adoption phase and ends “retire” phase (Figure 2).

2. RETIRE
PROTOTYPE
INNOVATION
ADOPTION SUPPORT
Transition
RETIRE
Figure 1: Technology life cycle
Understand the context
Define & identify the needs
Figure 1: Technology life cycle.
Plan Plan and Plan!!
Transition
Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge repository
Project management tools & techniques
Knowledge Audit
Service Delivery
Piloting
Technology transition consists of a set of coordinated activities that help the
Go Live
Productivity initiative
technology move forward from the adoption phase to the support phase. Strong
emphasis should be given to risk management and mitigation to tackle any
Figure 2: Sample transition methodology
service interruptions. A transition will not be successful without proper
Transition Planning and Controlling must be considered. Some “quality time” should be spent
A successful transition is not something that happens
scheduling, communication and risk managementidentifying most such factors from the available organizational
based on modern project
accidentally. The proper project management practices process assets. Historical information and the lessons learned
should be in place for planning, piloting and the transition starts with the adoption phase details regarding similar
management practices. Normally execution of the knowledge base will provide useful
transition. The team involved should also play critical and exercises in past. This would help in identifying and planning
well-defined roles. Other activities include communication to avoid previous transition mistakes early on in the game.
of status, coordination of regular meetings and monitoring There may be one or two best practices from previous
of success criteria. This is directly related to many of the initiatives that may enable the schedule to be optimized and
processes of project integration management of the PMBOK® bring about noticeable improvements in total effectiveness.
Guide (PMI, 2004). Make sure to refer organizational standard processes,
The major activities in transition planning and including but not limited to: EHS policy, audit requirements,
controlling include: work instructions, accounting practices, contract provisions
• Creating a transition charter and change control methodology.
• Due-diligence and scope definition Identifying factors that influence transition success, such
• Activity definition and sequencing to create a as government agency regulations, market and economy
schedule trends, stakeholder risk appetite, law of land and data
• Risk management planning privacy regulations, would help in creating a preliminary
• Communication management planning risk list.
In preparation for the detailed transition-planning Transition Charter. This process is concerned with
factors, success from an enterprise environmental perspective authorizing the entire transition cycle. It is the process
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3. necessary for documenting the business needs and the activity to ensure that team members understand what work
intended final result of the transition. This is considered the needs to be completed.
first activity in any transition cycle and should at a minimum Activity sequencing involves identifying and documenting
address the following: the logical relationships among activities. Sequencing can be
• Requirements that satisfy the end of the transition performed by using project management software or by
• Major stakeholders and sponsor using manual techniques. (Discussion of such tools and
• Assigned transition manager techniques are beyond the scope of this paper, as the
• A summary of high-level milestones PMBOK® Guide provides a comprehensive description
• High-level resource requirement of most of them.)
• Assumptions or any constraints At a bare minimum, the output of this process should
include an updated and sequenced activity list.
Due-Diligence and Scope Definition. Scope
definition is actually the output of due-diligence. In due- Risk Management. Careful and explicit risk management
diligence, the “as-is” status of the enhances the possibility of transition
technology infrastructure, success. Risk management is the
integrations, architecture process of deciding how to
Careful and explicit
documentation, approach and conduct
risk management enhances the
process opportunity or
”
availability, threat identification,
possibility of transition success.
performance and risk prioritizing and
stability will be assessed. mitigation plans. The
Using this “as-is” analysis, completed activity list will be
an initial version of configuration the starting
management will be established. point for risk identification. Going
At a bare minimum, this should include preparation of through the activity list helps to identify the possibility of
a configuration item list by including all documents and risk against any activity. Risk identification is iterative in
identified work products. nature because new risks may surface at any time during the
Scope definition consists of creating a scope statement transition life cycle. The risk identification therefore usually
of what needs to be accomplished. This also addresses involves calculating the probability of occurrence and
the characteristics and boundaries of the activity as well impact of the risk. On some occasions, simply identifying a
as the methods of acceptance and scope control. A risk may in itself suggest the appropriate response. The high-
transition scope statement should include at least the level categories of transition risks are technical, people and
following: process in nature.
• Transition acceptance criteria The preliminary risk list created during the planning
• Boundaries and deliverables phase should be evaluated in detail to identify further risks
• Detailed assumptions or constraints related to regulatory and compliance constraints, cost risks
• Initial team details and risks related to market trends or liquidity.
• Order of magnitude cost and duration estimates The risk management plan should also address the
• Work breakdown structure probability of not meeting the cost–benefit numbers
• Risk assessment or return of investment of the specific transition initiative.
This has greater importance during the current economy
Activity Definition and Sequencing. This step includes mayhem. Indirect costs may account for a lion’s share
identifying and documenting the detailed activities and tasks of total costs and are “camouflaged” within the work
to be executed in the transition cycle. The basis of defining package of each task. Indirect costs are infamously
the activity list is the work breakdown structure created difficult to measure but offer the greatest potential for
during scope definition. This activity list is a comprehensive cost savings if managed proactively. A transition manager
list including all schedule activities to be performed. It must should seek expert opinion to ferret out possible
include the scope of work description for each schedule financial risks.
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4. Identifying and managing legal and regulatory risks Transition performance reports and issue logs are the
are critical to the success of a technology transition, and two major deliverables at this stage. Common formats for
are helpful whenever there are dimensions of third party performance reports include bar charts, S-curves, histograms
contracts, work force and intellectual property transfers. and tables.
Work force transfer can become complex, particularly if the
transition is executed in highly regulated markets such as the Knowledge Transfer
United States and Europe. A transition manager should be Knowledge is defined as information that provides guidance
aware of any regulatory acts that may serve as constraint— for an action. Knowledge transfer is the process of capturing,
for example, the Special European Commission Directive cultivating and harvesting tacit and explicit business and
on staff augmentation. technological information. Although knowledge transfer
Intellectual property (IP) transfer likewise poses complex is an ongoing process, it can be quantified to an extent. A
risk factors. Typical IP transfers include the transfer of well-defined and validated knowledge transfer process will
software license, scripts, codes, documentation, etc. Risk lead to sustainable operations and eventually to transition
identification should also consider Export control regulations success. The following are the major steps involved in
on the target countries. For example, U.S. Export control law knowledge transfer:
• Knowledge planning and acquisition
restricts intellectual property, service or product transfer to
• Close-up analysis
embargoed countries.
Using any one or a combination of tools and techniques
as discussed in the PMBOK® Guide (PMI, 2004) would help Knowledge Planning and Acquisition. Knowledge
to bring to the surface the majority of the risks involved planning is the byproduct of transition planning; the activity
in the transition life cycle. It is advisable to convene a risk list created during transition planning is used to formulate
identification workshop early on in the planning phase. a plan and set up subsequent knowledge transfer sessions.
Participants may include financial, legal and technical experts The major players in these knowledge transfer sessions are
to identify all possible risks in each of these areas. the “pitcher” and the “catcher.” The pitcher is the one who
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is another good shares the knowledge and the catcher is the one who acquires,
tool for performing risk identification and prioritization. processes and reproduces it. The duration of each session,
At this stage it is essential to assign owners for each of the the mode of knowledge transfer, and methodology of the
risks identified for the successful follow-up and to prepare a knowledge collection and reproduction should be addressed
risk abatement plan. The major focus should be how to during this phase.
avoid a risk or minimize the impact in the event of an A knowledge audit approach should also be created
occurrence. at this time, which will validate the effectiveness of the
knowledge transfer. Progress on the knowledge transfer
Communication Management. The purpose of this step should be periodically reported to the stakeholders and
is to communicate to stakeholders and other team members should reflect on the transition performance reports. We
about the activities that would take place during transition need to recognize that knowledge transfer extends beyond
cycle and their frequency and communication modes, etc. typical technological information; it also includes business
The transition manager needs to coordinate with various processes, organizational structures and other context/
team members and prepare a plan for communication. The background information.
plan should also include methods for feedback loops and The execution deals with organizing the acquired
dashboards to showcase progress. The transition manager knowledge and performing a gap analysis to identify misses.
should perform a communication requirement analysis Wherever possible a simulation can be done using use cases
to identify the expectation of each stakeholder and their to validate the knowledge gained. This also helps to confirm
preferred mode of communication (e.g., e-mail, telephone). that the transferred knowledge is reusable. The result of this
An issue log must be maintained to capture all issues that activity is a knowledge repository. Ideally the knowledge
come to the surface during the transition life cycle. The repository should arrange meta-data by covering business
communication plan will provide periodical updates to process, application functioning, workflows, architecture
stakeholders about resolved issues and the current status of details and customizations. A comprehensive documentation
pending issues. called a “run book” needs to be prepared that explains how
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5. the system works and that details key operation parameters Business-aligned metrics are the most demanding
and configuration settings. Specific details of how to establish output of this phase. As a matter of fact, it is startlingly
a knowledge repository and its technicalities are not within difficult to establish a metrics framework in a “just-born”
the boundaries of this paper. operations model. However, if you
do not do this at this stage, you
Close-up Analysis. Close-up may end up with never-ending
Transition as a
analysis is the final part fire-fighting as you try to
process brings with it many gaps
of knowledge transfer embark on invisible
and usually begins issues and find
and challenges that a transition manager
with a knowledge yourself dealing
”
audit. Some of the with erroneous or
will need to confront.
recommendations for a skewed data. A practical
close-up analysis include the approach to managing this
following: issue consists of the following
• Do a lessons learned session activities:
• Developing a data collection plan
to capture the learning and document best practices
• Validating the data for precision and accuracy
• Recognize that reducing the knowledge transfer effort
• Developing correlation between available data
can influence the overall success of the transition
• Doing a performance capability base lining using any
• Require comprehensive and detailed documentation
• Implement a knowledge management program of the statistical methods
• Identifying any variations through statistical analysis
following the transition
• Determining sources of variation and cause (Pareto
• Do a sign-off on the completed knowledge transfer
from the key stakeholders technique may useful)
• Agree on an incremental plan to address any gaps or
clarifications on an ongoing basis Six Sigma is an excellent tool for monitoring, improving
and controlling transitioned processes or technology,
It is essential that the communication channels between whereas ITIL and project management methodologies
pitcher and catcher to be kept open for a comfortable period would help with organizing and streamlining them. An
of time, even beyond the close-up analysis. effective combination of these methodologies would bring
real and quantifiable value to the organization that defies
Piloting and Service Delivery skepticism.
Once the knowledge transfer has been completed, the team
Clearing the Hurdles—A Project Management
can start running the show as a pilot phase that gives them
Approach
an opportunity to apply what has been acquired during
knowledge transfer. Transition as a process brings with it many gaps and
During this phase meticulous work should be put into challenges that a transition manager will need to confront.
operational processes, management framework and metrics. Almost all of them are related to cultural difference, language
Below are some of the key activities of this phase: barriers, demography, personal priorities, work styles and job
• Defining preliminary operational metrics. consolidations. If a transition manager is armed with tools
• Defining success criteria for sustainable operations. and techniques of modern project management, he or she
• Defining a configuration management register can resourcefully manage and take control of such situations.
identifying all related infrastructure and applications. He or she may make use of team-building activities to build
trust, bonding and respect within the transition team. In-time
Most importantly the transition scope statement should conflict management results in improved productivity and
be converted to an operational scope of work, and approval cordial work relations. Providing rewards and recognitions
should be obtained from key stakeholders. A formal change will motivate the team and reassure them that they will be
management system needs to be established to address any valued adequately. This proves more important in transition
additions or alterations to the scope. projects where there are possibilities of job consolidations.
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6. Needless to say, many such transition initiatives knowledge and delivering value to the organization. Project
are political and it is the people who tend to show the management methodology acts as a vehicle—and it requires a
initial signs. A water-tight and proactive human resource strong driver to deliver results, synergy and value.
management would prove to be valuable and inevitable.
References
Conclusion Project Management Institute. (2004). A Guide to the project
Transition is a collective activity that demands careful management body of knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Third
planning and focused effort between people, tools and edition. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management
processes. The expertise and experience of individuals Institute.
contribute significantly to creating a solid project
management framework for managing organizational
About the Author
challenges such as geographies, cultural and language
barriers. A proper framework ensures clear responsibilities, Mr. Biju has five years experience as a Global IT project
sets the expectations and greatly reduces frictions. manager and has been a PMP since January 2007. He
An established project management methodology helps is very passionate about applying project management
foster a productive work culture and common language methodologies in his area of work. He manages large global
among the people involved in transition projects. It should projects in IT Infrastructure, Service Management and
not be forgotten that transition is not just about technology, Application Development. He is located at Bangalore, India
but also about people, values and connections, creating and can be reached at bijupillai2008@yahoo.com.
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