Project Infrastructure

You need to think at a very early stage about setting up the infrastructure for your project.

In a system implementation project setting up the technical infrastructure e.g. specifying and procuring hardware and getting it operational may be a whole phase of the project.

In all projects you will have to think about where you are going to put the staff and what equipment they need. This may sound like a very obvious point but securing accommodation is notoriously difficult in the education sector. Major projects have suffered delays because, although the staff were hired and ready to start work, there was no space for the project team. In project situations, where staff need to form a team and deliver results very quickly, it is often necessary to secure space where they can be co-located and away from the pressures of their normal office duties.

The team will also need other resources and you need to start thinking early on about equipping the project with appropriate infrastructure. Our downloadable checklist gives you a starting point to consider.

Where you are working with external parties such as suppliers or consultants you need to take particular care that issues such as people being on different versions of software don't inhibit effective working.

The same may well apply if staff bring PCs etc with them from different parts of the organisation. You may also have to consider allocating IDs to externals so that they can log on to your shared drives and e-mail system. It is advisable to consult your IT department at an early stage to clarify what needs to be done and iron out any issues.