Most of the significant work technology teams carry out takes the form of a project to some extent or other. The move towards thinking in terms of products instead of projects is interesting but projects are normally the mechanism used to deliver product creation.
The projects outlined below have mostly used a waterfall approach, commonly a light version of PRINCE2. Some more recent projects have used Agile-like approaches, normally a light version of Scrum, which have gained most of the benefits of applying Agile to IT Infrastructure projects.
Data Projects
There have been lots of grand statements about data, it is the “new oil” amongst other things. The value of data to an organisation is not really open to debate. Organisations have a responsibility to treat data with respect. The IT security triad of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) is well established. GDPR added Privacy, which is related to, but not the same as, Confidentiality.
- Microsoft Exchange from on-premises to Exchange Online (Office 365) – Issues were mostly around historic use of PSTs.
- Migrating cloud email archive to a new provider (Mimecast) – Issues were around portability of data, data extraction cost, infrastructure required for staging large volumes of data, required temporary Microsoft SQL Server environment to be created in Microsoft Azure.
- Migrating on-premises document management system (CCH DM) to cloud document management system (NetDocuments) – Issues were around maintaining metadata, data volumes, latency.
- Extracting content from cloud document management system (NetDocuments) and providing to a third-party – Issues were around content selection, content structure, required the writing of a small C# utility to convert exported content.
- Migrating File Server content to SharePoint Document Libraries, Office 365 Groups and OneDrive
- Migrating Microsoft SQL Server DBs from on-premises to Microsoft Azure (IaaS)
- Creating a Convertible Bond data feed service
- Querying historic FX rates from feed provider (Oanda API) – Required the creation of a C# application.
- GDPR – Projects around data encryption, and the rights of the individual.
System Projects
These have commonly been transformative, in one way or another. Most also involve thinking around data and/or the impact on the culture of the firm.
These are commonly the “bread and butter” projects that technology teams undertake. They are often undervalued as to their impact.
- Networking implementations, including LAN and WAN installations, upgrades and migrations.
- Information Security product implementations, including firewalls, anti-virus / malware / phishing, web proxies, spam filters, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and many more.
- Implementing on-premises Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment.
- Endpoint device roll outs – including Microsoft Surface Pro Rollout and various Desktop Rollouts.
- SharePoint Intranet implementations.
- Creating SharePoint client-facing Websites, replacing 10+ websites hosted by provider.
- Remote Access solution implementations.
- Server virtualisations, a multitude.
- Server migrations to Infrastructure-as-a-Service environments (Microsoft Azure)
- Telephone system implementations and migrations, various Cisco Call Manager upgrades and a migration to Microsoft Teams for PSTN calling.
Cultural Change
These have always been transformative. The specific technology involved here is much less important than the changes to the way that people work.
A lot of projects impact on in this space. Many are around making working easier, and many are around making the work more done more interesting and enjoyable. There is often an assumption that some of these changes are introduced solely to improve productivity, or to make staff work longer hours. Whilst I am sure that can be the case, an enlightened employer might look at them as ways to improve effectiveness and staff engagement.
- Remote / Flexible Working – via remote access technologies and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Collaborative Working on documents – via tools such as Office 365 Groups and co-authoring in Office 365 apps.
- Video Calling – via Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. Making remote workers, whether because of flexible working or simply in different office locations, feel more connected.
- Online Learning Platforms – via eLearningForce’s LMS365. On-demand, and video-based learning, augmenting scheduled and classroom-based learning.
- Desk phone removal – via Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. A simple change which nudged people towards video calling and greater adoption of collaborative tools.
- Workflows / Simple Automations – via Microsoft Dynamics, Office 365, Power Platform. Removing some monotonous tasks and reducing error and, ultimately, risk.
- Staff Feedback tool – via PowerApps. A staff request for regular feedback, outside of the normal appraisal process, is a great example of these change not always being “top down”.
Office Moves
I have included this section on Office Move projects because, although they are not normally a technical challenge, they can have a large impact. Most of the Office Move projects listed are because of a company growing, shrinking, or consolidating. In the first of those the move is to allow for revenue growth, in the latter two it is to enable cost reduction.
Most of the consolidation projects were due to historic acquisitions, leaving a city with multiple offices, each housing one business unit. As a result, these are politically sensitive projects.
One of the most satisfying outcomes was with one of the London expansions, where some senior executives were quite negative initially about the move. They liked their current commute, their current office space, and their own office in that space. By the end of the project the same executives were fighting over corner offices in the new location because they really wanted to be part of it.
- London – A total of six moves, three business expansions, two consolidations, one acquisition.
- New York – Two moves, one business contraction, one acquisition.
- Paris – Three offices, two small and one large, consolidating into the one large existing space.
- Zurich – Three small offices consolidating into a large new space.
- Oxford – New space due to business expansion.
- Frankfurt – One small office consolidating into an existing large office.
- Sydney – Two moves of the same office due to two bouts of business expansion.