Take the hit....It's worth it!

[Dave Deal]

Before joining the most innovative cloud company in the world I spent a significant portion of my professional life implementing discovery, cmdb, and other competitive product point solutions in a post sales world.  I can't even begin to put a number on the amount of implementations I've led or been a part of, but I'm certain its well over 40 or more over the past 10 years or so.  Along with that implementation experience I spent my initial 10 or so years living in and working within the boundaries of IT Operations.

These experiences have taught me a lot of things. If there is one thing I want to get across to every CIO or equivalent decision maker inside their IT org its to "TAKE THE HIT" up front in the planning and implementation phase because it's worth it.   I'd venture to guess well over 1/2 of the projects that faced delays in their implementations were a direct result of not following the 5 rules I've laid out below.

These rules of engagement are not intended to be a complete list and there's likely others I'm not considering that are worth listing as well.   I feel from my experience these are the 5 most important things when beginning to plan for a major platform implementation.  Some of these are industry promoted best practices and some are from my own 24 years of experience, but regardless of source there is overwhelming evidence that adhering to these guidelines will increase the likelihood of success.

Without further ado...

1)  Evangelize, Evangelize, Evangelize!

One must communicate across their organization the details and intentions of the project.  Too often I saw in the field that a lot of the individuals that one relies on for support in the project haven't been properly educated.  This leads to debate, frustration, confusion around priorities, and other issues.  Always make evangelizing the project a priority.  If people know what your ask is and understand the why then it makes for much more effective project support.

2) Get leadership buy in! 

Without support from proper leadership one will continue to face an uphill climb when implementing new capabilities.  By obtaining the needed leadership buy in it ensures that priorities are properly aligned, roles and responsibilities are better understood, and timelines are more in sync and agreed to across the project team.  For security credentials or service mapping validation as examples it's much easier to validate info when the individuals one is working with understood the expectations of their leadership re: project.

3) Create a complete team!  

Make sure you have clearly thought out the implemenation team in place and are prepared to tackle the various responsibilities that come with implementations.  Who is responsible for project timeline tracking?  Who is responsible for leading technical efforts?  Who is responsible for what portions of the technical details of the implementation?  How and who will manage project communications both internally and externally?  Etc...etc...etc... Initial planning and alignment of resources will ensure a smoother implementation.  This is one of the most overlooked portions and plays a big role in why one should "Take The Hit" up front for planning.

4) Always think security!  

Get security involved early and often in the project.  The sooner they're involved the less likely there will be any misunderstandings around the platform and what its actually doing.  Ensure one has all the needed project artifacts and documentation available to help all concern parties feel at ease with how our platform discovers and populates data.  Discovery leverages credentials extensively and ensuring the security teams know what the discovery process is doing, how it's doing it, and when can alleviate a lot of questions from their team.

5) Build trust!  

This is frankly probably the most important of the 5.  Without trust one is constantly in an uphill battle to accomplish the project goals.  Be open and honest about any and all issues.  Communicate clearly and effectively and own one's mistakes when appropriate.  Showing a human nature to your approach tends to encourage others to put their guards down.  I've managed most of my career under a very simple mantra I learned from a previous manager "Bad news doesn't get better with age"  By keeping this in mind I've been successful at becoming the trusted advisor in most every situation.

The above 5 are things I've learned thru my own experiences and research over a 24 year career.   They are by no means the end all list, but I feel if one can align to these 5 things when beginning their implementations they'll typically have tremendous success.  Happy Implementations!