IT Rollouts and You – Part Deux
September 19th, 2008 by mattAnd now, the rest of the story…
If you missed the first and second acts of this trifecta, let me recap what you’ve missed:
IT ROLLOUTS AND PROJECTS ARE A BIG GROWTH OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS!
Sorry to shout, but it’s true. VARs and solution providers who have figured out how to execute rollouts profitably are growing rapidly — even in a down economy. We’ve already covered the first four best practices of profitable rollouts and projects, so let’s round out the list:
5) Minimize the moving parts… K.I.S.S.: Rollouts are inherently complex. To maximize your chances for success and profitablility, keep things simple. Limit the number of partners, systems and one-off processes. Karen Troutner of Network Dynamics says, “OnForce eliminates most of the moving parts. We save work order templates and re-use them. We also create lists of preferred pros. It makes managing rollouts much easier.”
6) Pricing transparency = pricing efficiency: Project management and administration are only part of the overall cost equation — your field labor costs have to be controlled. John Keenan says. “We can look at the OnForce marketplace and get a very good idea of the going rate in any region or city for specific IT cateogries, so when we bid, we no longer have to ‘wing it.’”
7) Project management is a must: “With a contract labor model, you need strong project managers,” states Keenan. George Harris from GA Services adds, “We maintain a call center so the techs in the field can get assistance when they need it. This cost is absolutely justified by the strong, personal relationships we build with our service pros, as well as by our high levels of client satisfaction.”
8 ) You’ve gotta play to win: Bid more > Win more > Profit more. Simple as that. “We’re doing more rollouts now — projects we couldn’t handle before. We’re bidding more and winning bigger projects. We’re handling multiple national projects in multiple locations simultaneously,” explains Harris. In his view, IT firms must use a contract labor force to grow their businesses profitably through rollouts.
Check out this free white paper on IT rollouts here.
