Resistance towards MSP -- need reference to 3rd party case studies!!

A

Ahmad Khan

Hi All,
In our company, we are facing STRONG resistance towards using MS
Project Server 2003. We have around a 1000 employees doing time
reporting through PWA. We have around 60 Project Managers and around
80 project plans on the Project Server. Each project plan must have
around 200-300 tasks. The timesheets are submitted by the team members
weekly.
Some Senior Leaders and Project Managers are claiming that no other
company is using the tool at such a magnitude as we are. We have
pointed them to various case studies present at the Microsoft site,
but that does not satisfy them.

Can anyone point me to any third party case studies or any company who
had shared their experiences about using the tool. (Not the case
studies provided by Microsoft please!) I am sure that we are not the
only ones using the tool this way.

I will appreciate any kind of help (any thoughts, suggestions,
references...) on this one.
Thanks!
Ahmad Khan.
 
R

RickD

I don't think it's case studies you need.

The real issue is more likely to be the visibility of project performance
that was once the domain of the PM to disseminate. When plans are managed on
a desktop, all reporting of project performance is anecdotal; management only
see and hear what the PM reports. With server, all authorized users (managers
and executives) can see the projects and their health.

The other issue is the perception of increased administration caused by the
neccessity to approve timesheets, assuming your organization did not follow
this process before.

I think you have to concentrate upon a communications program to "sell" the
benefits of server to the PM and Team Lead community. Case studies will not
help deliver what you want to achieve.
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Ahmad --

I agree with what RickD has stated. In addition, I would ask the following
questions about your implementation:

1. Did you secure executive sponsorship for this project from someone with
the authority to mandate the use of Project Server by everyone?
2. Did you do a pilot implementation to "work out the kinks" before
deploying the tool to everyone?
3. Did you enlist the aid of opinion leaders among the Senior Leaders and
Project Managers to "talk up" the benefits of the tool to their peers?

It sounds like you are dealing with issues that should have been addressed
long before you deployed Project Server to everyone.

--
Dale A. Howard [MVP]
Enterprise Project Trainer/Consultant
Denver, Colorado
http://www.msprojectexperts.com
"We wrote the book on Project Server"
 
A

Ahmad Khan

Thanks for the responses. But Dale we have taken care of all the
points you have mentioned.
The executives were in full support of the tool earlier on. But now
they are having second thoughts due to the negative feedback they are
getting from some users. Now we are trying to win back the support of
the executives by showing them the benefits of the tool.

We started with just a couple of projects on the Project Server. Once
we were comfortable with how the tool behaves, then we started adding
more projects.
We also have a user group meeting every week, where we try to address
any major issues or problems faced by anyone.

Many times we have showed the value provided by the tool to project
managers, resource managers, and executives.

After trying all this, we thought that probably reference to any third
party case studies will help make a difference.


--Ahmad Khan.
 
D

Dale Howard [MVP]

Ahmad --

I'm sorry it has been such a struggle implementing Project Server in your
organization. I think you have confirmed that the technical aspect of
implemeting this software is only part of the challenge in doing so. The
other challenges include developing organization methologies/processes that
support the use of the software, and properly training and motivating all
interested parties to use it correctly. Given your current state, I doubt
that third party case studies will make much difference, but I would invite
others to share them with you if they have them. Hope this helps.
 
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