Implementing P6 EPPM successfully requires that an appropriate "culture" be established within your organization. Instead of having many independent projects with no ability to aggregate and control them, you can now have a consolidated, organized project information system.
Creating the culture requires an understanding of the data and how it flows, and the roles and responsibilities of individuals as project participants and managers. Your challenge will be to create an open environment in which all these participants share data and performance information.
You would not think of allowing construction workers to work on a job site without designating a field manager to oversee the work, nor would you implement a new project without assigning a general contractor. The project management environment is best created by your own expert staff, who would perform an equivalent function—if you don’t have such a person, you need one. Designate one person or a team of people to plan and coordinate the implementation. The responsibility of this team will be to develop an implementation strategy that includes helping participants understand the organizational project management approach. You might decide you need help with your implementation from Oracle Primavera Consulting or one of our business partners. Contact Oracle for more information.
While the implementation strategy will be specific to your organization, it will most likely include a needs assessment as one of the first steps. Even though you are already using project management software, take the opportunity to analyze and determine your company’s business requirements, along with system requirements and the processes necessary to fulfill those requirements. You will also need to determine how to structure data to facilitate those processes. It is important to document the processes and procedures that you define. Assessing needs is discussed in more detail in Assess Needs.
To ensure that data is flowing as planned, create a prototype. Use real project data to set up structures in a test database or development environment and run your processes through a typical work cycle. The prototype should include all modules of P6 EPPM you’ll be using, along with any interfaces to external applications. Develop a plan that identifies all the possible scenarios to test. Include a method for collecting test data and a way to resolve issues. Use this step to make sure your system requirements are sufficient to meet the needs of all users.
A prototype can be followed by a pilot program, where you establish a small group of users to work with P6 in their environment. They can be introduced to the software using familiar project data while performing their daily work tasks. More than likely, the pilot users will identify flaws in the processes and have suggestions and questions. Make refinements and changes based on their feedback. You can also begin internal training programs at this time, using your pilot group of users. Ongoing performance monitoring should continue during this stage and adjustments made as necessary.
When the pilot program is satisfactory, a rollout of P6 EPPM to your entire company can begin. This step might involve installing the client software on all necessary desktops and populating the database with project data. You should develop a rollout schedule and get the appropriate approvals. Be sure to include the lessons learned from the pilot testing. Communicate the rollout schedule to ensure its success.