Project management
South West Communications Group fully believes proactive and regular contact with their clients is critical for any project to be successful. With this in mind, we create close relationships with all our clients to ensure an efficient, satisfactory and timely completion of their projects.
Such an aim means planning is crucial and all the members of our project management team hold foundation or practitioner level PRINCE2 registration. PRINCE2 is a widely known structured method for project management developed by the Office of Government Commerce and is used extensively by central government departments, local government and within the private sector.
South West Communications Group’s project management team works with our in-house technical support and engineering teams and our business partners to make sure all projects are handled with meticulous care and attention.
A South West Communications Group project manager provides the following:
A single point of contact - Our project managers are the one and only port of call for all matters between South West Communications Group and their clients throughout a project deployment, therefore creating a real working relationship that instils both trust and confidence.
Third party liaison - We deal with any third parties involved in the project to ensure the correct timescales and order of tasks are carefully managed to guarantee time is never wasted. This will include any dialogue required with existing network suppliers or building or cabling contractors, and proper records will be kept of all communication with them on behalf of our client.
A programme of work - Written in Microsoft Office Project, this will detail all key tasks and milestones within the project including those that are the responsibility of a third party, such as a network service installation. This programme will ensure everyone understands the project and what their responsibilities are within it. This will be updated regularly by our project manager who will also attend scheduled project meetings to discuss progress and to resolve any issues that have arisen.
Responsibility for changes procedure - Regular contact with the client may prompt a need for alterations to the initial plan and these will be dealt with as official project issues and will be logged accordingly. Changes can be raised by anyone involved in the project and will be assessed against cost, benefit, risk and importance. A change authority, which will include client and South West Communications Group representatives, will be responsible for approving any changes.
Site survey - This will be carried out to ascertain the need for new cabling or whether existing infrastructure can be utilised.
Smooth installation changeover - Our project manager would contact our client to arrange timings for installation so that orders for equipment and collection of system programming data are scheduled to allow South West Communications Group to build and pre-programme system.
Thorough testing - All systems are pre-tested in our in-house workshops prior delivery date and tested on site before going live.
Training co-ordination - All users of the new system will need to undergo training and our project managers can co-ordinate a timetable that may involve on-site courses or specialist tuition in one of our dedicated training centres.
Completion on time and within budget - These two aims are never lost sight of.
Official handover - Our project manager will ensure the project is properly signed off on the final day of installation with an appropriate review period put in place
Future support - Our support does not end there. We will continue to provide our clients a single points of contact to provide information on any new hardware and software and to advise on moves, alterations or extensions to ensure the end product is always up-to-date and at its most efficient and cost-effective capacity.
South West Communications Group has used its expertise to provide efficient project management to ease the design and installation of many solutions for companies across the UK, including the University of Plymouth Medical Centre.
