Education and Training

At all stages of the initiative, ISM provides or facilitates the ongoing education and training of the initiative team. The majority of this education takes place during the workshops as the details of business rules, metrics, and process flows are discussed. Additionally, if training is required on the use of any application software and your customized process flows, ISM will facilitate and/or conduct that training, working directly with the software vendor as necessary.

Any significant IT initiative will introduce change into the client’s organization, and managing that change can be the most difficult part of the job. ISM works closely with the client to ensure that the initiative is supported by senior management and that the team includes people with the necessary abilities to lead the initiative. It’s not enough to simply manage an initiative; there must also be leadership.

Ensuring effective leadership and management will go a long way towards a successful implementation, but the job isn’t done just because the deployment was successful. To be effective, that solution has to become an integral part of both the corporate and IT department cultures. As part of our core Performance Improvement Methodology and Framework for IT Success^SM Implementation Methodology, ISM assists our clients in preparing and implementing a comprehensive Marketing and Communications Plan to help ensure that processes become ingrained in the organizational culture. The plan has the following objectives:

• Identify the primary stakeholder groups, including those departments and business units that will be impacted by the initiative.
• Identify the communication channels that work well within the client. We often find that one channel works well for one stakeholder group, while a different channel works better for another group.
• Identify the messages that will be provided to each stakeholder group, as well as to the enterprise as a whole.
• Develop the communication plan including the timing and frequency of communication to each group and to the enterprise.
• Develop the necessary budget for continuing communications efforts.

It is difficult to over-emphasize the need for a comprehensive communications plan. If change is to become ingrained within both the departmental and corporate cultures, continual, effective communications, targeted to specific stakeholder groups is essential. ISM has the tools and expertise to assist the client in implementing change.