IT project management for business server and/or LAN installations is something that seasoned small business computer consultants become well versed in.  The key to successful IT project management for these installs, is learning to spot and address potential problems before they evolve into major catastrophes.

Here are some relatively universal risk-reduction tips you can use for planning most small business server and LAN installations:

IT Project Management Tips For Server and/or LAN Installations

  • Build a “test bed” in your office to become more technically comfortable with your standard server and LAN product recommendations. Know the major product features inside-out and backwards before you install the product at a client site. Remember this simple rule of thumb for IT project management: Client guinea pigs make great former clients.
  • 70-80% of the work for the project is often advanced planning and coordination. Without this rigorous planning, your IT project management efforts will result in failure.
  • Schedule the upgrade to occur after hours. This is a critical aspect of IT project management that should be planned a few weeks in advance.
  • Have your “fire extinguisher” fully charged up. Make sure you know who to call (vendor tech support phone numbers, passwords, hours, newsgroups, etc.) when you’re stumped before you get stumped and become totally stressed out.
  • Review your clients’ IT asset inventories and site survey notes for any shortcomings that could derail your planned server/LAN installation. IT project management is always proactive.  
  • Don’t even think about taking on a major network rollout if the client is too cheap to pay for a few hours of your time to prepare an updated site survey and asset inventory document.
  • Develop testing criteria with your client. After all, how will you know if you’ve succeeded if you don’t have a working definition of “success”? As the up-grade or rollout nears completion your IT project management plan should detail which business applications to test and how.
  • Fortify the client’s backup arsenal. Never, never, never undertake any major installation or upgrade until you are triple positive that the client has multiple, verified and tested backup media sets readily available.
Bottom Line on IT Project Management
Successful IT project management requires proactive thinking and excellent planning.  As a computer consultant, you will be asked to perform IT project management particularly for server and LAN installations, so you need to have excellent skills in IT project management.

In this article, you’ve been introduced to IT Project Management. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about IT Project Management, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.