Staying on TOP of your IP Asset Management Database System Project: Part III – Organization

Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a four-part series examining our lessons learned from managing IP Asset Management database system migration projects.
As I noted in the first post in this series, there are three critical building blocks to position your organization to stay on TOP of your migration to a new IPAM solution:

• Technology – Selecting the right technology and technology solution partners.
• Organization – Anticipating the impact to your organization and proactively developing and implementing a successful change management program.
• Process – Assembling the right project team and developing a practical project plan to position your organization for a successful implementation.

In this posting I will elaborate on the “Organization” component. This is often the most challenging element with the greatest impact on the overall success of your project. Specific best practices relative to the Organization building block include:

1. It is imperative to be proactive and diligent to manage expectations and perceptions from your initial planning through the post-implementation phase of the project – especially if you are migrating from a custom, proprietary solution to a commercial software solution. This is especially true from a features, functions, and capabilities perspective. You need to ensure that the ultimate end-users have a realistic set of expectations regarding how and what the new system will do for them and that interacting with your new IPAM system will be a different experience.

2. Do not underestimate the change management impact on your organization and be careful NOT to introduce other organizational or process changes simultaneously if possible. Effective change management best practices include:

a. Maintaining a firm grasp of the current realities, challenges, and opportunities across your institution;

b. Assuring that the appropriate energy, priority, and focus are maintained on your migration project until the desired results and key milestones have been achieved;

c. Planning to ensure that you have assembled the right skills and talent on the project team to ensure that the organization will meet its overall goals (explored in more detail in next post);

d. Striving continuously to provide feedback and open communications;

e. Establishing the foundation to set and manage expectations for effective and reliable project execution; and

f. Striving to persevere to institutionalize the desired changes from your systems migration effort.

3. Carefully plan for just-in-time training for all staff members impacted from your systems migration. This can be challenging to orchestrate, but it is important to train your system users simultaneously with granting them access to your new system. If you train too early, it could potentially cost you a tremendous amount of time in support costs over the long term. If you train too late, you are potentially confronted with confronting negative impressions about your new IPAM system because they were not properly prepared to deal with the changes. Remember that first impressions can be extremely difficult to change.

4. If your system implementation is going to impact several organizations across your institution, engage key members from these organizations upfront as a spokesperson and member of your project evaluation and implementation team. They should be engaged and supportive and often bring a new and valuable perspective to your team.

How successful has your organization been in assessing and managing the impact of new systems implementation across your institution? What are your key lessons learned? Please check back in a few days for the next installment in this series.