PROJECT PROPOSAL
DENNIS RAWSON
CMGT/410
04-29-13
JIM FORGATH

Project Proposal
The company I current work for is in the works for a new system to be rolled out company wide. I have been asked to assist with this process any way that I can. The company is about to change the way everything is processed, stored, and calculated. The existing system in use now is 100 percent Linux based and the system that is being introduced into the company is going to a Linux/Windows hybrid. The old system relied on all typed in commands and takes a long time for new employees to get a good grasp on all the commands. The new system will be mostly icon based with only the high level users needing to start using commands for backdoor access.

The new system should be done in many different stages. First the rollout will be done in only a few local locations close to the home office where if a problem arises IT was close by. Once this is complete the rollout will be taken to some test locations for a bigger test run. The company already has test locations for product testing and I would suggest using these for rollout as well. These locations will already be used to testing and will not stress when things go wrong. This rollout is going to take a large amount of time possibly years to complete and no matter how much planning is done there will be new complications every day. Following the steps laid out in the remainder of this paper will help this.

Planning Phase Training should be done early and often threw out the project and should start before the new system is used in anyway. Training managers should be put in place during the rollout to help all employees with learning and operating the new system. These training managers will report back to a training department from the beginning to let them know what areas need more work in the training for the full scale rollout. This way the training material is customized perfectly to give the best understanding of the system with the least amount of confusion. Finally the training managers should also be very familiar with the original Linux system for any comparisons being made to the new system.

The initial rollout of the new system should be slow to work out bugs, and to make sure the training managers are fully prepared to follow the rollout from beginning to end. This may delay the rollout in its initial stage but should make the rest of the rollout a much smoother process.

Support
Training will only be the first part of the support needed from start to finish. An upgrade to the training manuals will need to be done as well. This will turn into an ongoing task for many years as more bugs, upgrades, and modifications are being done. As updates are done to these manuals they need to be distributed to all locations as soon as possible.

Trainers will also need to monitor any calls, logs, and request to understand what other users are having trouble with or would like to see implemented. This can give a trainer or programmer ideas on what the next phase needs work or can be improved. Reviewing these can also give the trainer an idea of what stores and employees are understanding the training and taking it seriously. If there are repeated questions being submitted about parts of the system that are discussed in the training then a retraining course may be needed at this location. Doing this helps the location get there understanding better and gets the managing team less questions to answer so that they can focus on the most important needs.

Ongoing Responsibilities Training is one of the most important parts of the rollout. And participation by the training team is one of the most important steps from the start of the rollout threw out the life of the system. The success rate of the project goes up incredibly with the right amount of training in the beginning and the right amount of support with use.

Conclusion Training is the most important thing needed when any new software is rolled out. A perfect system is useless without training. A system does not matter what it can do without the knowledge how to use it. This is why we need a training department and training managers for as close to a flawless rollout as possible.