Project Management in the Cloud: Essential Considerations When Migrating

There’s a whole host of reasons why businesses turn to cloud-based tools for their operational needs. Improved productivity, lower expenses, real-time team collaboration, resilience, ease of use and accessibility are among the more popular. It’s no surprise that project management in the cloud is becoming popular as well.

Project management in the cloud takes the same benefits as any cloud migration – as long as the migrated processes aren’t broken.

Project management cloud solutions – garbage in, garbage out

Cloud migration of business and project management processes may sound like a technological silver bullet catapulting organizations to overnight success, given the many compelling arguments made in its favor. But in reality, it’s simply a facilitation tool, a tool that can magnify the errors in faulty processes and bolster the good in effective ones. As in any computing process, garbage in, garbage out, or GIGO, is a principle to keep in mind. As Steve Weissman, a Holly Group consultant puts it, “if they’re crummy now, they’ll be crummy in the cloud, too.”

Cloud-based project management – essential considerations

For any cloud-based project management attempt to be a success, here are some things to consider:

1. Analyze your processes. If they’re not producing the desired results, expend the time and energy to improve them before migration. Project management in the cloud, or any cloud migration endeavor, for that matter, isn’t going to magically elicit better results.
2. Communicate with end users, not just before the project management cloud solutions migration but during and after. Top-to-bottom organizational buy-in is a critical aspect of process improvement success.
3. Formulate success benchmarks to gauge if cloud-based project management is a route worth taking. Generic reasons for cloud migration include cost savings, faster time-to-market and mobility, but a detailed assessment is necessary to come up with a specific checklist of cloud migration objectives. Remember, your organization is unique, and there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution.
4. Do a data cleanup before the big project management cloud solutions move, the same way you would want to start with a clean slate when moving to a new place. Organizations, big or small, can fall prey to data quality and integrity issues, particularly as people start to rely on factors such as personal knowledge and historical practices to resolve issues.
5. Perform tests on dummy or inconsequential data so operations remain business as usual if anything untoward happens during the test phase.
6. Start small. Move processes little by little, not all at once. Don’t get carried away by all the excitement surrounding project management cloud solutions. Besides, complicated projects need to be subdivided into manageable bits, and problems are easier to fix in small batches than when they’re coming at you like an avalanche.
7. There has to be a legitimate reason why project management in the cloud interests you, and not because everyone else is doing it.

Conclusion

If done right, cloud-based project management offers many benefits. When you’re ready to make the move, shop around for vendors with a proven track record of excellence. Free trials, like Comindware Project’s 30-day offer, help determine if a particular cloud-based project management solution is a good fit.

TRY FOR 30 DAYS!

Maricel Rivera works as a financial researcher for a multinational financial firm. Outside of her full-time work, especially when the financial reporting season isn’t at its peak, aside from online marketing, she also does freelance writing, specializing in the business and technology field. One of the topics she has already extensively covered and keeps exploring is work management. She currently explores product development trends, contributes to www.cmwlab.com and provides tips for better use of Comindware Tracker workflow software