B.2. Choosing a Project and Its Duration and Scope
The next important step is to select and prepare for the first (or next) project.
B.2.1. Project Selection
The project selection scorecard allows you to compare a number of high-priority projects and select the one that has the highest chance of success. Table B-5 shows a sample project selection scorecard.
| Project Scoring Characteristics | Target | System A | System B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size | Number of functions impacted by project | Few | ||||
| Number of current systems impacted by project | Few | |||||
| Complexity of business activity | Low | |||||
| Number of data subjects | Few | |||||
| Size: Do we completely understand project? | Small | |||||
| Number of future systems on which this project depends | Low | |||||
| Impact | Importance: How meaningful is project to company? (Note: “no importance” scores 20.) | High | ||||
| Critical: How critical is slippage/failure to the overall business goals? | Low | |||||
| User commitment | High | |||||
| Risk: How likely is it to be unsuccessful? | Low | |||||
| TOTAL | ||||||
| Match Target Value = 1; partial match = 2; no match = 3 | ||||||
The lowest score indicates the project that is the least risky and, therefore, has the best chance of success, while still providing visible company value.
B.2.2. Project Duration
The questions shown in Table B-6 will help you set realistic expectations for the length of each CRM projects. Based on your answers to Questions 1 and 2, plot your company's position on the chart shown in Question 3. This forms a guideline for the maximum size you should realistically target for each of your projects.
| 1. What size is your company? | Number of employees __________
Number of locations ___________ Number of countries where located ____________ | ||
| 2. Describe your customer base. |
| ||
| 3. Now find your situation on the following chart. You should limit the scope of each project such that you believe the entire project can be finished in no more than this amount of time. | |||
| Company Size | |||
| Small/Local | Large/Global | ||
| Customer Base | Many/ Complex | 5 months | 9 months |
| Few customers/ Industries | 3 months | 7 months | |
The benchmark project duration is six months or less, but you can see that, depending on the size and complexity of the company and its customer base, realistically you should expect some variation.