How to Approach
IT Projects
How to Approach IT Projects
How to Approach IT Projects: We’ve all had to participate in some sort of project at some point in our life. These projects might have been personal, at home, at work/office, or even a community project in any form; it could have been to introduce new procedures or equipment, a website development project, or a program such as a virtual Internship, or anything else.
The focus of this essay will be on IT (information technology) projects. All of the topics discussed in this essay can be applicable to a variety of other types of tasks that we may be required to undertake, particularly those that we are unfamiliar with. It’s possible that you’ve never done anything like this before, and it’ll be your first time sooner rather than later. Although you may have undertaken similar tasks in the past, things are currently changing, and in order to be effective, you must keep up with the most current – up to date information.
For instance, I’ve had clients contact me to say they want to develop a website for their brand or business, and one of the first questions I ask is, “Have you investigated what it would take to get this done?” Do you have a spending plan? The majority of the time, the responses I receive are discouraging. They aren’t encouraging in the sense that they have no notion.
You don’t need to know everything, but there are some things you should know so that when you’re speaking with the professional, you can properly explain and understand what he or she is saying or asking of you.
So, for the rest of this post, we’ll stick with our website development scenario.
Before you start an IT project or any other type of project, there are a few things you need accomplish, which we’ll go through one by one.
Answer a few questions
How to Approach IT Projects
Before starting a project, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- Why do you feel compelled to take on this project? Why do you need a website – to use our web development example from earlier?
- What will you be able to accomplish with it?
- What further advantages can it provide for you?
- What kind of website do you wish to have built?
Based on the last question, it’s clear that there are various types of websites that we won’t go over in depth in this essay. We’ll go over this in more detail in a subsequent essay. In the meanwhile, you can easily conduct some preliminary study.
Research
After you’ve gotten answers to the questions above, you’ll want to undertake some research. You want to chat to others who have likely completed the same project or something comparable as part of your study. You should also conduct some Google searches. What you should be on the lookout for are the following:
- What types of professionals will you need to help you with your projects?
- What will the costs of participating in this initiative be like?
- From start to finish, how long will the project take?
- What additional variables should I think about?
Budget and time
How to Approach IT Projects
After you’ve completed your research, the next step is to create a budget for your project. You may not have an exact figure in mind, but you can have a range so that when you start negotiating, you can ensure that the project’s cost is within your budget’s range.
Let me emphasize that the budget you set for the project you wish to undertake must be realistic. For example, suppose you want to develop an e-commerce website and your budget is between N50,000 and N100,000. This is just unreal. A simple website including a homepage, a about us page, a contact us page, a service offerings page, and optionally, a publications/blog part costs between N300,000 to N500,000 on average, although it could cost more depending on who you hire to perform the work. An e-commerce website will certainly cost more.
Aside from budgeting, your study should have also given you an idea of how long it will take you to complete your project from start to finish. If you want your website to go live in September, for example, all development work should have begun in June/July or even earlier, depending on the type of website. Before you get to lunch, you must allow enough time for development and testing to ensure that everything is correct and ready. This is a critical consideration.
Documents
The next step in your website project preparation is to create write-ups, or documents, that will contain the content that will go on the various pages to essentially sell your business/organization on the web, or simply inform your target audience about who you are, what you do, and how you can serve them.
Your about us page, your business philosophy, a list of your services with descriptions, your contact information, a welcome address on your homepage, and a bunch of other things like pictures you want on the website, one, two, or more essays/publications that you want your audience to consume or have access to at the launch of your website are just a few examples.
One of the reasons I recommend the essays/publications is because having them on your website demonstrates your authority, knowledge, and expertise on the subject. If you’re a fashion brand, you’ll want to publish fashion tips, advice, and new trends/information that will benefit, educate, and add value to your audience; this way, when they need the services you provide, you’ll be the first person they think of.
Make a list
How to Approach IT Projects
After you’ve completed your paperwork, the next stage is to compile a list of pros, one of whom will be in charge of your web development project. You should have compiled a list of possible go-to professionals based on your online and offline research. You may or may not need to add to the list you already have at this point, depending on your needs. However, I urge that you add one or two more to your current list. Individual professionals, freelancers, and organizations capable of bringing you success can all be included on your list.
Consider friends, coworkers, business partners, and others who might be able to suggest a professional to you.
After you’ve completed your list, the following step is to contact these individuals and organizations. Have conversations about your project, and while you’re at it, make sure you’re comfortable with anyone you’re hiring to get the job done. You’ll also want to make sure that the professional’s fee and time are within the parameters of your project’s budget and timeline.
Commitment
After you’ve decided on the individual specialist who will handle your job, you’ll need to pay a 50 percent to 80 percent commitment fee to get the project started.
You then start forwarding all of your papers containing your write-ups and graphics that you want to use till that’s done. Your developer will examine the situation and advise you on some items that may or may not be necessary to install, as well as other items that may be required as the project proceeds.
The testing procedure follows the development process. It is now time to pay the balance of the total price originally agreed upon after you have verified your satisfaction with the current product development. You can now go live with your brand-new website.
Maintenance
Another thing to think about at this stage is the upkeep of your website. It functions as well as any other piece of machinery. There are various components that all work together to create what you see when someone visits your website. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and all of those services, plug-in modules, and bits of software and scripts must all be maintained and updated on a regular basis.
The security features and protections on your website must be maintained and updated. Your website will need to be examined for malware on a regular basis, the contents will need to be updated, and you will need to develop extra pages as your business grows.
Whoever is in charge of managing your website must regularly monitor any bad actor activity and be on the lookout for brute force attacks attempting to get unauthorized access to your site. The more important your website is, the more likely you are to be targeted.
If a breach is successful, a service supplied by your website may be interrupted, information stolen, and bugs that are damaging to your website’s visitors may be planted. A variety of things can happen, including the placement of unlawful advertisements on your website and the redirection of your users and visitors to other sites.
All of these must be addressed by the person in charge of your website’s management. All of this comes at a premium price. So, after spending a lot of time and money to build it, you’ll have to invest even more time and money to keep it up to date. The cost of maintenance is something you and the person you hired to do it can agree on. Payments can be made monthly, annually, or bi-annually, depending on what you and the expert agree on, which is mostly determined by how the professional has structured his or her fees.
Again, the degree of flexibility is determined by the person performing the task. So, this is research you’d like to do and a dialogue you’d like to have early on in the project.
A Piece of Advice
How to Approach IT Projects
Several clients have contacted me about website development projects. We talk about the type of website they want and the features they want included. After that, I provide them with a cost estimate for the job. What do you think will happen next?
You guessed it: they tell me they can obtain the same service for a lot less money somewhere else and then depart.
They come back to me with the same project after a while, maybe months, telling how the person or organization they went to didn’t work out for them. Of course, I calmly listen, assess the problem, and present a road map to success, and they pay my fees this time.
Do not take on a project if you are not financially prepared to do it. Going to the “roadside” to get a professional work done by want tobes will cost you a lot more money.
How to Approach IT Projects
Recap
We have covered a lot, let’s recap:
- Answer the questions to help determine if you must embark on the project.
- Do your research.
- Come up with a budget and time frame for your project and make sure it is realistic.
- Draft out and prepare you document(s) containing your website contents and images if any.
- Make a list of professionals, converse with them and decide on who you are hiring.
- Commit to your project.
- After the project is completed, there has to be maintenance. There is no way around this.
- Do not take on a project if you are not financially prepared to do it. Going to the “roadside” to get a professional work done by want tobes will cost you a lot more money.
If you have any questions about “How to Approach IT Projects,” you can contact me via social media or leave a comment below. I eagerly await your response.
Please keep in mind that this is just a guide. You can customize it to fit your needs and your individual project.
Do enjoy the rest of you day!
2 thoughts on “How to Approach IT Projects”
Wow! Awesome post.
Question. Can a hacked website be fully recovered?
Dear Spiffy Crafts, Yes a hacked website can be fully recovered. But this is dependent on several factors. While control can be fully recovered, certain portions of the website might need to be purged and rebuilt. Sometimes, it might even be required to take it all down and rebuild from scratch…it all depends on the extent of damage done.