In any outsourced project, establishing an effective project management is most crucial to ensure project success

In some cases, the project manager is local to the client and works closely with the client liaison(s) throughout the project lifecycle. In others, we assign a project manager in our offshore office to correspond with the project manager from the client side.

The very first task of the project manager is to develop a comprehensive Project Management Plan (PMP) that establishes the following:

• Process Customization -Any deviation or tailoring from ISHIR’s standard Global Delivery Process and the reasons for such a deviation (budget, time pressure, etc.)
• Communication Plan – How will the team communicate across geographic locations, daily and weekly status reporting mechanisms, use of instant messaging, email, video conferencing, web conferencing, telephone and other communications tools.
• Roles and Responsibilities – Who does what on the project team; reporting and escalation mechanisms.
• Project Audit Plan – How will the project checkpoints be audited to ensure that they have been followed consistently.

In addition to the PMP, the project manager and technical team leader are responsible for developing, tracking, and adjusting a Microsoft Project Plan (MPP) / Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that details all the tasks to be carried out, who is assigned to work on each task, milestones and deadlines for deliverables, and overall phasing of the project. Our MPPs are often developed in latest version Microsoft Project, but our team can use other tools if so desired by the client.

Project manager takes up following responsibilities to organize the management of the project from beginning to end:

• Project Scope Matrix (PSM) – Limitations of the scope, the major milestones and timelines that must be achieved, and the overall business objectives of the project.
• Software Configuration Management Plan (SCMP) – What tools to use for version control, build and releases.
• Change Control Process – The objectives process of requesting a change to the scope or requirements of a project and how to reach sign off by both the client and our team on each change request.