A huge portion of the $250+ billion spent annually on IT application development is wasted as a result of project management failure. According to a recent study by Standish Group International:

There are great reasons to work in a smaller company rather than a Fortune 500 Global Organization: more responsibility, more autonomy, less bureaucracy, and more opportunity to make a real difference.

But there are some special challenges as well.

	•	It's hard to hire top-shelf talent. Mid-market companies don't always have the dollars or the latest technologies that it takes to get and keep enough of the very best staff. And while growing in-house talent is a critical managerial task, it won't take care of that hot project that keeps you up at night right now.
	•	Large IT consulting firms aren't necessarily the best suppliers. Big customers can get needed project skills on a just-in-time basis. Smaller customers get less attention from the partners and senior managers, with less-experienced junior staff billed out at very senior staff rates.
	•	Your IT dollars have to work harder. Big companies have big IT budgets. They can buy one of everything (and sometimes two). They can run multiple parallel pilots for extended periods of time. They also have more tolerance for first-time failures as a learning experience. Senior IT Managers in smaller companies typically don't have all of those options.

As a senior IT Manager in a mid-market company, you have a lot of authority to get things done. But where do you turn to for help when one of your important IT projects is in trouble? Are out of control IT projects keeping you up at night with one or more of the following issues?

	•	End Users Issues: Is your IT project team having disconnects with your internal customers? Are those customers expressing dissatisfaction or lack of confidence in your team?
	•	Project Management Issues: Is your project manager struggling to provide good estimates? Is it tough getting the project manager to create a project plan and stick by it? Is the project late, over budget, or stalled? Are you having a hard time figuring out what the project status really is… and why?
	•	Business Alignment Issues: Are you or your end users concerned that business requirements haven't been well defined? Is your team having trouble turning the business requirements into functional specifications?
	•	Technical Management Issues: Are you worried that your technical staff is not being properly directed? Does your technical staff lack the skills needed to conduct technology evaluations?
	•	Vendor Issues: Do you feel you're at the mercy of vendor hype and industry analyst generalizations when it comes time to pick one solution out of the many available in the marketplace? Is the vendor relationship a struggle? Does your vendor provide the right level of professional services needed?
	•	Implementation Issues: Is your project team struggling with customizing the vendor software? Are there problems with systems integration?
	•	Quality Assurance Issues: Does your team lack a solid test plan? Is there adequate unit testing and system testing, as well as a formally defined user acceptance test, built into the project schedule? Are you concerned that a bug-ridden rollout will hurt user adoption, along with the reputation of your organization?

What does it take to keep important IT projects on track? It takes skilled project managers who can really lead, or project team members who have skill sets and leadership abilities that the project manager doesn't. Areas where high skill levels are needed include:

	•	Project Management
	•	Team Leadership
	•	Communications and Presentation Skills
	•	Technical Management
	•	Business Process Analysis
	•	Systems Analysis
	•	System Design
	•	Quality Assurance Management
	•	Vendor Management

Spiral Partners can bring the skills and leadership that you need right now to make your projects successful. The three principals have 40+ years among us making IT projects work, and end users happy. All of the people on our team are of the same high caliber. We'll provide the references to prove it.

Spiral Partners stands behind our services in a way few companies do. When it comes to client commitment, we're not kidding: we'll support your project team in whatever role makes the most sense. At the end of the month, YOU decide if our support is outstanding in empowering your team, satisfying your users, and supporting your project's success. If you're not delighted with the people and the service we provide, just tear up your bill.