Supports & Budgets

TRAINING AND SUPPORT

Every project plan requires a budget. Watt proposes the following techniques for estimating the various costs for projects (2014). The first technique proposed by Watt is determination of resource cost rates to figure out the cost of labour and materials. Watt’s second technique is vendor bid analysis is helpful if external contractors are brought in for training and technical support. Thirdly, reserve analysis is about setting aside some money for cost overruns (Watt). Watt also considers the cost of quality concerns the funds required for improvements of the quality of training and support. Once a thorough budget is determined, establishing a budget timeline will help manage it effectively as the project unfolds (Watt, 2014).

One strategy for managing the timeline for the budget is Tanis’ (2000) Enterprise Resource Planning system which breaks down the budgeting for training and supports into three phases. The first phase, chartering  (before the funding is approved) connects ideas to dollars, including a selection of software, hardware, training specialists, and scheduling. The second, project phase (once the funding is approved) occurs during the activities to get the system up and running. It can include training, infrastructure upgrade, software configuration, and testing. The third phase is the shakedown (once the changes have been put into place). This is a phase of transitioning from active implementation to a routine use. It can include troubleshooting, performance tuning, retraining, and expansion of capacity.

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