Managing an eCommerce Build (Part 3): Project development and launch
- opinion
- management
You are in charge of building the eCommerce shop in your company, or more probably, migrating from the current outdated shop to a new one.
In the previous two articles of this series, we’ve covered the first two steps in this process: drafting the requirements and selecting the solution and integration partner. We recommend starting with the first article in the series if you haven’t done so already.
So far, you’ve completed the first two steps from the ones outlined below:
- Draft your requirements
- Select a solution and solution integrator
- Project planning & kickoff
- Build phase
- UAT & Launch
With a clear set of requirements, a solution decided upon, and an integration partner to work with, you are now starting the implementation phase.
Project Planning
The famous Abraham Lincoln quote says: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” This planning phase of the project is the sharpening of the ax, and although it won’t take you half the time or effort of the whole build phase, it definitely will be the thing that significantly contributes to the project’s success.
The goal of this phase is to get alignment between you and the selected solution integrator:
- who are the stakeholders on each side
- who is responsible for what
- what is the timeline for each phase
Identifying all the stakeholders from each side from the beginning is a critical part of the project. From your side, make sure everybody who might have a say in the project is in the loop from day one. Nothing is more frustrating than having someone from your side join the project in the latter stages and demanding large changes. Such changes will automatically increase the budget and delay the timeline.
In your relationship with the solution integrator, make sure it is clear what each side is responsible for in the project. Integrators might assume that your side will take care of uploading the content into the shop, while you might think that’s something they would do for you. Discovering this later in the project will result in delays and send you scrambling for internal resources to help you take care of it. Discuss the responsibilities with the solution provider and set a deadline for each task. Then assign those tasks internally to your team.
Besides the final deadline of the project probably already discussed in the selection phase, now is the time to set intermediate deadlines for the various tasks: when is the first design draft submitted, how much time you need for revisions, how much time should the revisions take and how many revisions you expect, etc.
Also, identify the task inter-dependencies to see what effect delays could have on the overall timeline. For example, a delay in the design phase will also delay the design implementation phase. Knowing these will help you make sure that the blocker tasks take priority.
Build phase
With your plan sharpened, it’s now time to start chopping into the project.
Schedule periodic calls with the project manager from the solution integrator to discuss progress and allow the development team to present their progress. In the initial phase of the project, meetings might be weekly, while close to launch, they will probably be daily.
Maintain a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in your relationship with the solution integrator so that you encourage transparency and honesty. If you’re unhappy about something, discuss it professionally and invite the other side to suggest solutions. An aggressive tone will lead to a tense relationship, likely making the integration partner hide problems and discourage them from making creative suggestions.
It’s impossible to foresee everything, so during the project, requirements can change. Sometimes these changes are new requirements, while other times, they are complexities discovered in existing ones. Be prepared for increases in the project budget to account for these.
UAT & Launch
The User Acceptance Testing (UAT) begins after the solution integrator completed the development and QA work on the project. In this phase, you and your team will review the release candidate version for the shop to find any inconsistencies before approving the launch.
In UAT, you should add no new requirements but only review existing ones and find potential issues that would prevent a launch. New ideas you should save for a post-launch development phase; otherwise, the launch can delay indefinitely.
Discuss the launch process with the integrator: decide the migration process of the existing details (stop the order processing on the old shop, migrate latest data, switch over to the new shop) and the duration of this operation. Also, make sure there’s a rollback procedure prepared if a critical problem comes up that prevents the launch.
Finally, set a window for the launch and give the green light. Sometimes these things can take longer, so be prepared for that.
Conclusion
Building a new shop is challenging and often stressful, but being well prepared and following a plan can help you complete it successfully.
If you’re looking to build a new shop and you’re considering Zento, send us a message, and let’s discuss how we can make this the most unstressful experience you can have.
