What can we do remotely, and what on-site
Activities before signing the contract and the start of the project
- At this stage it is essential for representatives of Fild.NET and a client to meet in person. This type of meeting allows a Fild.NET’s project manager and client’s representatives to get to know each other. It makes it easier to work later, as well as solving any problems that may arise during the work on nearshore or offshore IT project.
The project implementation
Projects carried out by Fild.NET can be divided into two categories described below.
1) Nearshore or offshore IT projects that require communication with employees primarily from the IT department (for example related to the implementation of BizTalk Server and SQL Server)
- In such projects there is no need for personal meetings. All communication can take place in a remote way – by e-mails or using video conferencing tools. Remote work can include: clarification of the scope of the project, determining the developer environment (of a client or Fild.NET), work programming, testing, installation and training.
- Remote collaboration is quite sufficient as most of the topics discussed are technical issues. It does not matter whether the interlocutors see themselves in person or communicate at a distance. The communication is also facilitated by high proficiency on both sides in the use of video conferencing tools,
- No need for personal meetings is also related to the method of implementation of projects by Fild.NET. We always try to implement them in stages. This means that we divide the project into the isolated modules. After creating and testing the individual modules, they are immediately run productively. In this way the client can verify whether the project is proceeding according to his expectations by looking at the already operating a piece of the whole solution.
- It may happen that during the project there will be unexpected problems that are best to discussed in person. Our practice shows that these situations are rare.
2) Nearshore or offshore IT projects that require communication with employees from departments other than IT (associated with implementations of SharePoint Server or Dynamic CRM)
- In this type of projects it is necessary to meet in person, which is associated with involvement of larger number of employees from different departments, who often have conflicting opinions and are not accustomed to the use of video conferencing tools.
- As a rule, in the course of the project we always organize at least one presentation to the client to show what has been achieved so far and to make sure we are moving in the right direction.
- However, if there is need for more frequent personal meetings, they are implemented as appropriate.
Maintenance
- The specificity of the nearshore or offshore IT projects implemented by Fild.NET is a modular approach. This means that the subject of maintenance arises at a relatively early stage of the project – after a production run of a closed part of the whole solution. Therefore, already at that stage there are determined details of maintenance, such as response time and level of support. If support services are to be provided during business hours, then this obligation for the duration of the project is designed to the Fild.NET’s project team. In the case of 24/7 support it is necessary to make additional arrangements in financial matters. All of these is done remotely, and afterwards the client is able to accurately test the level of support provided by Fild.NET already during the project .
- When the project is completed and the documentation handed over, it is time to sign an official agreement for technical support for the solution created by Fild.NET. It is usually accompanied by a personal meeting, which is also the opportunity to summarize the project.