HMIS Project Management Topics and Tools - OneCPD

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HMIS Project Management Topics and Tools• If the solution provider is hosting the system, make sure that staff members are availableto answer any questions that the solution provider may have or handle any problems thatarise during the upgrade. Alternatively, if you are self-hosting, make sure that you haveadequate solution provider support during the upgrade.• Test! Ask at least a few people—staff and experienced users—to test before going livewith the new version. Testing should consist of functionality testing (is the new versionperforming according to expectations?) and data migration testing (did the data transferover in the way that it should have?) For major upgrades, testing should systematicallycover every aspect of the software’s functionality and simulate end user conditions asmuch as possible.• Train end users (or train the trainers) on the upgrade and potential impacts on theagency’s business process.• Make sure that there is a formal mechanism in place for users to communicate upgradeproblems and make sure that the communication is two way. That is, make sure that usersreceive a status report so that they know issues are being addressed or resolved.Switching Solution ProvidersA project manager should consider switching solution providers if expectations consistently arenot being met, the solution is not meeting the community’s needs, if cost is becoming too high,and if these factors are damaging the project’s reputation or success. This is not a decision thatcan be made lightly. Communities that are unhappy with their current software believe that newsoftware will solve all of their problems; however, there are generally advantages anddisadvantages to all software applications. For example, if the community is upset that its currentsoftware is slow, they might find a solution that is faster but does not have all of the securityfeatures that the current solution provides.In considering whether to switch software, the project manager should revisit all of thecommunity’s requirements. If a community decides to select an alternative solution, it shouldengage in a thorough process to do so. The HMIS Implementation Guide addresses softwareselection in depth. All initial HMIS implementation tasks will also apply when switchingsoftware. For instance, SOPs, consent forms and participation agreements may have to be revisedif they refer directly to the software product or to features that exist only in that product and arehandled differently in the new tool.There are additional issues in switching software that are not encountered when selectingsoftware for the first time. These issues involve community buy-in, financial cost, loss of data,and other concerns:• The community’s expectations and buy-in for the new software may be very low afterhaving been “burned before.” Alternatively they might be too high after a long build up,leading to inevitable disillusionment. Stakeholders may associate the entire project withthe software rather than the goal of collecting data over time to improve services andinform decision-making around resources. If the software fails it may be seen as a failureof the entire project and buy-in may suffer.• The old software forms the baseline expectations for the new software. There will befunctions the old software performed that the new software does not perform. Users often30
HMIS Project Management Topics and Toolsgrow attached to seemingly insignificant features. For example, one user might like theability to change screens by using keyboard commands rather than the mouse. For thatuser, the loss of this seemingly minor feature will govern his or her feelings about thenew software.• Switching solution providers may be expensive, as the community may need to pay fortwo systems at once during the process of rolling out the new application.• The community will expect its data to be converted from the old software to the newsoftware. The current software solution provider has minimal incentive to assist in thisprocess.• There is a danger of losing data. Data conversion from one system to another may notcapture every piece of information entered in the original system, and migration from onesystem to another could result in a delay or lag time in ongoing data entry. If the delay isparticularly long, there is a chance that the data from that period will never be entered.For all of these reasons, communities may feel they are “locked in” to their current solution. Infact, there is a very good chance that the particular problem that is the impetus to switch softwarecan be resolved much more quickly and cheaply than the community can switch software. Thus,the community should only consider switching software if there is a persistent pattern ofproblems over a long period of time, and if it is clear that the problem will not be resolved in sixmonths or more.In addition to the practical impediments to switching solution providers, communities may alsobe contractually obligated to continue with its provider. Communities considering switchingsolutions might consider waiting until the end of their contractual period. On the other hand,contracts should include an option to terminate the contract without cash penalty under particularconditions. Communities invoking this option and withholding payment should have ampledocumentation of the ways in which the solution provider failed to meet its contractualobligations. The project manager might need to seek legal advice regarding whether contracttermination would be justifiable given the particular scenario and the terms of the contract.It is absolutely critical to make sure that the problem is software specific and not related to otherfactors. One way to do this is to compare your experience with other communities using thesame software. If other communities are not experiencing the same problems, the problem mightbe related to one of the following:• Hardware (server or workstation);• Networking issues;• Database size and optimization;• User errors;• Inadequate training; or• Special functionality requested by your community.These problems will probably not be resolved by switching software.If a community determines that switching solution providers might be the only way to fix aproject or move it forward in reaching its goals, the following steps should be taken:31
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