System Implementation and Maintenance

There are a number of factors to consider when putting a new system into production.  They are even more important if the new system is replacing or upgrading an old one.  It is also important that all of these items are considered and included in the project plan.

• Once a technology system has been built it should be thoroughly tested before being put into production.  In most cases it is more difficult and time consuming to fix a problem in a production system than it is in a QA or staging system.
• Good documentation is essential.  Most developers don't like writing documentation and many organizations don't like the time and cost involved in creating it, so many projects end up with little more than the system diagrams and object models created during system design and sparse code comments saved in text files as their documentation.  While these are important the most critical documentation is that which described the relationships between the various system components, any assumptions upon which the operation of the components or their relationships depend, and any complex, creative, unorthodox, or other unusual design and programming techniques used with the reason they were needed.
• System upgrades and maintenance should be part of the initial project plan and well documented.  Even the designers and developers who built the system may have to spend time refreshing their memories if a change needs to be made months or years after the system is first put into production and good documentation can substantially reduce the time and risk required to make such a change.
• Training of internal staff is essential - not only of the people who use the system but of the technical staff that must maintain it.  While we are always available to help with maintenance and upgrades, it is usually more cost effective for internal staff to be adequately trained on how to administer, configure, and make minor updates to the system.  Many organizations like to have their internal staff responsible for major system modifications also, which requires that these people have a full understanding of the system design and program code.

For large or complex systems you may find that you need additional staff, particularly if you want to handle major modifications and functionality upgrades internally.  You may even want to hire these people towards the beginning of the project to reduce the initial development costs and ease the transition to full internal control of the system.  If this is the case we can assist you with finding well qualified personnel.

The difference between our recruiting services and those of many other staffing agencies is the quality of the resumes you can expect.  Most agencies provide you with a stack of resumes for people who have some level of experience with the major skills defined in your job description.  It is then up to you to sift through these resumes and pick the ones that seem well enough qualified to be worth interviewing.

We first work with you to clearly develop a detailed job description and then find candidates whose skills and experience fit that description very closely.  We interview them ourselves and then send you the resumes of the two or three that are best qualified for you to interview, saving you a substantial amount of time.