Why is an experienced project management & business analyst team essential for a successful eCommerce project?
Managing eCommerce projects requires attention to detail, outstanding communication, thoughtful planning and great suggestions to be successful.
The role of an experienced digital agency and its project managers/business analysts is to ensure the project runs smoothly, on time and budget and includes essential functionality which drives user engagement and sales. The differences between a well managed and planned eCommerce project, which strives for success and leverages modern sales methods and a poorly managed one can be enough to break an online business. It’s important that the business goals be considered and then translated to an online system which will provide a base for things such as marketing, customer acquisition and online sales. Outlined below are some considerations of high quality digital agencies and their team.
Foresight and Timelines
All eCommerce project managers should implement a reasonable and achievable timeline and then stick to it. Timelines should be based on a number of varying factors which are both specific to the business and to the digital agency, such as market events (for example, Black Friday) for the business and User Persona Interviews for the agency. Factors which influence timelines should be outlined clearly and then discussed and resolved into either a singular or phased deadline approach. Depending on the other business operations, sometimes it may be wise to actually pause project commencement until stakeholders can make a more solid commitment to the deadline, this reduces the risk of missed timelines and failed projects.
Suggestions and Problem Solving
Business analysts should consider the project & business objectives before making suggestions on functionality. They gather a project brief and then suggest actions which should be included/excluded to drive achievement of said objectives. There may be uncertainties around the specific direction an organization should take when considering its goals – it’s the role of a business analyst to suggest and then justify reasoning behind their solutions in an effort to provide the best options to the business and then align the actions of all people involved. A good business analyst provides insights and proof behind their suggestions so that there is no uncertainty.
Budget Management & “Must Haves”
Digital projects are different from other projects, such as building a house, because they are more fluid and can change once the project has commenced. While this is a great opportunity to adapt on the fly, it can also cause problems when organizations begin to get excited and want to include as many functionalities as possible before launch. It’s the role of experienced project managers and business analysts to consider the value that added functionalities will bring vs. the budget/time increase and then suggest viability. It’s easy for inexperienced digital agencies to accept all new functionality requests throughout the project with a focus on total project budget, as opposed to looking from a business perspective and focusing on the best solution and long term relationships.
Stakeholder Management & Accountability
Good Digital Project Managers keep their own team, as well as the client accountable for timelines and materials. Experienced project managers will keep all stakeholders in the loop and up to date with timelines so that the project is delivered on time. They’ll let the client know if delays on their end will impact the project deadline and they’ll follow them up to ensure this doesn’t happen when possible. It’s important that project managers focus on the project as a whole and act accordingly to ensure the project is delivered to the agreed scope and timeline.
Having a team of experienced project managers and business analysts working on your eCommerce project, like the team at Designpluz, will ensure your project is not only delivered on time and within the agreed scope and budget, but also to the best possible standards within the market, driving business objectives and sales.
