Hewlett Packard

Using Project KickStart for HP's Global Project Management


Why HP Manager, Dave Little, Recommends Intuitive, Easy-to-use Project KickStart Software


Dave Little travels worldwide as a Manager for Hewlett Packard’s Outsourcing Services Group. He takes Project KickStart with him on every job all over the globe, both foreign and domestic. At the time of this writing, Dave’s working on information technology outsourcing projects in 14 different countries. When Little began a project in France, recently, on his recommendation, the customer company purchased copies of Project KickStart for its entire enterprise.

  • "There are a number of project management products out there, and we even use one or two of them on really complex, large-scale jobs. But Project KickStart was designed for ease of use, but most project management products were not."
  • "Project KickStart is a real confidence builder. You sit down with it, and in about 30 minutes, you can put together a very impressive project plan and schedule. Nobody believes it's that easy until they use Project KickStart for the first time. After that, they're converts."

HP Chooses Project KickStart for Marketing Studies

  • "I got a beta copy of the very first version of Project KickStart in the ’90s, and I loved it. I've used it extensively ever since."

Dealing With Obstacles

Obstacles may be inevitable in HP's outsourcing activities. Hewlett-Packard offers outsourcing expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and application management, mission critical services, desktop management services and E-services. Each new customer has its own set of issues, and each must be dealt with individually.

  • "There's just no cookie cutter approach to effective outsourcing. We have to plan and schedule each customer project as if it were the first we've ever undertaken. A company that decides to outsource puts a lot of trust in the partners it chooses. These companies must have confidence in HP’s ability to understand how they work so that we can help them work better. With Project KickStart, we have the tools we need to give us that understanding."

Summary

"I use Project KickStart exclusively for every new project I start, and utilize it extensively throughout all projects. We invariably run into obstacles when implementing our outsourcing services, and Project KickStart helps us address those obstacles and deal with them effectively."

  • "An ERP assignment, for instance, requires continuous monitoring and problem management, system administration and performance management, wide and local area network management, database administration, proactive capacity management, controlled change management and ERP infrastructure housing."
  • "E-services, on the other hand, demands operation and management of enterprise-size networks; web-farms and storage infrastructures; locating servers in multi-site data centers; comprehensive monitoring, reporting and early intervention for problem prevention; full support; and guaranteed service levels ; and custom support options."

"I've recommended Project KickStart to a lot of people, both inside and outside Hewlett-Packard, and they've all been impressed. The ease of use and intuitive qualities are the big plusses for me."

  • "Project KickStart can make a competent manager out of someone who's never managed a project before."
  • "A first-time user can sit down with Project KickStart and, without any training classes at all, be comfortable using it from the minute it starts running."


-- Dave Little, Program Manager, Hewlett-Packard Outsourcing Services Group