Retail IT deployments are major projects, and they need to be able to run smoothly and efficiently. As you plan your next deployment, you’ll have plenty of tasks on your to-do list. When it comes to keeping everything on schedule, though, there are four main areas of support your plan should have. These are Deployment Help Desks, Command Centers, Team Leads, and Fully Documented Escalation Processes. Let’s go a little deeper into how each of these can help.
Deployment Help Desks
These are mission-critical to ensuring your deployment goes smoothly. The primary purpose of having a Deployment Help Desk is to field calls from technicians (and potentially store personnel) during the deployment and answer any pertinent questions.
There are many things to consider when deciding how you will structure your Deployment Help Desk. Will you have an in-house team staffing the line, or will you outsource the project? If you don’t have a Help Desk already set up in your company, it might be less of a headache to outsource it.
Once you know who will be staffing the Help Desk, decide where it will be located, and make sure this location allows you to easily communicate with your team. Having someone down the hall, for example, is often easier than calling someone in a different time zone.
You’ll also want to establish a call and ticketing system so the help desk can handle the quantity and types of calls you’re expecting. Decide the hours of coverage, support levels and expertise, and resource requirements. Outline Service-Level Agreements and create standards for reporting and escalation processes.
Taking the time to intentionally create a Help Desk for your deployment will help your project run far more smoothly.
Command Centers
Designating a Command Center or “War Room” will further streamline support during your retail IT deployment. Representatives from each area of the project, such as project managers and coordinators, should report to this centralized location during the deployment. That way if a problem arises, team members can simply ask the person sitting next to them for help, rather than having to call them halfway around the world. By designating a Command Center, your team will also be able to collaborate in real-time.
Command Centers work best for large, complex deployments that take place during a short timeframe. Even if your project doesn’t fit these attributes, it’s still a good idea to centralize your team during the deployment to ease communication worries.
Team Leads
When you designate Team Leads, you provide mentoring and leadership for your deployment technicians.
All Team Leads should be fully knowledgeable in both the work they’re doing and the process of the project. Their job is to help deployment technicians stay on schedule and help them work through issues whenever they need assistance. Team Leads will likely be your most experienced deployment technicians. They keep your deployment running efficiently and, in some cases, can salvage deployments that would likely go off schedule.
Troubleshooting & Escalation Processes
Having troubleshooting and escalation processes helps deployment technicians know how to effectively manage their time. For instance, establishing your wait-time process tells technicians how long they can wait for access to the store or for equipment to arrive before escalating the issue.
Brainstorm all types of situations that could cause extended wait times and create workflows that show technicians and the project manager how to handle each scenario. This step will help your technicians stay on track and on time.
By using these four types of support, you are setting your retail IT deployment up for success. Issues will always arise during a deployment, but by planning strategically, your team can be prepared to see, evaluate and handle the issues as they arise. A Help Desk can field any necessary calls, a Command Center allows for easy collaboration, Team Leads provide mentorship, and documented escalation processes explain necessary workflows. With these four systems, your deployment will be fully supported.
Whether you need help putting these systems in place or need someone to oversee your retail deployment from start to finish, Kinettix is here to support your goals. Call us to schedule a consultation and learn how our project managers, project coordinators, and global field technicians can help your project run smoothly.
