If you live in Australia you will have heard of the $37.4 billion NBN roll out and its delays. It was predicted in 2010, by NBN Co, that 805,000 existing homes and businesses would have access to fibre optic cabling by June 30, 2013. In August 2012 this was revised to 286,000, however when the June 30 deadline arrived the company said it had passed 163,500 premises – 55,000 of which were still unable to order the service.
Whilst there have been many reasons for the delay, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims said the delays were not surprising because it is a big project being built by a new company with less corporate experience. “The fact that you’re establishing a brand new company to do a brand new, big project and things take a little longer than you expected is certainly no surprise to anybody who has got a commercial background and sees how these things go,” Mr Sims said. “If you got Leighton Holdings to build a major freeway they’ve done that before,” he said. “They’ve got project managers who know exactly what to do, they’ve got templates, they know who all the sub-contractors are and the subbies are well-experienced.”
Resource planning can always be difficult, for example for a new project you want to use your most appropriately skilled staff. You look at your employees CVs when putting them forward for a project rather than using a new starter. However, do you automatically know from your staff who had the most relevant skills? Do they have time to take on a new job? How long would it take you to compile that information, would it be worth the delay? What would it mean to you to have all that information available in one report?
For more information about planning less painful projects, download the FREE e-book, Project-Based ERP for Dummies by Brian LaMee.
Alternatively attend the last in the webinar series with the author Brian LaMee. Click here to read more info.
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