Why is it important to have a “single point of contact (SPoC)” on an IT project?
Last updated: November 22, 2022 Read in fullscreen view
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What does Wikipedia say:
“A point of contact (POC) or single point of contact (SPOC) is a person or a department serving as the coordinator or focal point of information concerning an activity or program. A POC is used in many cases where information is time-sensitive and accuracy is important.
Why Clients Need One Point Of Contact?
We always tell our clients that it is important for the project to have a single point of contact on their side, a Project Manager if you will. I have become so used to this idea that I don’t think about it any more until one of our clients recently asked “why do you need a single POC and why can’t you work directly with our staff who will be using the system on a daily basis”?. I struggled to find a good explanation at the time but I have thought about it since, and realized that it is not that we don’t want to work with end users, we don't necessarily want to build for their unique workflow. The system needs to come together as a whole to move a team, an organization move forward and the project manager helps make that happen. Building upon this thought, I decided to list some of the qualities I think are needed in a Project Manager or a Coordinator. Of course this is my opinion and you may have additional or different things.
Before listing the attributes of a project lead or project manager or a project coordinator (choose a title based on the size of your project, organization etc.), let’s examine what he or she does on a project:
- Coordinates all internal activities related to a project, attends ALL meetings (yes! all if possible), and helps remove “knowledge” bottlenecks.
- Serves as the primary liaison with our team so we know who to go to if we have a question.
- Reports the progress of the overall project to Executive Sponsor / Management, securing final approvals on changes to budgets or timeline.
- Builds his/her knowledge as a user to support end users once the project transitions into maintenance mode.
- Depending on his or her motivation, interest, availability and/or role in the organization, this person is often in the perfect position to become an administrator to help the organization with lower level customization requests.
Now that we have discussed some of the activities that go with the role, lets list some key attributes to help you identify such an individual in your team:
- One of the most important criteria is this person’s access to the management and the ability to build consensus within the team.
- Ability to articulate the organization’s mission, and high-level knowledge of work areas (programmatic knowledge).
- Understand the overall vision of the proposed system. This is important so the system being developed is in line with the organizational goals and will move the enterprise forward, not be built for one or two users only.
- Goes without saying that this individual should be well organized; be disciplined; and be detail and action oriented.
- Be positive - if he or she doesn’t believe in the project, they can’t expect others to follow.
- Likes to learn new processes, new technologies and loves change.
- Has enough time to dedicate to a project. In most smaller organizations there is not a dedicated Project Manager which is understandable, however you can’t expect this to be the fourth responsibility for someone. It takes time and effort to ensure a successful implementation, so it is important to give this person the best chance at succeeding by giving enough room in the day to execute on this requirement.
A good project manager can make all the difference. They can minimize risks by engaging users early and often. They can save time and money by streamlining communication with the technology partner, speeding up project delivery. In a smaller organization they can “convert” to a system administrator and reduce ongoing maintenance costs. Contrary to popular belief this individual does not be an expert at the technology being implemented. In fact it may even bog down the process and shift the focus to technology more than on the people and process.
Examples Of PoC
Technical support associate
A technical support associate is similar to a customer service associate, but with higher-level expertise in the company's products or services. They're a POC that helps customers with several technical issues and can provide tips, troubleshooting or other approaches to solve problems for customers. The main aim of this role is to address the issues for customers and ensure they receive a product or service that's satisfactory to them.
Example of PoC: IT Comtor (or Bridge Engineer - BrSE)
Comtor or IT Comtor is a term referring to a Japanese interpreter specializing in the field of information technology (IT), in which Comtor standing for the word Communicator, meaning communicator, communicator. Thus, the Comtor profession is a short, easy-to-remember way of calling Japanese interpreters specialized in IT.
Are you an IT Comtor who orients to become BrSE but does not have much knowledge and experience in this field?
At TIGO, we have the solution for you. With an extremely detailed training schedule and documentation on professional skills, working skills and enthusiastic support by Japanese PMs and top senior BrSE at TIGO, you will thrive not only in knowledge but also practical experiences in the projects.
We believe that with your effort to learn and work, you will be able to become such BrSE as the members in our current team.
WHAT WE DO:
- Act as an interpreter in internal meetings and meetings with Japanese customers.
- Communicate directly with customers via email, skype, viber to adjust, agree on requirements, and report periodic work.
- Translate documents for projects
- Perform a number of tasks related to project management.
WHO YOU ARE:
- Have Japanese proficiency.
- Have experience working as an IT Comtor and have the orientation to develop a BrSE.
- Be able to process information and identify problems quickly.
- Have good communication skills.
- Have a high sense of responsibility and team work spirit
- Be able to give constructive comments to improve the quality of work with managers.
- Candidates with project management experience are favorable.
Key Takeaways
To summarize, a single point of contact doesn’t mean you are just employing an individual but in my case anyway it does mean you will have a single contact and reference point who will ensure you get the best service and solutions appropriate to you. If that means third parties should be used then these will be discussed and managed to the same high standards you would expect. As people will know I am not somebody who is afraid to challenge nor accept things just because “that’s the way they are” and these beliefs are practiced in the same way with vendors and therefore you get the Considered IT Solutions you deserve and can rely on.
Via TIGO Outsourcing
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