General

Although foreign trade software is only a tool for foreign trade enterprises, it can achieve twice the result with half the effort if the tool is used well. Therefore, the progress of software projects must be taken seriously. So, do you know the key control points of foreign trade software project management? Here are some noteworthy key control points and experiences to share.

Control point 1: The importance of establishing a project schedule. The implementation of foreign trade software is a long-term project, which involves various resources and task decomposition. Moreover, most things have a priority requirement, so the allocation and control of time must be well formulated. In practical operations, it often occurs that one blindly strives for speed in project schedule planning, or even deliberately pursues a date with special significance as a project milestone, which will cause great pressure on project control.

On the other hand, in fact, many projects fail due to delays in project progress, which leads to low morale and inefficiency in project teams. Therefore, the time management for the implementation of foreign trade software projects needs to fully consider various potential factors, with appropriate leeway reserved; During the implementation process, the importance of executing the project on schedule should be emphasized, and maintaining progress should be a prerequisite when considering any issues; At the same time, make reasonable use of methods such as expediting and rapid follow-up to fully utilize resources.

Control point 2: The importance of human resources. The successful implementation of foreign trade software projects cannot be separated from the guarantee system of human resources. In terms of human resources, enterprises should establish a top-down project organization. The first step in human resource management of a project is to identify who will complete each task, and on this basis, form a human resource matrix for the project.

There is a common saying that all problems ultimately come down to people. It can be seen how important human resource management is during the implementation of foreign trade software projects. Therefore, the quality of the implementation team is the key to the success of project implementation. In a foreign trade ERP software project, 30% of the time and energy is spent on technology, and 70% of the time is spent on the work of being a human being. Therefore, human resource management is the core part of project management in foreign trade software enterprises, and we should not underestimate it when doing projects.

Control point 3: project quality management. Generally speaking, meeting objectives and exceeding expectations is the quality requirement of a project. To put it more popularly, it is often said that the high-quality implementation of a project actually refers to the implementation of satisfaction. How can I achieve high satisfaction? In fact, this is a difficult standard to define. The first prerequisite is to have a clear definition of the project's objectives and scope of needs, which is a prerequisite for high-quality project implementation. On this basis, it is the enterprise that is satisfied with the product, which includes the software itself and software technology. Then there is satisfaction with the implementation consultants and the implementation process. Product, technology, and implementation constitute the scope and specific content of the quality of foreign trade software implementation projects. We need to take measures in these three areas to establish quality supervision measures and strengthen quality control.

Control point 4: establishment of incentive mechanism. The implementation of foreign trade ERP software project is a huge system engineering, which can be described as pulling the trigger and moving the whole body. While completing existing tasks, members of the implementation team have virtually added many tasks such as learning, training, discussing, analyzing and collecting data, organizing basic data, and standardizing processes and data. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an effective reward and punishment mechanism in order to effectively mobilize the enthusiasm of implementation personnel. When appropriate, the project leadership team should give special awards to those who have made outstanding contributions and departments.

Control point 5: project risk management. The reason why it comes last is because there is a large amount of uncertainty in each of the above factors. Uncertainties in scope, timing, human resource changes, quality issues, etc. can all affect project objectives. The risk management of a project is to control the uncertainties existing in the factors of the above projects. Specifically, it means adopting methods such as avoidance, transfer, acceptance, and utilization to eliminate uncertainty in the realization of project objectives, thereby ensuring the orderly progress of the project. Risk management is only a key and difficult issue in the project management of foreign trade ERP software enterprises. In short, project risk management refers to the management of various major project elements such as scope, time, personnel, etc. that exist during the implementation of foreign trade software.

It can be seen that foreign trade software implementation projects involve a wide range of aspects. From a large perspective, including software, hardware, and services, it is a vast system engineering. From a small perspective, project planning, organization, resource allocation, control, and coordination are all indispensable conditions for project success. Only by grasping its key control points can the smooth implementation of the project be ensured.