10 reasons web projects dont go live on time and how to avoid them
- 1. 10 Reasons Web Projects Don’t Go-Live on Time and How to Avoid Them
- 2. As a web development agency with over 20 years’ experience, we know a thing or two about reaching project launches in timescale and budget.
- 3. Following these top tips will help you begin your project in a managed and prioritised way.
- 4. REASON 1: CONTRACTS Contract negotiation takes time, and clients almost never factor it into their timeline. They envision selecting an agency and then immediately starting work. This never happens. Eleanor Papadimos Business Development Manager
- 5. My best advice is factor the legalities into your timeline and get those terms and conditions with your legal team ASAP. Or at least warn them they’re on the way so they can put time aside Eleanor Papadimos Business Development Manager THE SOLUTION
- 6. REASON 2: POOR PRIORITISATION One of the biggest reasons go-lives are delayed is due to poor prioritisation. Scope will always end up changing during the build of a project. It’s inevitable. Amit Singh UI Engineer
- 7. Instead of believing everything is super important and has to be completed before go-live, in reality, some things can be completed post- launch, or in a second or third phase. Amit Singh UI Engineer THE SOLUTION
- 8. REASON 3: FINDING THE RIGHT APPROACH As the project progresses and evolves, be open to adapting your methodology Jonathan Healey Managing Director
- 9. Make sure you understand the pros and cons of each approach and work hard to develop the right balance for your project and business needs. Jonathan Healey Managing Director THE SOLUTION
- 10. REASON 4: CONTENT MANAGEMENT 1. People plan on creating new content but don’t start early enough 2. People plan on reviewing their content but don’t start early enough 3. People don’t factor in enough time to actually enter the content into the new website. Eleanor Papadimos Business Development Manager
- 11. If content first isn’t realistic, constant content creation is! This way, when the back-end build is coming to completion, the content will be ready to add. Amit Singh UI Engineer THE SOLUTION
- 12. REASON 5: THIRD PARTY INTEGRATIONS Integration! It’s hard enough to integrate into a static, stable, standard system. Integrating into one that’s still being built takes even longer. Jonathan Healey Managing Director
- 13. Make sure the provider of the system your website is integrating into has direct dev to dev contact with the agency and is contracted to support them. Jonathan Healey Managing Director THE SOLUTION
- 14. REASON 6: INFRASTRUCTURE When third parties are involved in infrastructure, such as an internal IT team, that are separate to the usual team we communicate with, issues can occur. Alix Taylor Head of Client Technology
- 15. Without the infrastructure in place, it’s impossible to launch. Alix Taylor Head of Client Technology THE SOLUTION
- 16. REASON 6: INFRASTRUCTURE Clients not having the correct access to the servers. Ben Stephenson Developer
- 17. Clear communication between the internal IT department and agency to gather necessary details will prevent this from happening. Ben Stephenson Developer THE SOLUTION
- 18. REASON 7: ALLOCATE PLENTY OF TIME FOR A QUALITY AUDIT Quite often, businesses are keen to keep the go-live date ‘soon’ to please the stakeholders. But by doing this, they find themselves short of time. Claire Taylor Client Services Director
- 19. It’s not about lengthening the timescales, it’s about ensuring your colleagues aren’t away during that time or that you can have dedicated work hours to concentrate on it. Claire Taylor Client Services Director THE SOLUTION
- 20. REASON 8: SCOPE CREEP The elements of the site which weren’t scoped out during the design, discovery or specification stages. Ben Stephenson Developer
- 21. Depending on the complexities of the new features and how vital they are to the project, other aspects of the site may need to be pushed back to make the changes. Ben Stephenson Developer THE SOLUTION
- 22. REASON 9: DEADLINES Deadlines are a two-way a street! Businesses sometimes forget if they miss a sign off deadline by two weeks, the project go- live is delayed by at least two weeks. Amit Singh UI Engineer
- 23. Plans need to be in place to make sure deadlines are met on both sides to ensure on-time project go-live! Amit Singh UI Engineer THE SOLUTION
- 24. REASON 10: CONTINGENCY No contingency in project plans. Getting this right is hard. Something will not go as planned so demand contingency in the plan, even if you don’t like the output. Jonathan Healey Managing Director
- 25. Plans need to be in place to make sure deadlines are met on both sides to ensure on-time project go-live! Helena Sandles Visual Designer THE SOLUTION
- 26. Get in touch hello@netconstruct.co.uk +44 (0) 1937 581 123 Speak to us today to discuss your website objectives and how we can help you achieve them.