Welcome to
Southwest Support Services
Southwest Support Services
can Achieve Your Goals
Tell Southwest Support what your goals are, what you are looking for, and what your wish list would be for any computer, systems, or infrastructure project. We can even help you by expertly managing your projects using any one of many recognized detailed project methodologies (including Waterfall, Agile, SDLC, or even your own customized development lifecycle process.)
Southwest Support's experience with Accounting, PMS, Financial, POS, and scores of other systems puts us in a unique position to drive all phases of your project, whether your needs are managing your project, project reclamation, project remediation, technical consulting, or systems development.
We are your one point of contact for all your computer projects.
Our headquarters are located in Phoenix, Arizona with support offices in Southern California and the greater Portland, Oregon area.
History of Southwest Support
Southwest Support Services started in 1989 as D. A. McMillen and Associates providing contract Transaction Processing (TPF) specific programmers to major airlines and systems programmers, and software development for hospitality companies. Prior to that time, from 1984 through 1986, Doug McMillen led the development and deployment of the first fully integrated and networked ATM system for Bank of America, called VersaTeller, throughout California. From 1986 through 1989, Doug McMillen worked for AMR Corporation, parent to then American Airlines Inc., where he started and operated a hospitality call center in Ft. Worth, Texas for a mix of major and boutique hotel families including Wyndham Hotels.
At D.A. McMillen and Associates, Doug McMillen developed a support network of 23 hotels located in Arizona and California, including Hilton, Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, several independent resorts, and three national Vacation Clubs. D.A. McMillen and Associates also provided software and networking support at two nationally recognized medical clinics in Arizona.
In 1998, Doug McMillen renamed the company to Southwest Support Services (an Arizona company) and was joined by Rex Zonner to expand the business also into the financial and home loan sectors. Doug and Rex worked at developing and implementing, loan origination systems (LOS), document imaging systems, loss prevention systems, and integrated databases at Acoustic Home Loans and ComUnity Lending. Southwest Support also managed the M&A projects of Merrill Lynch (National City Bank and HLS).
Southwest Support Services also wrote a management training program and materials for The Armstrong Institute and led the $16 Million renovation of a major resort after many issues were exposed by management with the existing project managers. More recently, Southwest Support has provided project support to Idea Enablers (marketing and branding company in Southern California), and facilitated the M&A of National City Bank's Mortgage Lending call center to Merrill Lynch,
Both Rex Zonner and Doug McMillen are Certified Project Managers with the American Association of Project Managers (www.amerapm.com), and are members of PMI (Portland, OR), which qualified us to teach the nuances of project management from a unique perspective of practical and functional experience. Using documented PMI methodologies (PMBOK) and techniques derived from over 30 years' experience delivering complex IT and non-IT projects, the outcome of projects is guaranteed to be exceptional and cost-effective.
For further information:
email us at project@southwestsupport.com
949.322.3032 Doug McMillen (Sr. Project Manager)
360.254.6451 Rex Zonner (Sr. Project Manager/Technologist)
What is Project Management?
Project management is used to provide structure and proven techniques for proposing, planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating any projects, and not to the exclusion of any domain. Projects are used for any number of deliverables and/or tasks. Tasks may but are not exclusive to:
o Software
o Construction
o Activities
o Any general project requiring an expected outcome.
• To achieve a desired outcome, a project must be broken down to its key elements, or Phases. This is known as the project lifecycle, and it is as simple as:
o Initiation
o Planning
o Execution
• The Project Management Institution (PMI) further breaks this down as the five (5) stages of the Project Planning process:
o Stage 1: Initiating the project.
o Stage 2: Planning the project.
o Stage 3: Designing the processes and outputs (deliverables)
o Stage 4: Implementing and tracking the project.
o Stage 5: Evaluation and closing of the project.
• Regardless, a project must go through phases of initiation, planning, and implementing/execution. This cycle allows project managers to plan each task and activity meticulously to ensure the highest chances of success.
While the basic principles apply in all situations, the project management methodology must be scaled to fit the benefit-to-cost ratio for each situation. Managers often fail to use project planning tools and techniques appropriate to the anticipated outcomes of the project and the resources available. What methodologies are available? There are numerous project management methodologies, but the two most common methodologies are:
o Waterfall
This linear project management method is the simplest and most traditional. The name is fitting given that it's a process in which project phases flow downward. The Waterfall methodology compels you to go from one project phase to the next only once you've satisfactorily completed the previous one.
It's ideal for highly organized projects and when it's too costly to pivot or modify something after completion.
o Agile
Agile project management is a dynamic and collaborative approach for teams to self-organize. When using the Agile methodology, project planning and task management are adaptable and receptive to change if it can result in process improvement. The Agile approach provides a highly dynamic structure for project teams, which is why it's a popular project management strategy in product and software development. This methodology has its roots in software development and fits well with that environment or any project facing some degree of uncertainty. Marketing projects, which need a more responsive and rapid production schedule, may also use it.
Technical Computer Support
At Southwest Support Services, we have advisors who can provide you with the support that you need for all your computer systems and hardware. We can source repair services or help you define your custom hardware.
We have a passion for making your job, business, or personal life easier by assuring your success, and then supporting your objectives. Our customized support is all about results, sustaining your competitive advantage, and achieving spectacular efficiencies.
Tell Southwest Support what your objectives and what your wish list would be. And all the while, remember that you can tell us knowing that we will hold your plans with the strictest confidentiality. Nothing is too big, or too small for us. Let us be your one point of contact for all your projects!
If Southwest Support can't do something, we will find an expert that can do it, and we'll manage the project from beginning to end - and it is completed to your satisfaction. We'll always be there for you - providing that one point of contact to make your job easier for you.
Our services include:
Project Management
Project Support
Project Training and Guidance
Cost Reduction
Data Backup & Recovery
Call or email us at:
360.254.6451
project@southwestsupport.com
8 Ways to Save your Next Project
by Elizabeth Bennett 12/17/2007
With IT projects consistently running late and over budget, it's time to look at what technology leaders and project managers could do to step up their performance.
Technology and non-technology projects bear a striking similarity to home renovations. Both are surrounded by wildly high hopes at the start and often end up causing financial and emotional heartache.
There are some new numbers to back up the unfortunate reality that many projects simply don't deliver as expected. 49% of organizations have suffered from budget overruns on IT projects and 62% have experienced schedule delays, according to a report by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT consulting firm based in Mumbai, India. The study, which surveyed 800 organizations in the United States, Europe, and Asia, also found that 47% of respondents have experienced higher-than-expected maintenance costs and 41% said IT project failed to deliver the expected business value and ROI. In short, IT projects are a chronic disappointment.
It's hardly news that technology and non-technology projects are rarely on-time and within budgets, but the question remains: what more can be done? We thought it was worth taking a look at why projects are so likely to fall behind and where leaders and project managers could improve their performance - and therefore the likelihood of successfully completing a project with minimal cost and schedule delays.
1. Project managers need to get their head out of the software.
Most project managers spend too much time in their project planning applications and not enough time doing the briefing and communicating for which they are solely responsible. You should be spending the bulk of your time talking to and corresponding with project constituents - your team, the stakeholders, vendors, consultants, and key end-users. The "soft" skill of communication is integral to project success.
2. Plan and define as much as possible - but don't go overboard.
A key component of project management is the thorough and meticulous planning of every aspect of a project, but a perfectionist could spend all of his or her time in the planning stage. There's no way to anticipate every variable at this point, you may have to pull the trigger.
Project Managers are increasingly using rapid project deployments and iterative models that have been successful in the software development world. These models are based on the principle that in some ways it's better to start the project and see what you're up against.
3. Manage Scope Creep - for real.
Like a turkey on Thanksgiving, you can rely on the fact that the project you think you're heading for may bare only a passing resemblance to the one you end up with.
With the increasing complexity of data centers and the Pandora's box of surprises once you get under the hood, it's advisable to game out and document the potential sources of SCOPE CREEP. For instance, the team may want to take a different approach than planned, management may want to change, add or expand the deliverables or you may uncover a technical aspect you didn't know existed.
4. Don't be lazy with risk management.
If you need 2100 servers delivered at the same time for a worldwide mail server upgrade, it's not enough to know what the risk is if the vendor doesn't deliver. It's time to manage the risk by deciding ahead of time that, as reliable as your vendor has been in the past, there's little margin for error. Going with two or three vendors might be more complicated but, in the end, it may save your project if only 20 servers aren't delivered on time instead of 200.
5. Get a grip on Expectations.
Ask vendors and consultants for the best, most likely and worst-case scenarios and then use your own resources to calculate the aggregated risk soyou can determine the probable outcome.
6. Govern with Strength
Even with all the good work you did upfront, problems and roadblocks will surely arise.
7. Prepare for intervention.
If your approaches are better in theory than practice, it might be time to intervene with the project plan.
8. Drive behavior to use the technology.
Whatever you do, don't rest on your laurels when the technical aspects are completed. Creating a plan to ensure that people actually use the technology you just spent 18 months implementing will serve you well.