Online help documentation isn't usually a priority when buying or building software systems, which is why it's rarely as helpful as it could (or should) be. To ensure your online help system actually helps end users, follow these three best practices.

There you are, standing in front of a large audience, ready to give your presentation, when sudden ly you realize you’re not wearing any pants. The audience howls with laughter, you scream, and wake up in a pool of your own sweat. Scary, right?

As we look toward the future, there are events and activities driving or amplifying change -- and there are reactions to those amplifiers that take the shape of emerging trends. In the video below, Sagitec's Chief Learning and Communications Officer, Stephanie Schrankler, examines 5 catalysts and 10 trends that are impacting pension educators and communicators.

Performance bonds (e.g., surety bonds) have long been used by state and local government agencies to mitigate risk in major public sector IT projects.  A bond provides protection in case a software vendor doesn’t fulfill its contractual obligations. It also allows government agencies to demonstrate fiduciary responsibility with taxpayer funds.

Implementing a new pension administration system can be one of the most significant investments a retirement plan ever makes. Between consulting fees, software licensing, training, and support, there are a multitude of factors that will impact the price tag of a system replacement project. With retirement funds under increasing pressure to do more with less, it is absolutely essential that plan administrators make smart choices in IT investment. This means thoroughly understanding the goals of the project, communicating clearly the expectations of the new system, and being realistic about the constraints in your resources. For those considering IT modernization, take in mind that the following factors will impact the cost of your project. 

In a recent article on project management from FOXBusiness, contributor Michael Woodward spoke about the “growing field” of project management with Mr. Mark Langley, CEO of the Project Management Institute (PMI). In the article, Langley helps Woodward draw the connection between project management and the increasing need for “internal innovation” in today’s challenging business climate. He also identifies the following three key attributes of a successful project manager.  

In this second installment of our two-part blog post on risks in IT system replacement projects, we’ll look at another five risks common in major IT projects. As before, we’ll offer a few strategies for mitigating their potential effects.   

In this first of a two-part blog post, we’ll look at five of the top ten risks common to IT system replacement projects based on our experience with pension administration system replacements. Following each risk, we’ll consider strategies for mitigating their potential to harm (or completely derail) a project. 

The year of 2011 was exciting for Sagitec.  We witnessed a surge in company growth, announced new professional service offerings for change management and system support, and launched our company blog.  We are grateful to the many readers who visit our content every day, and we look forward to further developing our blog in 2012.

In a previous post, I talked about the benefits of Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions. In case you missed it, or you are unfamiliar with the concept, a JAD session is a workshop in which multiple project members collaborate to outline the development of a software system. Typically, a JAD is lead by a single person given the important responsibility of being the “Facilitator.” In today’s post, I’ll offer a few suggestions that will help you JAD Facilitators out there lead a successful session. These are some of the very same practices used to great success by our own Sagitec delivery teams.