In February it was announced that PT SportSuite and Professional Squash Association (PSA) had partnered to create a new ecosystem of platforms across the association’s digital landscape.

Over the next few weeks, PT will be hearing from the key project implementors to discuss what it takes to achieve such an ambitious project. First up … PT programme lead Sally Arnold.

THERE ARE QUITE A FEW MOVING PARTS …
for a programme of this scope, involving various internal teams across the different platforms, and a number of different providers with various integration points. My role involves ensuring all of this is running smoothly, that key stakeholders are talking to each other, that the scope of the project is running within time and budget, and that team members have what they need to keep moving forward.

WE ARE IMPLEMENTING AN END-TO-END DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM …
and while the public-facing app and web elements may seem simple enough, there has been a heap of backend work to date to get all the data and integration points talking to each other and presented on the various front-end platforms. All the publishing tools in our toolbox are activated, including a PSA branded Enterprise multi-tenant workflow platform, and digital asset management software.

TO KEEP THE TEAM ON TRACK …
all the activities, deliverables are broken down, with clear goals set for each milestone, which I believe helps our team keep tight focus. We work within an Agile methodology framework and have weekly Sprints which aids in the team’s focus. Frequent check-ins and reflections on the progress are vital, and we have weekly check-ins with the client, which allows for open communication – vital to the success of a project of this scope.

THE SHEER COMPLEXITY AND SIZE OF THIS PROJECT …
from start to finish, is very exciting for our team. A global reaching project like this is always exciting to break down and be a part of every small achievement along the way, which eventually leads to a complete full scale offering for PSA to radically disrupt and positively affect all stakeholders involved in promoting and consuming their digital product.

A global reaching project like this is always exciting to break down and be a part of every small achievement along the way

WORKING ACROSS THE GLOBE …
while not necessarily unique these days, always makes things interesting, and doing everything virtually. The number of stakeholders involved is also a challenge in order to make sure everyone is on the same page and in agreement to the agreed approaches. The tools we use to communicate status, releases, the deployment of updates and effectively tracking feedback during the project is important to ensure the critical path to launch date is achievable.