2.1 Baseline for Sustainability – Planning

Important Considerations and Best Practices 

At the onset of project planning for new technologies or systems, it is essential to consider the upkeep costs and any additional costs from integrations and customizations (e.g., integrating two systems requires extra administrative time and capacity).

Before deciding on add-on applications and custom solutions, organizations should consider long-term sustainability and feasibility based on administrative capacity. Programs should consider long-term ownership and roles/responsibilities, including:

• who is handling upkeep;
• what upkeep is expected;
• what needs to be documented during the implementation to make upkeep easier;
• how new requests for changes will be handled once the project is considered closed.

Maintenance costs for custom development may increase the total cost of the project.

Useful websites, resources, and other tools 

• LSNTAP: Project Management Toolkit
• Exiting Technology Projects Handbook