Why I Enjoy Project Deployment Weekends

If you’ve worked in IT for some time, you have probably been involved in some project work. Whether it’s a software deployment or perhaps a hardware upgrade, there comes an occasion in a project where after all the preparation the solution is deployed to the company for mainstream use. I actually enjoy working on these deployments!

The one thing these kind of projects share would be that the deployment and implementation of these are generally done beyond business hours. It's done this way so it has minimal effect on the users.

I’ve been involved with a number of project deployments over the last several years, and I’ve come to realize that I actually enjoy them. Yes, it’s true, I really enjoy coming in to work on the end of the week to set up something to a company. No, I’m not crazy - here’s why!

Months Of Planning And Hard Work Finally Pays Off

The implementation of a software or infrastructure project is generally the last stage of the entire project. An idea was developed, months or years in the past, from a business need, a problem with how a company does something, or an upgrade that's needed. A huge amount of planning has gone on to get various teams and individuals involved with the project, to obtain the budget for the project planned and approved, and to organise the process to get from one point to another.

Before the deployment weekend (it could be a single night, but the concepts are the same) there is a lot of planning that takes place. The specified individuals are contacted, the individual steps and times are organised and decision points are made.

Following several months of planning, the project team all comes together and deploys the solution. Working in this environment at this time actually makes you recognise that all those months of planning and work are at long last paying off. The organization will finally make the most of the implementation. This can be installing some new routers in the network system, a deployment of a new operating system to a company, or the upgrade of a custom software system.

That’s one of the reasons I enjoy software deployment weekends.

There Is A Good Feeling Of Teamwork

Once the project team all comes together to focus on the weekend, or over the deployment window, everybody has agreed to achieve a beneficial outcome. They've all been involved with the project at some level or another. Depending on the company and the type of project, many people might be working remotely, or you may all be in the one office.

Sure, there are various other things that you desire to do at night time or on a weekend - seeing friends or family, for instance. However, everyone commits to the project and makes all the effort to come into work and do their part for the system.

Because there's a small time to get the work done, there exists a feeling of motivation and teamwork that is evident during these deployments. It’s something I enjoy and I like getting work done in these environments. There’s no gossip or time wasting - everybody is there to get a job done and done well.

Delivering Great Benefits To The Company

Another reason I enjoy working on project deployment weekends is recognizing the benefits that I’m providing to the company by doing this work. As I mentioned above, it doesn’t matter what kind of deployment you’re doing for a company, the users will discover the rewards of it in one way or another.

A lot of the deployments I’ve been involved in are software project deployments. A system is switched off over the weekend, upgrades are made, servers are configured, tests are run and the deployment is completed. At the conclusion of this process, the users of the system are available to use the freshly installed software - something which should deliver great benefits to them and the company. The feeling of providing value and giving this benefit to the company is a big motivator for me, not merely with the deployment weekends, but operating in the IT industry on the whole.