Franck Le Soft CEO France and vice president for Western Europe, SynerTrade
The selection process of a software company is often described by project managers or analysts as one of the most difficult exercises an organization to have to understand. The effort to bring publishers, collaborators out their daily tasks, listen to presentations “ready to use” compare notes and select a product from other alone represents a cost so significant that the conclusion of this process can often be the non-choice.
Try also to obtain the support of end users only adds to the time, cost and effort. It is so rare to see through the indirect cost related to represent him evaluation process only up to 25% of the price of the relevant software. Some studies indicate that companies that take evil dwell there more or less against their conditions of a failed project by creating prerequisites that are not well understood or shared before starting the project, forming end users on the basis of a non-final version of the software, changing the specifications for business confi guration software phases, or imposing methodologies which prevent the application of best practices.
A “proof of concept” or POC should be used as a stage of the implementation project. It allows the evaluation committee to save the presentations “ready to use” and to focus on the real understanding of the capabilities of the tool and of the publishing company. In the buying cycle, the POC stage allows the company to focus more on important matters, to create conditions for better adoption by the user community, to initiate change, implement good practices and lay the foundations for a successful deployment.
WHAT IS A PROOF OF CONCEPT?
A proof of concept is a test of a software application based on the construction of a prototype architected around documented business processes. This is the first step of the implementation process clarified that e business needs and expected in terms of configuration. The POC required to give access to the software in the customer’s environment to ensure proper operation according to promotion by the publisher. Deliverables include, in general, a scoping document that details the business processes and best practices, extensive testing on the software’s capabilities and publisher, as well as training plans and communication that facilitate the adoption of users, and finally architectural documents (mapping data, interfaces, conversions rules, etc.).
WHEN IS PROOF OF CONCEPT LAUNCH?
Because of the scope and complexity, the POC occurs rather late in the sales cycle and continues as the first step of the implementation project. The result is that an organization should not work at this stage with a single publisher, for a myriad of reasons: cost and significant efforts dedicated to the understanding of the capabilities of the software solution, the time spent collecting business requirements, human resources reallocation, travel expenses, efforts to generate process documentation, depth tests and the level of involvement of the editor …
Conversely, if the POC occurs earlier in the cycle, a company will achieve double the first stage of installation and software setup. This will result in final costs, the eff orts and use of resources will be magnified and that this will create a higher probability of non-selection. Place the proof of concept as the first step of the project is a good practice that implies to finalize the selection process with one vendor; needless to say it is in the interest of the company to prevent the second editor of the situation in the event that the selected editor fail in fully extend the POC. Finally, put the proof of concept in the first phase of the project allows to understand the business expectations on a methodological basis that will in the successful implementation.
PROOF OF CONCEPT CREATING
As indicated above, a proof of concept is a test of an application architected from documents detailing the business processes. Its schedule should be properly established and proportional to the overall project schedule. For example, an 8-month implementation project should not include a POC phase greater than 1.5 or 2 months. As this is the first stage of the implementation, the first task covers the drafting of a functional framework document which includes the Charter and the project level, the definition of training workshops, design workshops, work the data (conversion rules, interfaces, etc.), and finally a description of test scenarios. Deliverables will include a detailed project plan and RACI, training materials, functional and technical framework document, a development and production environment, a gap analysis, and scenario tests.
The project plan is usually provided by the publisher and conducted by the organization. Product training allows teams of the organization to become familiar with the software and setting course to train end users. The analysis of gaps is generally conducted at the end of the training sessions and may occasionally arise from an RFI (Request for Information) or RFP (Request for Proposal).
In most cases, the step of “testing” includes user acceptance phases and of the art; User acceptance is particularly important when assessing the features or process where the outcome should be binary (accepted or rejected). For example, the product can it analyze data on more than four analytical axes: that perhaps the answer “yes” or “no.” The acceptance testing (UAT) are also useful to obtain the support of key users, especially if they are influencers among their peers. The stress tests, meanwhile, must measure the technical capacity of response time and solution in terms of speed of the main treatments.
Finally, the POC will allow testing the publisher as a “partner”; for example, he has skills and experts to support change? Does it have the faculties to deploy best practices in the organization? A Does the experience to assist us in the development of workflows? Set as a proof of concept stage of implementation allows to solidify the business requirements on time to configure the software.
PROOF OF CONCEPT DRIVE A
The proof of concept is traditionally held between client walls. A dedicated space should be prepared for end users so they can meet and unwind the proof of concept in the best conditions. The group should consist of a mix of “inter and intra ‘departments: the’ inters’ are those areas likely to be aff ected by eliminating information silos or interfaces; the “intra-departments” are interested in the acceptance of end users.
The resources being their aff ected should be well respected within the community because their acceptance of the new system is largely correlated with the adoption of all end users. Depending on the nature of contractual obligations, the responsibilities of the organization will focus on the overall management of the project. This includes managing the perimeter of the POC, the time and cost. The organization in question must also be available to provide all the “inputs” necessary for the definition of framing, communicate with end users to promote the adoption and the right level of motivation to participate actively in the software configuration, and place test scenarios.
As for the software company, his responsibilities include the provision of the framework document, deployment best practices, configuration and setup of the software, correcting any anomalies, and coordination of the activities of “testing”.
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