Sure Step has three waterfall project types (Rapid, Standard,
and Enterprise), along with one Agile project type (Agile). These types
guide the implementers through solution development and rollout of a
single release, or to a single location of an organization. However,
these project types can also be used in concert with each other, on
phased solution rollouts or on multisite engagements, and this will be
the focus of our discussion in this section.
Phased solution rollouts
The notion of the phased approach to solution delivery.
This approach, not to be confused with the phases within a waterfall
project type, refers to the rollout of the solution to the customer
organization in multiple releases. The phased solution delivery approach
is executed in practice by selecting and enabling an initial subset of
solution functionality in the first release and then building on that
with the help of additional features in subsequent releases. The
alternative to a phased approach is delivering the full solution in a
single release, also referred to as the big-bang approach to solution
delivery, which we have already covered in the previous sections.
The Sure Step project
types can be used together to facilitate the phased solution rollout.
Essentially, each release is treated as a subproject, and the
corresponding complexity of the requirements being enabled in each
release will dictate the appropriate usage of the corresponding project
type. The general concept of the phased solution rollout is depicted
here:
Following this concept, the next diagram shows an example of its usage for an ERP solution implementation. In this diagram, Release 1 of the phased approach uses the Standard Project Type to enable the Finance Operations of the customer. This is followed by Release 2, using the Rapid Project Type, to deliver the Inventory Control and Order Fulfillment functionality. The last release, Release 3, uses the Agile Project Type to deploy Advance Planning and Scheduling functionality.
Multisite engagements
As you move into
the larger organizational domains, the ERP/CRM solution requirements
often transcend multiple locations for the customer. Multisite
engagements can include both multiple sites in a single country and
multiple locations around the world. The latter, of course, introduces
far more complexity with country-specific requirements such as taxation
and accounting rules. But in a majority of the cases, the customer's
overarching objective is to deploy a common solution across all the
sites.
To enable the development of a common solution across multiple locations, Sure Step provides the Core-Site Build Option
with its Enterprise project type. In this approach, the service
provider works with the customer to conduct Requirements Gathering
Workshops, involving key Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and Business
Leads from all the relevant locations of the organization. The output of
these workshops is a combined Functional Requirements Document (FRD) for the enterprise, which forms the basis for the "Core Build".
The Core Build can be viewed as a
"common denominator solution". In the classic 80-20 rule, the Core Build
will include functionality to support about 80% of the requirements of
the enterprise. However, the Core Build is just a developed solution,
meaning that it cannot be rolled out by itself. The Core Build is always
deployed in conjunction with a Site Build
that constitutes the functionality to meet the remaining 20% specific
requirements of the corresponding site. The actual rollout at a given
site can be staggered in time, or they can be rolled out with
overlap—the timing itself is very topical and depends on the specific
requirements being enabled for the enterprise.
The next diagram shows the Core-Site Build concept. The diagram shows one Core Build and subsequent Site Builds (Site 1 Build, Site 2 Build, Site n Build) and corresponding Site Rollouts (Site 1 Rollout, Site 2 Rollout, Site n Rollout).
In some cases, the customer
may also have diverse set of companies within their portfolio, each of
which has a very unique set of requirements, and so it is better to
treat each of the sites as its own project. For these multisite
instances, the Sure Step project types can be used in tandem, similar to
the approach undertaken in the phased approach. An example of this
scenario is shown in the next diagram. The diagram shows individual Site
Builds and corresponding Site Rollouts (Site 1 Build-Rollout, Site 2 Build-Rollout, Site n Build-Rollout).
