How We Work
We handle two basic types of projects: small and large. (Big surprise, yes?)
Small projects are things like “We’ve got a great system that we love, but we need this one small change.” Our process: Make the change.
Large projects require a bit more thought. To ensure the best possible outcome, we generally use a four-stage process. The amount of work depends on the scope of the project, but the steps are the same.
- Discovery is pretty much what it sounds like. It mostly involves us learning about your business by asking questions and actually listening to the answers. First, we analyze your workflow, paying particular attention to any bottlenecks, and document strengths and weaknesses. We look at your current and future data management needs and create a strategy to facilitate an effective solution.
- Design is where we distill the results of the Discovery process and use them to create a plan. Taking into account your goals, budget and existing systems, we work with you to decide on a business destination and to create a map for getting there. We introduce methods and technologies to streamline data flow. We outline what kind of information needs to be stored in your system, and how it will be organized. We specify what kind of reports and printouts you need. Finally, we devise simple, clean interfaces and workflow steps to increase user comprehension and efficiency.
- During Development, we start by building prototypes that effectively communicate the proposed solution. Once approved, we really go to work: We break the proposed solution into sections, allowing us to build task-centered modules that are easily updated. Then, we integrate all the modules into a seamless, cohesive system. During Development, we arrange periodic checkpoint meetings to get your feedback, and make any adjustments needed. Once the system is built, we do functional and user acceptance testing, to make sure everything’s right prior to installation.
- Deployment is where it all comes together. Once your system is built, we install and tune it for use in your environment. Because you’re not working in a vacuum, you’ve probably got “legacy” data that needs to be moved into the new system; we’ll help you with that. We make sure your staff is properly trained in how to use and maintain the new system, and back up the training with good documentation. When that’s all done, we do a final round of testing and hand you the keys to your beautiful new car, er system.