CHAPTER 10: NEXT STEPS
You are finally there. The selection is made, the contract is signed and you are ready to start – so what now? For a system selection, you are only at the end of the beginning – you will still need to develop/configure and implement the application. For a service supplier, you may be ready to start.
This chapter covers:
Guidance on next steps
Package systems
The likely steps are:
Bespoke systems
This will be similar to the package system, except that the ‘configure the package’ bullet will be replaced by some kind of ‘design and development’. The actual process for this depends on the development approach used by the supplier.
In a more traditional approach (often called ‘waterfall’), they will design the application, then develop it, then pass it over to you for user acceptance testing. There will probably be an approval point after design to make sure you’re happy before the development starts.
A different approach commonly used these days involves you much more in the whole process (this is usually called ‘Agile’). Design and development will still take place, but in smaller ‘chunks’ which are likely to be a set duration (e.g. three weeks each). You will be much more involved throughout the development; you may be asked to look at prototypes, or do a test cycle each time a development chunk is completed. Even though you will have had more chance to see this application during development, you should still do full user acceptance testing on the whole system once it’s complete.
Service provider
For a service, the next step is likely to be them simply starting to provide it. There may need to be a handover period, if they are taking over from a previous supplier. You may also need to agree procedures around your use of the service.
Learning lessons
Take some time after the selection is complete to think about any lessons you’ve learned that could help you with the next selection. A team workshop can be useful to get everyone’s input.
The following questions should help to kick off a discussion:
Hopefully this book has been of help to you during your selection. With your own input from your lessons learned session, you will be in a great place to run your next selection with even more confidence.