BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION PROJECT DISCOVERY DESCRIPTION AND COSTS

SEREX BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION PROJECT DISCOVERY DESCRIPTION AND COSTS

Introduction

A McDonald’s is not a hamburger restaurant, in fact, one may argue that the hamburger is actually very ordinary. No; It is a highly refined business process that franchisees are willing to pay millions for.

A business is not a business if it has no processes or lists. Lists are not lists unless they are well segmented. List segmentation is a function of many business criteria amongst which include understanding the traits of the perfect clients, suppliers, and partners, the various Avatars.

Our goal in the discovery phase of the project is to identify as many processes as possible, or budgeted for, then identify the various characteristics of the many Avatars. The end result would be the mapping of the processes and identification of the segmentation parameters for the business.

But that is not enough. One of the most critical phases in any software deployment is this initial discovery of requirements. There are many business automation/productivity solutions available ranging from simple contact management, to marketing automation systems, to low code/no code solutions, to full blown customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to products that integrate many different components. The main purpose of this discovery is to identify which one or combination of solutions is optimized for your organizations’ automation and productivity needs !

This process will identify as many of the goals, definitions, timelines and details necessary to select, plan and implement a successful productivity solution. This document outlines some of the key steps that Serex will take in order to select and configure a proposed solution.

Information is gathered by interviewing all the key decision-makers, managers and some of the field personnel (individually and as a group), to gauge exactly what all their respective requirements are from the solution. During this phase, all required management reports will be identified and all profiling fields/tags will subsequently be defined. Once this information has been gathered Serex will map an automation plan and develop a project, implementation and training plan that will be agreed upon by all parties.

The following highlights some of the sections that our report will have with a brief description of each phase and component of the Discovery

Overview

This section will describe, in summary form, the specific goals and objectives of the CRM project. It will include clearly defined measurements of the projects’ milestones, schedules and timing (e.g., when the project begins, when it ends). Finally, the Overview will define the CRM Team — which departments or individuals are members of the team, who is the team leader, who is the mentor for the project, etc.

Discovery

The Discovery phase is the result of interviews and discussions with the individuals, groups and/or departments involved with implementing and using the solution. While it will first and foremost include requirements and information from the initial, primary users of the solution, it will also try to identify any future users and collect at least an overview of their requirements, as well. The Discovery will include the following information:

Organizational Requirements

Who will be using the solution – Sales, Customer Support, Marketing, Accounting, Admin & etc.
What are the relationships between users
How many users – local versus remote
Remote/Branch Offices
Security – Who gets / does not get, to see what data
Synchronization of Data (if applicable)
Diagram of the Data Flow – How information flows between and within various departments, groups and individuals.

Data Requirements

What and how much data will be tracked – initial & future requirements
A form will be filled out with all the detailed information
Multi-Lingual requirements

Integration

Is an Open Architecture required to interface to other products and/or access data from external systems
Are links needed for OA (office automation), WP, Accounting, Fax, Email, etc.
Non-Customer oriented data – Sales library for product info, bulletins, pricing, presentations and other company related information
Data migration & Importing
If Applicable a form will be filled out with all the detailed information

Functionality

Core Contact Management
Account & Key Account Management Requirements
Progressive Profiling
Opportunity & Target Account Management Requirements
Scheduling/Calendar/Time Tracking Requirements
Mail / E-mail Merge and Snail Letter Templates
Web Store / On Line Invoicing / On Line Orders/ Online Payments
Workflow & Automated Processes
Integration with Websites, Accounting Systems
Affiliate programs
Event Management
Knowledgebase

System Infrastructure

LAN
WiFi / Internet quality a speeds
Privacy law compliance and limitations
Remote offices
Client/Server VS File Server Architecture Vs Hosted

Customization

Initial and future requirements
Timing – When are what customizations required

Resources

In house – available by customer/end-users
Training – Who gives, Who gets
Support – Internal Help Desk? Outsourced ?

Analysis

Once the discovery phase is completed and all the necessary data is collected, an analysis is required. At this phase, a plan will be developed, based on the data gathered, that lays out the entire project – installation, consulting, customization, rollout, training, support, and more.

This section includes a summary of the information collected from the Discovery Phase and details the project rollout schedule & solutions required. This is an overview of the Discovery phase; we could not emphasize enough the importance of this phase. It helps us identify most of the potential problems and lays out in a systematic way the entire requirement, process automation and rollout of the project. By giving our professionals a snapshot of the requirement prior to the installation, we are also better able to determine which products will handle the requirement best, reducing substantially the probability (and agony) of implementing the wrong product. It also allows us to determine the computer literacy of the audience and plan any other type of required training (i.e. Word, Excel, Windows, etc.).

Costs

The Discovery is typically conducted in one (1) day at a cost of $1,500. Extra days (if applicable/necessary) are billed at $1500/day. The Analysis Report, if desired, is $750.

Prices are in CAD Dollars, do not include applicable taxes or travel expenses & surcharges. Travel expenses include all flights & hotel fees. The travel surcharge fee is $650/Day.

Government Grants
In many cases organizations are eligible for government grants. Serex has a partner specialized in that area that in some cases has found programs that reimbursed up to 75% of all training and software costs. Small service fees will be applied separately.

Payment Terms
One half of the cost & all travel expenses (if applicable) paid prior to the start of the Discovery, at which point questionnaires will be delivered. Outstanding balance paid immediately after the last session.