Frequently Asked Questions

Not only does being data-driven help dramatically reduce the analysis phase of IT projects.  Requirements are no longer based on personal opinions and "guess work".  Data-driven analysis uses actual evidence of what the operational needs are of the business areas and enables leaders to take specific actions based on what the data reveals.  Using data to improve processes will increase operational performance resulting in stronger customer relationships.

Services are charged in 3 milestone payments at the completion of each milestone.  

Milestone 1:  25% - Billed at completion of the last discovery session

Milestone 2:  25% - Billed at handover of the draft version of the deliverable to the client

Milestone 3:  50% - Billed at approval of the final version of the deliverable by the client

Data quality from a process perspective is the the degree to which data meets a business areas expectations of accuracy, validity, completeness, and consistency.  It also includes the methods used to ensure that it is fit to be used for a give process.  Unfortunately, the cause of the majority of process issues experienced by a business is caused by data quality issues.  

When our team looks at data, we see it as a collection of facts.  To an untrained eye, sometimes data may seem random and useless.  This is usually because it is unorganized and raw and is not displayed in a manner that provides context which makes it easier to understand.   

From a data quality perspective we have dealt with the good, the bad, and the ugly.  That is why supplementing the data-driven analysis with interactive discovery enable us to successfully move past the data quality issues and focus on where you want to be from a process perspective.

Interactive discovery is a strategic process performed during a series of meetings that enable subject-matter experts (SMEs) to share information about their processes in scope of the engagement in a structured forum.

Our Interactive discovery sessions are lead by a certified kaizen facilitator that is trained and experienced in process architecture and definition, conflict resolution, data and process modelling and requirements definition.  The facilitator will ask a series of questions to obtain important facts required to draft the processes and related requirements.  The artifacts are drafted in real-time during the sessions. One of the main objectives of the facilitator is to ensure that that the processes and information documented is independent of a specific technology choice that can bias the business processes as a result of technology limitations or misalignment.  As a result our clients can use the artifacts from our sessions to:

1. Assess a variety of technology platforms to determine those that best meets the needs of the business areas.
2. Determine root-cause of a process problems and identify options for corrective action.
3. Identify processes that are candidates for automation.

Our Business Process Analysis (BPA) service is any method used to analyze operational processes using a combination of data and interactive discovery with subject-matter exerts (SMEs).  It includes a detailed multi-step examination of each part of a process to identify what is needed for a business to support any conditions or circumstances that they must respond to in order to meet their operational goals and objectives and the examination of data required to initiate or complete a process with the goal of formalizing business processes.

A Few Benefits of BPA:

1. Reduces the amount of time spent in discovery with subject-matter experts (SMEs)
2. Reduces the amount of time that a project spends in the Analysis phase of application development project by removing the bias caused as a result of current technology limitations or misalignment between a technology and the business process that was intended to support.
3. Enhances communication and trust with project stakeholders by providing an avenue for open communication and collaboration
4. Enhances stakeholder confidence, by using actual evidence and not personal opinions, reducing the number of business requirement errors and omissions
5. Eliminates project and business silos by providing an avenue for openness, information sharing and understanding, by using interactive discovery.
6. Empowers project teams to realize their full potential by providing all of the information that they need to perform their function.

The type of information needed during the analysis is really dependent upon the scope of the engagement.  For example if the scope of the engagement was the presales processes - Lead to Quote, we would require samples of lead data, and quote data.  In order to identify the interdependencies between upstream and downstream processes. 

A “business process” is in its purest sense a flow of information between functional areas of a business.  The purpose of a business process is to ensure that the functional area can successfully meet their goals and objectives. A business process has three parts, they are: 

1. Business Event - A "business event" is the part of a process that defines the condition or circumstance that arises that the business must support and the target system must respond to in order for the business to operate using the target system. 
2. Business Object - A "business object" is the part of a process that defines what must be kept track of.  e.g. order, product, pricing, payments, interactions, etc.  
3. Business Rule - A "business rule" is the part of a process that represents the circumstances under which business objects relate to each other.  E.g. A customer can place many orders 

The cost of our services is based on the service requested and the size/scope of the  engagement.  During an initial consultation we will provide an overview of the processes, and then you will have an opportunity to identify the business events that you want in scope of your project.  We will then provide you an estimate with the cost associated based on the product requested and the events that you have identified as in scope of the initiative.

Depending on the size of your engagement, our clients usually receive their business requirements document within 10-20 business days from completion of the last scheduled interactive discovery.  

Our analysts usually work remotely, however they may situations that require them to be in attendance at a client site.  e.g. the delivery method selected for interactive discovery, SME review of the requirements or technical review of the requirements.  

Our analysts are currently located in various provinces within Canada.