Prototype & Proof-of-Concept systems are big contributors to faster embedding and adoption of major IT investments

How our approach works

Demonstrates art-of-the-possible in the early stages

Our approach typically starts at the very earliest stage of a major customer system implementation project, often before a technical solution or implementation partners are chosen. At this stage our role is often about physically demonstrating the ‘art-of-the-possible’ in terms of database design practices and the functionality being sought.

Enables users to see what is going to be delivered

At the later stages of requirements capture and definition our approach provides mock-ups of some or all of the capabilities being defined. This is normally done in MS PowerPoint® or in a Web Environment and is invaluable to users, who can see that their requirements are being accurately interpreted.

Supports a ‘test and learn’ approach to key decisions

Where there are still choices to be made in the way that the system should be structured or in the nature of functionality being requested, we can provide a Test and Learn environment. This enables multiple options to be set-up and demonstrated to support more informed decision-making.

Enables new processes to be adopted sooner

When the requirements are communicated to the developers or configuration partners we can provide working system modules to support early training and adoption of new processes and ways of working. This can effectively de-couple process changes from system changes and make for much smoother adoption of the final solution.

Supports more accurate data-build and migration

We also provide data build environments so that existing data or that from new processes can be built and validated in a data repository that is not affected by day-to-day operations. This supports a less rushed data upload process and can even go as far as enabling a single source for data migration rather than having to load data from multiple sources at the last moment.

Provides a robust, on-going solution if needed

On occasions our ‘prototype’ systems have even been used in a more operational role where delays have occurred in the main development project or even where budgets have resulted in cancellation of major development. In some cases, the Prototype has been in place longer than the planned life expectancy of the full solution.