The parallel "Real Issues" series of articles will discuss the factors that give rise to the problems experienced and specific measures to prevent the problems.  The series commencing with this article will address the question of how to go about procuring systems and initiating the implementation of new systems in a way that takes account of the Real Issues principles.

This article is directed at informing executives and senior managers with regard to methods that are really important in order to be able to manage the procurement and implementation of new systems effectively.  These same methods have application in the procurement of general business improvement services as well, and some of them can be applied to contract renewal with regard to ongoing support contracts.

In this series of articles I will set out to explain a robust business systems procurement approach, which is directed at achieving robust and enforceable contracted outcomes for a truly fixed price.  This approach is based on the manner in which large construction projects are contracted, something that I term "the engineering approach".  Inherent in this approach is a requirement that the entire procurement, configuration, customization, testing and commissioning process is undertaken to standards that permit effective litigation by the client in the event of non-performance.

Fundamental to the engineering approach is the reality that engineering construction takes place within the framework of tried and tested procurement methods with tough, enforceable contracts.  There is also a clear understanding by all parties that litigation will follow negligence, non-compliance or default.  Because litigation is entirely practical in such situations litigation is virtually never required.

The approach to business systems procurement outlined in this article is directed at achieving this same level of robust contracting such that successful litigation is entirely possible and therefore not required.  This will be discussed in more detail in subsequent articles.

Fundamental to this engineering approach to business systems procurement is an emphasis on requiring the implementation contractor to accept responsibility as the expert in the implementation of their software.  This is done in such a way as to transfer all appropriate risk to the contractor while clearly delineating the responsibilities of the client organization.  This is achieved through a robust procurement process with clearly defined governance and results in a tough and robust contract, leading to an effective implementation (configure, customize, test, deploy, commission) which delivers the agreed realistic business outcome.

The approach comprises the following major components, which will be discussed in more detail in subsequent articles.  The discussion focuses on major projects but can be down-scaled to even the most basic business systems or even business services procurement:

For large projects which operate across operational divisions in the organization, the Executive Sponsor of the project must be the Chief Executive.  The Chief Executive is the custodian of the integrated view and function of the business and is therefore the only person with the perspective and authority to perform this role.

In order to ensure that the Chief Executive can perform this role effectively and with limited time commitment there are a number of other roles that are critical:

An expert in the field of business systems procurement and implementation, with the ability to serve as an advisor to the sponsoring executive and guide the project.  NO alliances or allegiance to any product or contractor organization.  This person must be able to operate at the executive level.

Analogous to the senior architect on a prestige building construction project.  This person must interpret the requirements of the business, express these with a far-reaching long term view of where the business is going and ensure that the new business solution is geared to this future" view.  This person should not have any line responsibility in the business.  They should monitor the "Factors Causing Failure" and "The Critical Factors for Success" that are discussed in the separate series of articles on "The Real Issues in Business Systems".

This will generally be an independent specialist advisor.  It is sometimes challenging to plan their time since they are largely dependent on the rest of the people working on the project for day to day workload.  It is therefore generally best on larger projects to appoint them on a full time basis for a fixed monthly fee for the duration of the project.

It is generally not practical for the CIO to play this role, they are too caught up in the day to day pressures of the business.

A member of the executive team who is responsible for ensuring that the right people in the business are consulted at the right time.  Also ensures that the right people are in the room for workshops, testing sessions, etc.  This person carries the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the business is fully consulted and engaged in all stages of the project.

Also an executive or at least a senior manager one level down from the executive suite.  Responsible for all the logistical and contractual arrangements with regard to the procurement, assisted by the procurement department as necessary.  Also responsible for all contractual matters during the implementation.

This can be the CIO.

Note that there is nobody on the client side who carries the title "Project Manager" or "Project Leader" -- there should be one Project Leader and they should be supplied by the successful contractor as part of the package of services.

The Request for Proposal document is the heart of the procurement process.  It should be a well proven document that contains all necessary clauses to manage both the procurement process and lay the foundation for the project.

It should set out the stages of the procurement process and the specific contractual requirements for the configuration, customization, testing, deployment and commissioning of the system.  The RFP should form the basis of the final contract.

Note that it is pre-requisite that the Client will define the contract with amendments to accommodate the contractor, using the contractor's preferred contract is not an option.

One of the objectives of the RFP is to scare off fly-by-night operators.  Another is to allow as many different bidders as possible in the first stage of the tender process in order to ensure that the best possible combination of software and Implementer is selected.

By way of example, the RFP document that I typically use runs to over 60 pages. This is available as a template to purchase together with templates and instructions for the full set of documents referred to in this article.  Email me for information .

A key objective of the RFP is to make it clear that the client is purchasing services from the successful bidder on the basis that they are experts in implementing their software and will be held fully accountable for the project outcome.

Refer the separate thread on "Strategic Essence: The Missing Link in Business Information Systems " for more information on this point.

The Business Requirement Specification should be drawn up by the Strategic Advisor to the CEO (Strategic Project Facilitator) in close consultation with the executive team and operational management.

This strategically focused requirements document focusses on documenting the essence of the business, the "right things done well" that have caused the organization to prosper.  This should be done within the context of clearly stating a twenty year view of what is required from the system in terms of business outcome.

Components of the requirement should be prioritized on a percentage weight basis over not more than about nine primary categories.

This is not a technology document, it is a strategic business outcome orientated document -- based on what is required from the investment in order for the organization to prosper.  This document is the heart and the art of the final outcome.

It must be worded in such a way that the onus for the outcome rests with the contractor (Implementer), subject to close cooperation by the business.

In this regard it is vital to understand that operational business personnel lack the long term perspective to define a long term solution.  They must be consulted but they must not dictate the solution.

4. Detailed Bill of Services

5. Precision Configuration

6. Business Simulation Laboratory

7. Formal "Go-Live" Certification

8. Prescribed Certificates

9. Client Compact

10. Executive Engagement

11. Facilitation of Change

12. Bid Compliance Checklist

13. Bid Adjudication Schedule

14. Prescribed Bid Table of Contents

15. Comprehensive Pack of Reference Documents

16. Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence

17. Three Stage Procurement Process

a. Stage 1: Narrowing the Field

b. Stage 2: Select Preferred Bidder

c. Stage 3: Detailed Discovery, Finalization of Project Plan and Contracting

d. Configuration, Customization, Testing and Commissioning

I have used this approach successfully to conduct fixed price fixed business outcome projects, and hope that you will find it of value.

If you are embarking on any form of business systems procurement, large or small, this approach can be adapted appropriately.  It also has application to procurement of other soft business improvement services.  Some of these principles can also be applied when entering into negotiations to renew contracts with existing suppliers.

I offer advisory services with regard to the application of these principles and would be delighted to discuss how I might be of assistance.

I also offer sets of electronic template documents for the above, one set suitable for small to medium size projects and another suited to larger projects, these are available for purchase, email me for details .

Yours faithfully

Dr James Robertson PrEng

In my previous article in this thread I outlined some key factors in developing a robust procurement model and contract for business information systems.  That article addressed Strategic Facilitation and Governance, the need for a robust and legally sound "Request for Proposal" document and the need to base the "Business Requirement Specification" on the strategic essence of the business. 

The recent report "BBC was 'complacent' over failed £100m IT project " highlights the importance of a robust procurement approach resulting in an enforceable contract.  Write-offs such as this are entirely preventable.

This article continues the discussion and looks at the importance of a detailed "Bill of Services", the importance of  "Precision Configuration", the role of the "Business Simulation Laboratory", the need for a formal contractually based "Go-live" Certificate, the use of legally sound Certificates generally and the importance of a "Client Compact" as the reciprocal contractual terms for a client to underpin a fixed price:

In the construction industry the "Bill of Quantities" is central to quoting for the work and to executing the work.  In the case of business systems related procurement the Bill of Quantities is replaced with a "Bill of Services", a detailed schedule of all the work that it is expected that the contractor will undertake in order to execute the project.

The blank schedule should be compiled by the Strategic Advisor in partnership with the Contract Manager and the Business Team Leader.  This is the client's best estimate of the work to be undertaken at a detailed level and may run to a hundred A3 pages or more in an Excel spreadsheet.

There are techniques that can be used to produce such a concept plan relatively quickly -- the role of a highly experienced solution architect, in the role of Strategic Advisor, is critical.

Bidders are free to ignore items in the schedule and to add as many of their own items as they choose, but are prevented from adding items back after the contract has been awarded.  The refinement by the contractor is done with the understanding that the resulting schedule will form the basis of the final project plan.  This schedule of services results in budget line items on a deliverable basis, structured in terms of "allowables" -- agreed budget items for which payment will be made.

All activities are required to be costed against a full range of personnel categories.

An "allowable" is a budget provision for a particular activity or item and is fixed unless it can be clearly shown that the nature of the client's business changed after award of the contract.  Interim payments are based on allowable items that have been completed and accepted -- tied in to clearly measurable deliverables.

Milestones for partial and complete release of retention are also tied to this plan.

The Bill of Services clearly defines the work to be performed and during the project highlights work to be performed that was not envisaged by either party at the time the contract was signed.

A key element of this procurement approach is the third stage of detailed discovery and contracting.

During this process the preferred bidder can "go anywhere they want in the business and talk to anyone they want to talk to in order to fully discover the business and the requirement" --  this takes place against a fixed fee budget in stage three of the procurement process.

Key Implementer personnel must be bound to the offer and the Bill of Services and only Implementer personnel who will actively be involved in the project should be introduced to the client.

The two enduring elements of a Business Information Systems project are the configuration (including validation data) and the knowledge and experience of the people who use the system.  Of these, the most enduring is the configuration.

It is commonplace for the configuration of systems to be left to mid-level operational personnel from both the client and the Implementer.  In other words, to people who do not have a strategic long term view of where the business is going and who lack information cataloguing and organization skills.

The configuration is, in fact, the most important element of any business information systems project.  This should be driven from the executive suite, facilitated by the Strategic Facilitator in close consultation with executive management, in conjunction with highly experienced information management specialists from the Implementer.

I have coined the term "Precision Configuration" to describe this component of a project.   It entails highly organized information, strategically determined taking account of the essence of the business to high standards of precision that accurately measure the real world.

My series of articles on "Strategically Enriching your Business Systems" discusses this in more detail, there is also information relating to this on my website under the "Configure " tab

A further element of the Request for Proposal is that it prescribes testing of the entire configuration in a Business Simulation Laboratory.  The Laboratory is a test environment where the configuration and customization is tested to destruction by the most experienced members of the client's staff.  This goes WAY beyond the concept of "User Acceptance Testing".

The senior staff who drive the Laboratory must set out with a full selection of representative data to introduce the most obscure situations into the operation of the software.  This should be done with the express intention of causing the system and configuration to fail.

Once this has been carried out exhaustively and all weaknesses identified and resolved, such that they are no longer able to cause failure, the resulting small data sample is used to test reports and business intelligence models, to ensure that they are working correctly and reliably.  Workflow automation is prescribed from the executive suite, developed and tested, also to destruction.  Once all these elements are in place and working reliably, operational standards and policies are finalized and training material is developed, preferably including high quality computer based training material.

Only then are all staff trained up in the laboratory, until they reach a level of comfort that they can run the system effectively and efficiently.

Once this point has been reached a final review takes place by the executive management of both the client and the Implementer and, subject to a clean bill of health, the final "Go-live" Certificate is issued.  There are contractual penalties associated with premature issue of a "Go-Live Certificate".

Building on the Business Simulation Laboratory the "Go-Live Certificate" is the final output of the configuration, customization and testing stage of the project.  As mentioned above this is issued at the executive level once the Business Team and the Implementer Team have signed the Certificate.

The certificate contains a clear warranty that those signing have fully satisfied themselves as to the robustness of the configuration.  The tough wording and the presence of a lawyer on the project team are both vital elements of ensuring that all parties to the project think very carefully before they put their signature on the Certificate.

This is the final safeguard against a failed or sub-optimal implementation and is the final step before commencing to deploy and commission the system.

Note that in the case of a badly run project, attempts to issue this certificate will give rise to substantial and valid delays until the quality of the work reaches a level where commissioning can take place with certainty that there will be NO damage to the business.  Penalties for premature acceptance should be built into the contract.  This approach would have ensured that BMW and Bridgestone did NOT experience the dramatic losses that were encountered on their projects.

The procurement pack should also include a set of prescribed certificates to be used for all aspects of the project.  This pack of certificates should be designed such that NO element of significance is accepted and NO interim payments are made without the issue of a formal certificate.  These certificates should be signed by the Business and Implementer team leaders and team members as applicable.  Exact wording of these certificates is to be agreed during stage 3 of the procurement with legal input and their issue is to be built into the project plan and is the joint responsibility of the Client Contract Manager and the Implementer Project Leader.

Inherent in the approach outlined above is a very tough and robust contract that will hold the successful bidder to very onerous performance terms.

Since the system is to be implemented in the client organization, based on information supplied by client personnel, the performance of the client must, of necessity, also be subject to tough conditions.  This is handled in the RFP by a "Client Compact" in which the client undertakes to ensure that the right personnel are "in the room" for all workshops and that the required review and input takes place on time, in accordance with the project plan.

Here too there are penalties such that the Implementer can claim standing time for workshops that are cancelled at the last minute because key client personnel are not available.  Disciplinary action may also be taken with regard to client personnel who fail to apply themselves during workshops or in reviewing specifications, etc.  Further, once a certificate has been issued any changes to specifications take the form of formal "Variation Orders" for which the client will pay.  Of necessity, these terms require due performance by the Implementer.

10. Executive Engagement

11. Facilitation of Change

12. Bid Compliance Checklist

13. Bid Adjudication Schedule

14. Prescribed Bid Table of Contents

15. Comprehensive Pack of Reference Documents

16. Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence

17. Three Stage Procurement Process

a. Stage 1: Narrowing the Field

b. Stage 2: Select Preferred Bidder

c. Stage 3: Detailed Discovery, Finalization of Project Plan and Contracting

d. Configuration, Customization, Testing and Commissioning

I have used this approach successfully to conduct fixed price fixed business outcome projects, and hope that you will find it of value.

If you are embarking on any form of business systems procurement, large or small, this approach can be adapted appropriately.  It also has application to procurement of other soft business improvement services.  Some of these principles can also be applied when entering into negotiations to renew contracts with existing suppliers.

I offer advisory services with regard to the application of these principles and would be delighted to discuss how I might be of assistance.

I also offer sets of electronic template documents for the above, one set suitable for small to medium size projects and another suited to larger projects, these are available for purchase, email me for details .

Please forward this to anyone you think may find it of interest.

Yours faithfully,

Dr James Robertson PrEng

James A Robertson and Associates Limited
Assisting clients to thrive through effective and efficient application of Business Information Systems

Seeking to serve the Almighty Creator in all things

Mobile: +44 (0) 776-862-2875
Landline: +44 (0) 207-059-0007

A discussion of how strategic essence should inform all business improvement projects and particularly business information system projects.  This thread is intended to discuss the analysis of strategy, the planning of strategy and feeding strategy through into business system specifications and the management of projects.  Articles to date include:

Summary
1: Strategy Defined
2: Differentiation
3: The Essence IS Different
Determining Strategic Essence

A discussion as to why business information system (and other business improvement projects) fail to deliver on expectations or fail outright, together with discussion of the critical factors that must be taken into account in order to achieve successful outcomes.  This thread is intended to progressively discuss more hands-on specifics of achieving high value outcomes and builds on the Strategic Essence series.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: The Real Issues -- Mythology and Lack of Executive Custody

Discussion of practical specific measures that can be taken in order to greatly improve the information yield of business information systems at both the operational and executive strategic level.  A number of simple steps that can be taken immediately and more complex measures that can be taken over time.  This thread is intended to discuss increasing business system and data warehouse value yield using techniques that lead to significantly improved business intelligence capability, including support for the ability to obtain "answers to questions we had not previously thought to ask ".  This builds on the content in the Strategic Essence and Real Issues threads.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Principles of Data Engineering

In order to fully apply the methods and principles discussed in the threads above with regard to new systems it is vital that a robust and effective approach to procurement is applied.  This requires a tough procurement approach directed at achieving a tough business outcomes orientated project that ensures a high value outcome.  This thread is intended to discuss the components of such a procurement approach, including the individual documents and process that make up the approach.  Thereafter the components will be discussed in more detail.  Articles to date include:

Introduction Part 1

Greetings

In my first article in this thread I outlined some key factors in developing a robust procurement model and contract for business information systems. This addressed strategic facilitation and governance, the need for a robust and legally sound "Request for Proposal" document and the need to base the "Business Requirement Specification" on the strategic essence of the business. 

The second article looked at the importance of a detailed "Bill of Services", the importance of "Precision Configuration, the role of the "Business Simulation Laboratory", the need for a formal contractually based "Go-live" Certificate, the use of legally sound Certificates generally and the importance of a "Client Compact" as the reciprocal contractual terms for a client to underpin a fixed price.

This article builds further on these foundations by discussing "Executive Engagement", the "Facilitation of Change", the "Bid Compliance Checklist", the "Adjudication Checklist", the importance of a Prescribed "Bid Table of Contents", the key role of a comprehensive "Reference Pack" and the importance of a Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence as critical components of a total solution.

The recent report "BBC was 'complacent' over failed £100m IT project" highlights the importance of a robust procurement approach resulting in an enforceable contract.  Write-offs such as that suffered by the BBC are entirely preventable.  Recent experiences of BMW and Bridgestone are also relevant in considering what follows:

A vital component of the Client Compact is executive engagement, ensuring that Client Executives engage with the process and provide critical input and decisions timeously in a focused manner.   This has been discussed in more detail in the article on Executive Custody in the "Real Issues " thread.

Concomitant with this is a requirement for the Implementer to mobilize staff who can operate at the Executive level effectively, such that Client Executive time is limited to what is really required.  This necessitates a high standard of professionalism on the part of the Implementer.  Inherent in this approach is the role of Strategic Facilitator -- a senior advisor who is able to represent the Client Executives in terms of business and project insight to a significant degree.  The Strategic Facilitator is thus critical.

So-called "Change Management" is a key element of any large business systems project.  The common wording is inaccurate and unhelpful, I prefer "Facilitation of Change".  This is a role that the corporate Human Resources function should be actively involved in.

Much traditional "Change Management" involves using training and other measures as a blunt instrument to bludgeon staff into accepting badly designed and badly configured solutions that push large amounts of work out of the system and onto the users.  A well configured and well tested system, configured in close partnership with the business, will be easy to teach and easy to operate, thereby significantly reducing the Change Facilitation component.

That said, there remains a need for smoothing the path of change, particularly for staff members who have their jobs radically redefined or eliminated.  Appropriate expertise should be a core element of the requirement and the project.

The use of interactive computer based learning applications that test personnel so that they are only released to use components of the system once proven competent is strongly recommended.

Returning to the Tender documents, another key document is the "Bid Compliance Checklist", a list of all the documents that bidders are required to submit as part of their offer.

This checklist was originally created as an internal client bid evaluation team document, but I have found that it is helpful to provide the checklist to the bidders and have them initial every item to indicate whether they have provided the item or not.

The Bid Adjudication Schedule is developed by the Executive Team, facilitated by the Strategic Facilitator and comprises a hierarchical classification of the Key Criteria to be used in adjudicating the bid.

I generally work with between 7 and 9 primary criteria, each of which is broken down into between 5 and 9 secondary criteria.  Each primary category is weighted out of 100% to indicate relative importance and the child criteria are similarly weighted.  The primary weight is then applied to the secondary weight in order to give the overall weighing of each of the roughly 49 points.  These are the most important factors to be used in evaluating each bid.

The schedule is included in the Tender documents as a "Draft for Information" so that bidders are informed as to the most important elements that their offer must address.  This ensures that bids are more readily compared and that bidders focus on what is really important to the client in the summary of their bid, both in the bid documents and bid presentation.

The schedule is issued as a draft on the basis that, during the evaluation process, the adjudication team may revise the criteria as they gain insight into the offers.  This allows the business to revise the criteria or the weights.  Remember, the goal is the BEST solution for the organization NOT some school room arbitrary rigor that gets in the way of the optimum solution.

The structured and weighted list ensures that the most important items receive most focus, this works far more reliably as a decision support tool than a simple list of about 49 points without hierarchy.  This is FAR better than the lists of hundreds of detail points that I have seen applied on numerous occasions on sub-optimal projects.  Frequently badly structured lists result in bad buying decisions.

Well thought out lists, as with all the points regarding structure of information raised in associated articles, facilitate quality decisions -- the issue is the THINKING that goes into the structured list in terms of what is REALLY important from a decision making perspective.

A detailed "Bid Pack Table of Contents" should be provided which prescribes the Table of Contents that bidders must use for their offer.  This ensures that competing bids can be easily laid out next to each other and compared on a section by section basis.

This also allows adjudicators to more readily engage with and internalize competing offers, resulting in a more effective and efficient adjudication process and a more defendable and better quality recommendation.

This also makes it very easy to assess the extent to which bidders are willing to align themselves with client requirements during the bid process.  A bidder who cannot be bothered to align with client requirements at the bid stage is unlikely to align later on.

In order to make the required scale of the project visible the Tender pack must include a comprehensive set of reference documents as a minimum requirement.  This should include samples of all reports, spreadsheets, outputs of custom software that is to be replaced, etc.  The goal is to define the current state as comprehensively as possible.

In the first stage of the procurement these documents can be redacted (sensitive detail removed or blacked out) but in the final stage of the procurement the actual documents and spreadsheets should be furnished in order to ensure that the preferred bidder is able to estimate effectively.  This obviously goes hand in hand with a robust Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement.

It is important to note that this pack is a reference to the current state of affairs and NOT a specification for the future.  The future requirement must be developed in detail during the discovery stage once the software and implementer have been selected and there is full knowledge of what is standard in the new solution.  Budget provision must also be made for further definition of new reports and Business Intelligence models during the Laboratory stage.

As a general principle any new system should be accompanied by a Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence component for analysis and reporting purposes, particularly across multiple systems.  Provision should be made for this in the RFP or it should be explicitly excluded.

Note that, provided the principles outlined in the parallel thread on "Strategically Enriching your Business Information Systems" are applied and the comments in the "Real Issues " thread relating to data engineering and precision configuration are taken into account, a wealth of high value information will be unlocked in the data warehouse.

17. Three Stage Procurement Process

a. Stage 1: Narrowing the Field

b. Stage 2: Select Preferred Bidder

c. Stage 3: Detailed Discovery, Finalization of Project Plan and Contracting

d. Configuration, Customization, Testing and Commissioning

I have used this approach successfully to conduct fixed price fixed business outcome projects, and hope that you will find it of value.

If you are embarking on any form of business systems procurement, large or small, this approach can be adapted appropriately.  It also has application to procurement of other soft business improvement services.  Some of these principles can also be applied when entering into negotiations to renew contracts with existing suppliers.

I offer advisory services with regard to the application of these principles and would be delighted to discuss how I might be of assistance. 

I also offer sets of electronic template documents for the above, one set suitable for small to medium size projects and another suited to larger projects -- these are available for purchase, email me for details.

Please forward this to anyone you think may find it of interest.

Yours faithfully,

Dr James Robertson PrEng

James A Robertson and Associates Limited
Assisting clients to thrive through effective and efficient application of Business Information Systems

Seeking to serve the Almighty Creator in all things

Mobile: +44 (0) 776-862-2875
Landline: +44 (0) 207-059-0007

A discussion of how strategic essence should inform ALL business improvement projects and particularly business information system projects.  This thread discusses the analysis of strategy, the planning of strategy and feeding strategy through into business system specifications and the management of business improvement projects.  Articles to date include:

Summary
1: Strategy Defined
2: Differentiation
3: The Essence IS Different
4: Essence is the Point of Departure
Determining Strategic Essence

A discussion as to why business information system (and other business improvement projects) fail to deliver on expectations or fail outright.  Coupled to discussion of the critical factors that must be taken into account in order to achieve successful outcomes.  This thread is progressively discussing more hands-on specifics of achieving high value outcomes and builds on the Strategic Essence series.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Mythology and Lack of Executive Custody
3: Lack of Strategic Alignment and Lack of Precision Configuration

Discussion of practical specific measures that can be taken in order to greatly improve the information yield of business information systems at both the operational and executive strategic level.  A number of simple steps that can be taken immediately and more complex measures that can be taken over time. 

This thread is discussing increasing business system and data warehouse value yield using techniques that lead to significantly improved business intelligence capability, including support for the ability to "obtain answers to questions we had not previously thought to ask.  This builds on the content in the Strategic Essence and Real Issues threads.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Principles of Data Engineering
3: Steps in Applying these Recommendations

In order to fully apply the methods and principles discussed in the threads above with regard to new systems it is vital that a robust and effective approach to procurement is applied.  This requires a tough procurement approach directed at achieving a tough business outcomes orientated project that ensures a high value outcome.

This thread discusses the components of such a procurement approach.  The individual documents and processes that make up the approach are outlined.  Thereafter the components will be discussed in more detail.  Articles to date include:

1: Introduction
2: Bill of Services, Laboratory, Go-live Certificate, etc

To inquire about purchasing any of the above services simply click on the link below each item, enter your details in the resulting email and send it to me.  If for some reason the email does not open please just hit reply to this email and enter your contact details.  I will revert to you in the manner you request to answer your questions and make arrangements.

Should you require further information please email me and I will be delighted to connect by email, phone or Skype to answer all your questions.

I look forward to being of service to you.

Yours faithfully,

James Robertson