The eDocs engagement involved two main components. First, the manifestation of client legacy billing system data in a browser through eDocs’ proprietary legacy system data translation and display platform and second, the integration involved to plug all that into a web application server environment locally or virtually. The SOW and contract-close due-diligence involved presenting the edocs functionality in a series of branded mockups in the client’s brand which were created to confirm and display agreed upon functionality. However, the functionality was often extended both during sales and during the close phase by modifying the mock ups without doing additional due diligence for back-end implications as a dependent estimate component. Furthermore, it was difficult to transfer that information and track through to the final project team. Projects that were extremely competitive with market competition often went in the red even though there was tremendous flexibility to manage the margins at the start.
Before engagement SOW specs didn’t represent product:
Solution
We limited the branded mockup display of functionality to a couple of screens in a separate section of proposals. We then came up with a strict greyscale, near black and white, style guide that contained only the features we could do within each project budget. Additional features requests or changes were shown in color as outside the style guide and included features there-in, and managed and negotiated as additional custom work. Here was a style guide enabling successful, agreed-upon, scope definition and scope creep visually during the contract closing phase of a professional services engagement.
After engagement SOW are consistent and scalable:
Samples of interactive schematics:
Results
Of all the projects that adopted the process and style guide all were in the black in a context where better than fifty percent of projects finished in the red. Siebel bought edocs and was bought by Oracle for the platform and all of its clients.
Samples of launched projects:
