Implementation Peanut Butter Cups: The velocity pack/methodology synergy
If you’ve been paying attention here on Reltio Community, you know about velocity packs and their value in reducing configuration and implementation time. You’ve also probably heard about the Reltio MVP, The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology, and how it helps Customers plan and phase implementations into short iterations. The short iterations of deploying allow Customers to limit scope in one particular phase and realize value early and often. So what is this methodology and why do Customers need both the velocity packs AND the methodology to reduce time to value of an MDM implementation? As a member of the Reltio Professional Services team, I'd like to highlight the advantages of using these two tools together.
Let's break down both components:
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The Reltio velocity packs are a supercharged, pre-configured product to reduce development time. |
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The simplest definition of a methodology, according to https://www.merriam-webster.com, is, “a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline : a particular procedure or set of procedures.” The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology is a set of procedures to implement the Reltio solution in the most efficient and lowest-risk way possible. |
With those two concepts in mind, imagine a master data management implementation in which you have:
A product with pre-configured data models and rules, that enables Customers to complete the implementation tasks detailed in the methodology, faster than starting from scratch - Reltio velocity packs
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A documented set of procedures, telling Customers every step necessary to implement this software in the most efficient and proven way possible - The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology. These steps also provide a roadmap of how to implement in phases, and demonstrate iterative achievements that build on top of each other and continue to increase the value Customers receive from their investment.
By starting with a pre-built product and utilizing a streamlined delivery methodology, Reltio can provide customers with the quickest time to value possible.
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These two components are matching puzzle pieces to success. But what happens when only one or the other exists?
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Without a proven methodology to follow during implementation, Customers can cut down development time using a velocity pack, but there is no procedure, or a guidebook, if you will, to help Customers navigate the risks and issues of a typical implementation. Velocity packs may help complete development in record time, but there is more to an implementation than development alone. Without an established methodology, it is challenging to plan and execute an implementation. Crucial tasks, such as risk mitigation and stakeholder management are often overlooked. Without a well-defined process, the implementation may be rushed and critical steps may be missed, leading to costly mistakes in the long run. Most importantly, a methodology helps Customers manage scope and know when to stop configuration for the current phase to show fast value.
On the flip side, without the velocity pack, Customers are armed with assets such as a robust set of user stories, a project plan, and an extensive library of templates and processes to manage an implementation… but, they would be starting development or configuration from scratch, adding many sprints to the project timeline for both configuration and testing. Those sprints add up to a lot of money fast when you are already paying for a subscription.
Halloween is just around the corner, so let's entertain an analogy that involves a favorite candy and a chocolate and peanut butter classic…
Imagine The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology as a milk chocolate bar. It's sweet. It's sleek. It tastes really good, but on its own, with no peanut butter to go with it, it's a bar of chocolate just waiting for something of substance to come settle in the middle of it to make it tasty and get people to pick it up.
That makes the velocity packs the peanut butter. Peanut butter is a good solid center and starting point to wrap the chocolate around. Peanut butter is a pre-made ingredient, so it doesn’t take much effort to throw it in there and instantly have the makings of a tasty candy. But if you sit with peanut butter by itself for very long, you will start to mess with too much. It gets sticky and slows you down. You need something (like chocolate) to come along and tell you, “Hey, this is exactly the way it should be. Stop messing with the peanut butter for right now and this chocolate will give you the structure you need to realize, you’ve got something valuable here. You can add to this candy later - add some white chocolate or cut this into a Christmas tree shape to impress people even more.”
Now that you’re craving some sugar, let's bring this back to the software and the MDM world to summarize. Velocity packs are an invaluable tool to speed up implementations and Customers’ time to value. We have seen the number of development sprints reduce from 6 or 7 to 3 when velocity packs are used on implementations. However, without the structure of a methodology to remind Customers, “this is a pre-configured solution and starting point and you don’t have to complete much development right now to demonstrate initial value early,” Customers have the unfortunate potential to try to do too much in a phase 1 implementation. This delays time to value. The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology shows Customers those guidelines and a roadmap of how to phase out their MDM journey into iterative achievements to show value to their organization early and often. Imagine leveraging the power of both velocity packs and a proven delivery methodology to crack the code of how to deliver a working MDM solution, including integration with a downstream application and benchmarked deduplication rates… in 90 days. What level of heroism would that implementation team be acknowledged for?
We will have some more blogs coming soon on implementations and the methodology, so in the comments share some of your implementation experiences and what you would like to hear more about when it comes to velocity packs, The Reltio Way Delivery Methodology, and keys to successful implementations.
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