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Discovery > Analysis > Recommendations > Implementation > Monitoring > Optimization
OT’s six step Methodology is derived from decades of industry experience. These steps are applicable during the course of the project life cycle. Slight variations could exist in the steps based on the nature of the project but in essence the goals of the steps stay the same.
Step 1: Discovery
Our first step is to understand the business drivers for the project as well as identify the key stake holders, their vision, goals and success criteria for the project. Here, we capture the existing assets that can be reused. We also establish an understanding of the project management principles, corporate policies, reporting requirements and service level agreements. The main goals of this phase are to ensure alignment of the solution with the customer’s internal goals and to establish a good understanding of existing assets to maximize reuse.
Step 2: Analysis
Analysis phase ensures that the facts gathered in the Discover Phase, various Solutions choices under consideration, budgetary and time line constraints are studied together. The goal of this phase is to identify the key criteria driving the solution choices and delivery road map. This analysis feeds right into the recommendation phase.
Step 3: Recommendation
The Recommendation Phase builds on the previous two phases. Recommendations are shared in priority order with pros and cons for customer review. This ensures that any missing pieces are identified and optimal solution is taken to the next phase. Recommendations are based on thorough analysis of the information gathered. Industry trends, availability of technology, buy versus build balance, budgets and time line are other important inputs that are considered in coming up with recommendations. Recommendations are also based on delivering value in a periodic fashion.
Step 4: Implementation
This phase is the build phase where deliverables are designed, created, integrated, tested and deployed. This phase has periodic interactions to share the progress and to seek any clarifications. Success lies in having a strong partnership spirit between the teams. Constant and open communication is key for this step.
Step 5: Monitor
The Monitor Phase starts post deployment. Its purpose is to observe the system resources and troubleshoot any anomalies during the initial deployment of the solution. Any and all corrections are applied during this phase to ease the massive rollout. Monitor phase can be extended after the full rollout for different purposes such as establishing trends and bench marks. Monitor phase lays the foundation of for solution performance and can be used as a guide for next phase called Optimization.
Step 6: Optimization
Our last step — optimization — helps in improving the system performance by fine tuning various parameters that influence the resources and usage. It is a phase which requires deep and thorough knowledge of the complete solution and its individual functional blocks. This phase goes hand in hand with Monitor phase to ensure the changes are having positive impact.
A project typically goes through these phase over and over again. Though each project is different, the end goal of each phase stays constant. This simple and effective methodology when used in practice has yielded many successful projects. We believe it is the right level of formalism while keeping simplicity in mind.
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