What is a pre-implementation analysis?

Appropriate preparation is essential before making any kind of changes. It is for this purpose that the pre-implementation analysis was created. It is a document that contains all information regarding the implementation of a new system in an organization. This can be, for example, the integration of the ERP system in e-commerce activities. This document accumulates the temporal characteristics of the company, plans and assumptions for the future. It is an azimuth for further development for employees and a signpost on the way to the new system.

What should the pre-implementation analysis look like?

The analysis may have different volumes – from a dozen or so pages to something that may resemble a volume of a general encyclopedia. Regardless of the number of pages in the document, however, the point is to adequately describe the realities of the system implementation, so that it makes sense for a specific example. The analysis may be performed by a specialized company, an employee familiar with the current platform or even a client commissioning the integration.

The analysis should be written on a topic closely related to a given example and in a way that is accessible to people who will use it. There is no reason to delve into technical details and details that employees either won’t understand or need.

What is needed to create a pre-implementation analysis?

The pre-implementation analysis is to determine the type of work and tools that will be used, as well as the goals of the project and its assumptions. It must be a comprehensive description that will predict the course of the project and outline its scope. By this we mean the concrete approach to the point where the project is considered a success.

Communication

The pre-implementation analysis is to determine the access level of individual people involved in the project. During the subsequent stages of work development, the scope of access will change due to staffing needs. After the information on this topic has been determined, the level of communication between employees will improve.

Such a document will facilitate cooperation not only between specialists within the company, but also with subcontractors. In the event that integration is carried out on a foreign or little-known system, it will not be possible without external help. In such an analysis, you also need to take into account the previous suppliers of the e-commerce platform.

The document should indicate the persons, the decisions and the overall hierarchy. Project Manager and other decision makers should be selected first. Include contact details and the method and tools with which they will communicate. A predetermined selection of applications, one for all project members, leads to a transparent workflow and eliminates confusion and misunderstandings.

Goals and Final

Not only in the case of e-commerce, it is important for the project to define its framework. The course is important, but also the goal we intend to achieve. Why is an e-commerce platform being introduced at all and what will we achieve with it?

Based on certain ideas about the target that the system is to meet, the requirements and assumptions of the platform are gathered. However, based on the action itself, there are a few key elements you can miss along the way. Working on the application may reveal problems previously unforeseen by the client. Reflecting on your implementation goal can help you anticipate these problems.

After we explain to those involved how something should work, we get a system that performs exactly these operations. However, if we bring closer what its goal is, we will stimulate their imagination, which will make it possible for them to use their extensive professional experience to independently assess what will be best for a given system. The functionalities they choose will have a greater chance of correct operation, and the system’s path to full, reliable functionality will be shorter. Remember that professionals know best how to do a task, and customer guidelines should only be signposts, not hard points to meet.

Users

Planning the platform’s work will not work without specifying its end user, i.e. the user himself. It can be the target consumer, i.e. the recipient of the transaction as B2C, a business customer, i.e. B2B, and platform administrators. They deal with customer service, sales department, warehouse and marketing.

Appropriate preparation is essential before making any kind of changes. It is for this purpose that the pre-implementation analysis was created. It is a document that contains all information regarding the implementation of a new system in an organization. This can be, for example, the integration of the ERP system in e-commerce activities. This document accumulates the temporal characteristics of the company, plans and assumptions for the future. It is an azimuth for further development for employees and a signpost on the way to the new system.

The degree of detail

Naturally, the pre-implementation analysis will start with general areas. Describe the project objectives, industry characteristics, users and organization. Next, however, it is necessary to move on to the detailed elements. The degree of meticulousness will depend on the popularity of the function and the complexity of the element. You can include a detailed description of the tools or even code fragments. However, if the implementation is quite simple and belongs to a certain industry trend, it is possible to prepare an analysis on the basis of a second, written in a different situation for another company.

The process of writing a pre-implementation analysis

At the very beginning, you need to define the goal of the project and the business processes that the e-commerce platform is to handle. This stage is attended by management and project financiers. You can also specify here who and what will be involved in the further decision-making process on the pre-implementation analysis itself.

As for the information needed for analysis, collecting it depends on the size of the company. Sometimes their source will be the project manager who acts as a communication channel and the president, and other times a separate employee will be appointed at each stage.

The collected data is transferred to analysts and programmers, graphic designers and testers. This is when ideas for solving each of the issues, the technical direction of the project, as well as the schedule and budget arise. Finally, the client accepts the pre-implementation analysis, introducing any changes beforehand.

Costs and Profits

The expense that the company has to pay in connection with the creation of the pre-implementation analysis depends on many factors. From the size of the organization, the level of project repeatability, the number of people involved, and the requirements for the final product. The smallest companies will pay around PLN 3,000, and the analysis will be prepared within a week. Large corporations, for which the analysis will actually be more complicated, can wait up to a month and prepare for the cost of over PLN 10,000.

Advantages of pre-implementation analysis

So is it worth creating such an analysis? If that means drastically reducing the risk of a project worth ten times more, it doesn’t take long. Pre-implementation analysis is in this case a policy of success. It will also work as a training course on e-commerce issues for the commissioning company. In cooperation, both parties will learn from each other the characteristics of the transformation to the Internet or creating a modern platform under specific conditions, and this knowledge can save expenses in the future. It should also be remembered that creating an analysis serves a good perspective for the project, which means that it is easier to decide to reduce costs already at the planning stage. And finally, having a ready document with a full and detailed outline of the project, it will be easier for an IT company to create an offer for such implementation, without misunderstandings, rounding costs and large differences in valuations between different contractors.

Pre-implementation analysis may seem to be a minor issue in the perspective of the e-commerce platform implementation operation itself. However, it may decide the success or failure of such a transformation. As a failure, we also include transformation, which turns out to be functional but unprofitable in the process. A good plan, based on experience in implementations and the characteristics of the e-commerce industry, is an element that will make the integration not only successful, but also create a platform that generates even more profits. All thanks to appropriate optimization and a good strategy that will be created in cooperation with the client and his knowledge of the industry. The analysis is a great idea not only for small and beginner companies, but also for large organizations known on the market, because it allows you to look at the business from a new perspective.