Phased Approach - LPA Compass™
LPA utilizes a phased approach, which focuses on incremental development. Each release or version of solution builds on the previous one and successively satisfies more business requirements. Generally, requirements that are considered the most critical are met in the early releases, while other, less critical requirements are met in later increments. This allows our clients to begin to realize the business benefits of the solution once the initial release is deployed.
The LPA Compass methodology consists of four phases that are chained together to provide a full lifecycle process. Within this complete lifecycle, a horizon-based approach allows for midcourse corrections and go/no-go decisions to be made - minimizing risk and protecting our clients' interest at all times. The activities and deliverables produced in each phase build upon those of the previous phase.
| Discovery
As the name implies, the purpose of this initial phase is to discover all the necessary information required to successfully design and construct the solution. We define both the business and technical requirements for the solution using workshops conducted by experienced consultants and business systems analysts. Data and integration requirements are identified, analyzed and documented. Required software and hardware are identified and the high-level solution architecture is developed. At the conclusion of this phase, a phased implementation plan is developed that directly supports your business objectives - this plan breaks the overall implementation into smaller, manageable increments, prioritizes them and defines a release plan and timeline for their execution. |
Construction
This phase is where the development of your solution takes place, whether it's configuring and customizing a packaged application, developing a custom software solution, or a combination of both. We utilize an iterative time-box approach that breaks large development projects into a series of smaller, more manageable ones that can rapidly be completed. LPA's team works in conjunction with your organization on each stage of the development, integration and user acceptance testing. This ensures that knowledge transfer occurs throughout the project and isn't left until the end. We also manage schedules and deliverables from other external project resources, while providing regular communications of progress. |
| Deployment
During this phase of the project the solution is installed and deployed to the target customer environment. Data migration, production testing, and user and technical training are performed. Deployment is typically initiated with a pilot - a small-scale deployment of your end-to-end solution to a limited set of customer and users. This enables you to validate the solution in the context of your actual business environment and provides opportunities to adjust processes and design decisions based on user feedback. The system is then launched and rolled out according to the deployment plan to the full user base. |
Continuation
During this phase of the project, LPA transitions the solution to the customer and provides ongoing maintenance and support, as required. LPA provides a range of services that allow you to work with a single firm who is responsible for hosting, ongoing application maintenance and operational support of your solution. |