Service Providers can better manage technical, financial and reputational risk on no/low code projects with Quality Clouds’ early system data-gathering
In ServiceNow and Salesforce low-code projects it helps to know what you’re dealing with from the outset. We take a look at how early analysis can help manage no/low code project risk and get your project get off to a good start. Find out more with our free, 30-minute consultation.
How Quality Clouds can help IT Service Providers with Technical Risk
Technical risk can occur when the perception of the problem doesn’t match the reality. In no/low code projects this happens when there isn’t enough information about the system. It can lead to service providers deploying a team with the unsuitable experience. Our technology stops you from sending in an inexperienced team or having to reassign senior developers from elsewhere.
Getting a blueprint of the system before you start is crucial and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. We can do the data-gathering in a matter of hours, giving your ServiceNow and Salesforce analysts the information they need. This can also be shared with the wider team. The work that we do means the analysis is visible to everyone even in multi-locational teams.
We’ve recently carried this out on a mergers and acquisitions projects where the acquiring company had to decide between three different systems. Assessing the capabilities of each system can be eight weeks of data-gathering and analysis. With our technology and experience, this can be done in 15 minutes.
Reducing technical risk like this is particularly important for maintaining margins.
How Early System Oversight Can Reduce Financial Risk
Clarity about the scope obviously reduces the project’s financial risk by saving time. It means you send in the right people to do the job they’re best at. They then spend more time on analysis/solutions and less time on data gathering.
It also gives everyone sight of the entirety of the no/low code project, the challenges, expectations and likely outcomes. This helps to alleviate the problem of too much to do against a short deadline.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of being a deadline hero, rather than a true champion. After the deadline is met, you will move on and not be present when the quality is assessed (by someone else). You can meet the deadline and look like the hero, only to be back fixing bugs in three months time after the vendor does a scan. You will be blamed three months later if you’re not part of the conversation.
A focus on deadlines can distract from doing the job properly. We need to be clear about what can be done within the timeframe and budget. Too much of a focus on deadlines is not necessarily cost-effective and can also lead to financial risk. The easiest way to mitigate this exposure is to be clear about what’s involved from the outset.
Benchmarking and Baselining can Improve Reputational Risk
Improving project management in ServiceNow and Salesforce projects means benchmarking the issues against other market instances, plus baselining with the client at the outset. Get this information at the beginning and you are in control. Never let someone else find the problems later. One client said to us ‘thank goodness we ran the scan first’. It meant that they could show the client where they started from, plan the right route through, and show the progress made at the end.
Once the Service Provider has completed the project, the report remains in-house. It is a record of the decisions made, the process the team (including the client) went through and the outcomes. Without this record, the Service Provider is at the mercy of whoever comes in next, once they’ve left the room. Knowing what you have at the outset leads to fewer surprises at the end, or worse, after you think the project is successfully completed. After the deadline has been met, the last invoice paid and the team moved on to something else.
Managing These Risks Can Help with Repeat Business
If the client feels confident that you have a full view of the system, they will trust you with the solution. Don’t just patch the system, properly fix it. Of course budget and time restraints mean it’s not always possible to do everything at once.
IT Service Providers can gain a commercial edge and reduce their project risk by quickly understanding what needs fixing. It’s easier to manage no/low code project risk if you, your partners and the client have the same sight and understanding of the system upfront.
We’re offering a free, 30-minute consultation on how Quality Clouds can work for your business. Drop us a line to set up a consultation.