The Methodology Behind Our Services
Since The Virant Group is a consulting service, and not just a technical provider, we can approach your problems at any stage using our highly effective methodology. Whether you just need a design spec, a third-party software integration, or a full re-implementation, we can tailor our approach to suite your needs.
Our "4D" Approach:
- 1: Discovery
Don't try to fix it unless you understand it."
Frequently problems with existing systems originate with a lack of understanding of business needs, objectives, and processes, which are unique to manufacturing as well as your individual business. The combination of our expertise and consultations with you help all the stakeholders to better understand the problems and how to best resolve them. Find out more » - 2: Design
A camel is a horse designed by a committee."
We know design can be frustrating, especially when every stakeholder prioritizes their needs first. Using the thorough Assessment and our experience to guide technical decisions, we can deliver a realistic solution that is the best fit for your unique situation. Find out more » - 3: Development
If you are in need of contract programming we are probably not the best fit. If you need consulting, design, and integration expertise and wish those same people could not just 'talk' but actually 'do', then you have come to the right place. Find out more » - 4: Deployment
Making any solution actually work in VISUAL can be a daunting task, whether designed by us or not. Even attaching a third-party product can become vexing to your staff. With our intimate knowledge of VISUAL, we can make the deployment as seamless as possible. Find out more » - Ongoing Assessment and Support
Your standard VISUAL support will continue to come from Infor and local associates, but we will continue to back-up and assess any service provided to you as needed.
Continuous Improvement
A fundamental assumption in our approach is that nothing is built perfectly the first time, and that it is not possible for users to know what they really need until they have it. It is a mistake to expect that users can foresee what all their requirements will be at some distant future time. Even those who can envision the future and articulate it are seldom able to foresee what the organizational impact will be with the new processes in place and predict the impact on software requirements. Physicists have known about this effect for many years. The mere act of measuring a system changes the system, thus altering the measurement. In the traditional waterfall approach each step is sequential and cannot be started until the previous step is completed and fully tested. A great deal of time is spent bringing steps to conclusion with the expectation that the next step can commence without the need to ever look back. The reality is that even more time is spent going back and reworking requirements as downstream processes are refined. A better approach is to have a firm grasp on what essential elements must be firmly in place at each step, and then move forward with the remaining work to be fleshed out as steps are iterated. This approach makes for a continously improving design and efficient construction of the software. Each step has foundational requirements that must be definitively decided and cannot change without a major disruption to the project. These requirements are called steel threads . This approach requires a seasoned architect to ensure that the steel threads are properly identified, and that the entire project does not remain a work in process. Solutions developed using our approach address the current realities of business, rather than an idealized solution based on some future utopia. Since a flexible framework is required for this iterative approach, the solution will be well poised for future revisions and extensions. Other benefits to the users include:
- The teams involvement with the iterative process eases the disruptive nature of implementing new software.
- Users are more likely to claim ownership of the solution
- The risk of the solution being in "left or right field" is greatly reduced
- A precident of continous improvement is fostered in all uses
Top management should begin to recognize that there are tangible benefits from the methodology itself, and not just the solution that was assumed to be the outcome of a Virant project.