Dedicated Team Model
Customers create dedicated teams (aka ODC teams) to achieve cost savings, increase time to market, and transform fixed costs into variable costs. Under this engagement model dedicated teams are built according to the client’s unique requirements.
Coherent’s dedicated team engagement model is designed to create a framework that ensures successful long-term relationships. It leverages Coherent’s methodology, our delivery management team’s expertise and our proven track record of establishing dedicated ODC teams for customers across various industries.
- All hardware, software licensing, and infrastructure is already in place
- Team members are assigned on a dedicated basis in order to learn your business and become a part of your team
- Tight communication and collaboration between the dedicated ODC team and your location is achieved through IM, Voice, Email, Webex, and Video
- Dedicated U.S. based delivery manager assigned
Our experience shows that every dedicated team is distinct because of differing customer needs and requires a unique set of services, processes, and deliverables at each phase.
Coherent’s dedicated team methodology is comprised of four distinct phases and emphasizes adaptability to the realities of the client’s organization/environment and common sense throughout. The goals, major activities, and durations are shown for each phase in the graphic below.
• Analyze Application Architecture
• Identify/Validate Scope to be Outsourced
• Understand Client Development Process
• Confirm Knowledge Base
• Create Initiation Plan
Read more• Acquire Staff
• Conduct Knowledge Transfer
• Create Technical & Collaboration Infrastructure
• Define Development Process Specifics
• Define Metrics for Governance
Read more• Govern Relationship
• Perform Ongoing Resource Management
• Continue Team Building
• Conduct Process Improvement
Read more• Return Client Owned Tools
• Destroy/Return Intellectual Property
• Disable Remote Access
Duration: 1-2 weeks Read more
Analysis & Planning
Coherent Solutions begins dedicated ODC team engagements with a planning phase. The intent of this phase is for Coherent Solutions and the client to gain a mutual understanding of the current state of client’s goals, organization, processes, and environment. Then, a plan is created to initiate the dedicated ODC team and transition it to a fully operational state.
This phase is conducted onsite at the client by a U.S.-based Delivery Manager. The Delivery Manager can be augmented as appropriate by Coherent Solutions domain or technical specialists in the U.S. to ensure whatever analysis is required as input into the plan can be performed. The following activities are performed during this phase:
- Analyze Technical Environment and required skill sets
- Analyze Application Architecture - Identify integration points between subsystems and between different layers of the architecture. Assess complexity of subsystems and architectural layers. Subsystems or layers with fewer integration points (i.e. more isolated) represent better candidates for starting points for outsourced labor. Similarly, those areas with lower complexity represent better candidates for starting points for outsourced labor.
- Identify/Validate Scope of Work to be Outsourced - Understand scale, consistency, and criticality to client’s business. Activities of high criticality to the client’s business are usually poor candidates for initial outsourcing given their higher risk profile. Selecting areas with no criticality; however, can also be a bad idea because it may not generate the focus within the client organization to devote the energy necessary to launching the outsourcing team.
- Understand Development Process utilized by client to understand the depth of project management/control and the extent of quality assurance gates. In those situations where organizations have few control mechanisms, Coherent Solutions will work with them to enhance their process to better facilitate outsourced development.
- Confirm Knowledge Base for the following areas: technical architecture, functional requirements, and development process. For each area determine location of knowledge (in people’s heads, in external artifacts, a combination, etc.) and assess quality. Knowledge that is externalized into artifacts is more easily transferred to an outsourcing team. In those instances where high quality knowledge exists within the client’s team, it can often be effectively transferred through travel between the client site and the ODC.
- Create Initiation Plan
The phase typically lasts 1-2 weeks. An Initiation and Transition Plan will be created at the end of this phase. This plan will be used to select the initial scope of work and will guide the process of building out the ODC team.
Optionally, some customers may elect to visit the Minsk Development center at the end of this phase in order to complete final due diligence on Coherent Solutions’ capabilities or to act as a spring board into the next phase of the engagement. Trips of this type are usually around a week in duration.
Initiation & Transition
Once the Initiation and Transition Plan has been created, the engagement proceeds to team creation and startup. The intent of this phase is to create the core of the ODC team and begin it working productively in alignment with the client’s methods and expectations by doing the initial scope of work specified. The goal is for the team to quickly begin producing tangible results even as it scales the learning curve to a fully operational state.
The following activities are performed during this phase:
- Begin Performance of Outsourced Tasks
- Acquire Staff - Core members are allocated to the ODC team. Coherent Solutions typically performs screening of candidates internally based on information gathered from the Assessment and Planning Phase. If desired, customers can also be involved in resource selecting and screening through resume reviews, telephone interviews, technical testing, or even in person interviews should they opt to visit the Minsk Development Center. Unless otherwise specified, team members are always 100% assigned to a given client with the intent to remain on the client team for the long-term.<
- Conduct Knowledge Transfer - Customers where knowledge is straightforward or effectively externalized have the option of performing knowledge transfer at a distance through software or artifact review. It is more common, however, for initial knowledge transfer to require temporary co-location of the client and some part of the ODC team.
- Create Development/Technical Infrastructure - Remote access to the client’s network is established from Minsk through VPN. Access to the following systems is granted: version control, bug tracking, knowledge management (e.g. Wikis, Sharepoint, etc.), project management, and the appropriate development/testing environments. In addition, any necessary software is installed in the Minsk Development center including IDE, DBMS, Web Servers, Application Servers and appropriate development/test data.
- Create Collaboration Infrastructure - Each team in Minsk is assigned a VOIP phone with a 612 area code number for engagement communication. IM, Application Sharing, and Videoconference solutions are also standardized with the client to maximize communication channels. Coherent Solutions uses Skype as its standard for all of these methods of communications, but there are several other free toolsets to choose from such as MS Live Messenger should the client prefer an alternative.
- Define Development Process Specifics - Fundamental software development processes such as requirements definition and management, configuration management, design/code reviews, task tracking, project management, risk management, and quality assurance are defined for the ODC team within the client’s environment.
- Define Metrics for Governance - Establishing proper metrics can be a powerful tool to maintain alignment between the client’s expectations and the team’s performance. Good metrics also form a foundation for process improvement over time.
This phase can last anywhere from 1-3 months in duration. The exact duration of this phase depends on the support for the outsourcing endeavor within the Client organization, the complexity of the tasks to be performed by the ODC team, the degree knowledge is already externalized from the client’s organization, and the maturity of project management/control and quality assurance mechanisms in place. The U.S. based Coherent Solutions Delivery Manager will remain engaged throughout to assist in coordination and governance.
Operation
Once the ODC team is fully operational, the engagement moves into the Operation phase. The intent of this phase is to be an ongoing state with the team functioning productively in the Minsk Development Center and in alignment with the client’s goals.
- Continue Performance of Outsourced Tasks
- Govern Relationship - The Coherent Solutions Delivery Manager and the client provide ongoing governance of the relationship ensuring service delivery is alignment with the client’s priorities and continues to meet its quality expectations.
- Perform Ongoing Resource Management - The core team will remain consistent over time to ensure service continuity. Additional staff can be cycled on and off above this core team as needed to provide short-term bursts of capacity. This can be accomplished with agility after the core outsourcing team has been solidified during the Initiation and Transition phase.
- Continue Team Building - Like any relationship the cross-site relationship between teams in ODC engagements is something that requires continued investment. This is best facilitated through travel between the client and the Minsk Development Center.
- Conduct Process Improvement - As the engagement evolves, both the client and the ODC teams are expected to perform ongoing process improvement. Metrics agreed to during the Initiation and Transition phase can provide a wealth of information for making improvements on an objective basis.
Completion
When the engagement has reached a logical conclusion, it will enter the Completion phase. In this phase:
- Complete Outsourced Tasks
- Return Client Owned Tools - Coherent Solutions will promptly return all client owned hardware and software.
- Return Intellectual Property - All work created by Coherent Solutions for its customers are considered to be ‘Works for Hire’ as such term is defined under United States copyright laws and, as a result, are owned by and created for the benefit of Client. As such, Coherent will return or dispose of any electronic or hard copies of intellectual property including: requirements artifacts, architecture/design artifacts, source code, database code, data, test cases, etc.
- Disable Remote Access - Coherent Solutions will coordinate with the client to disable all client system access including network, application, and database credentials as well as facility access badges if used by Coherent Solutions U.S. staff.
