How “Success by Design” Can Help Your Project Implementations

“Success by Design” helps project teams benefit from Microsoft’s collective experience of implementing thousands of real-world customer projects. It does this by providing topic-specific reviews and prescriptive guidance for project teams on using the Power Platform and Dynamics 365 to their fullest potential. 

A successful implementation means that the project has clear goals, proven methods, and deliverables that make an impact quickly. It breaks down barriers in the business, adapts to changes in the landscape, and allows teams to innovate quickly. 

Success by Design plays a vital role and according to Microsoft, “adds to a project team’s chosen implementation method and is a model for product-aligned project governance”. Here’s how:  

Success by Design:  A Primer 

This prescriptive framework helps people who work on Power Platform and Dynamics 365 projects align their choices and manage risks through sound approaches and good practices. 

It gives detailed reviews of each topic and specific advice for project success. It also provides proactive suggestions to help project teams do what they need: 

  1. Make sure the implementation process is done right and set expectations. 
  2. It’s important in checking if good practices are used during the deployment. 
  3. Outlines the things that could go wrong with the project’s functionality and success. 
  4. Designs in a way that meets the needs and goals of the business. 

In this way, Success by Design is like prescriptive architecture guidance. It lays out and encourages a concrete implementation method while promoting agility. 

How Does Success by Design Work? 

A “methodology-agnostic” process is followed using Success by Design for a successful Power Platform and Dynamics 365 implementation. There are four stages:  

Initiate 

The project team starts the project by giving an overview of how things work. The creation of the requirements, the design of the solution, and the schedules are all covered in the conversation. During this phase, business requirements are gathered and validated, the high-level solution approach is being worked out, and the project plan is revised. The “Solution Blueprint Review” is a significant output from this stage. 

The project team holds several workshops as checkpoints during the project. These workshops are usually a mix of interactive meetings, presentations, and follow-up communication and tasks. The workshop topics include guided discussions and decisions on the Solution Blueprint, test strategy, data model, BI and analytics design, gap solution design, data migration, security, integration design, dual-write implementation, solution performance, cutover strategy, and the post-go-live strategy. These are all essential things for the project team to think about to make the project successful! 

Implement 

With help from the technical architect, the project team builds the solution as agreed to in the Solution Blueprint and scope. Every few weeks, the project team holds “Implementation Reviews”. These are meant to deal with the risks found during or after the Solution Blueprint Review, but before the solution build has gotten too far down the road. The focus of the conversation is more on how well the solution meets good practices and how to manage the application’s lifecycle. 

Prepare 

After the solution is built, testing and training take over. User acceptance testing (UAT) and training are at the top of the list. The conversation is about getting the go-ahead from the client, getting ready for production, and going live. The project team uses the “Design Go-live Readiness Review” to find any problems or gaps that haven’t been fixed yet. 

Operate 

This means our solution is now up and running! It’s essential to ensure everything is working and stable before moving on to the next round of functionality and improvements for the project’s next phase. 

Why Success by Design is a Go-To Solution 

Success by Design makes it easier for project stakeholders to use recommendations to figure out how to solve their problems. When this happens, Microsoft says that it pushes the client organization to keep up with “Innovation Evangelism.” 

If you follow Success by Design, you’ll be able to start conversations by following a clear, prescriptive path. People who work on technology projects can use this path to figure out how well things are going. 

Success by Design also prevents the need for quick fixes to Power Platform and Dynamics 365 implementations by giving proactive advice on how to stay on top of the risks. 

Conclusion  

Success by Design is prescriptive guidance that makes sure projects stay on track and aligns them with business goals. It’s a great way to ensure that a “client-success aligned model” is put into practice quickly and dynamically. 

As a matter of course, you should use this to get the most out of your next Power Platform and Dynamics 365 project. Do you want to learn more? Let us help you get your next Power Platform and Dynamics 365 solution implemented smoothly! 

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