COTS Selection and Adoption in a Small Business Environment … · 2016-06-01 · Change Management...

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense© 2003 by Carnegie Mellon University

page 1

Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

COTS Selection and Adoption in a Small Business Environment

How Do You Downsize the Process?

Bill Anderson, MTS, SEI

© 2003 by Carnegie Mellon University page 2

Barriers for SMEs Smaller manufacturers are not embracing many of the latest, best software tools. WHY?• Lack of awareness

• No business case to justify investment- Lack of metrics- Insufficient ROI-focused data- Lack of examples and pathfinders

• Skill Deficits

• Perception of large investment requirements

• Organizational / Cultural roadblocks- Fear of change- Legacy systems


TIDE Overview/Strategy

• Lessons Learned• Publications• Vendor Impact • Barrier Identification

Body of Knowledge -Support for SMEs

TECHNOLOGYDEVELOPMENT

(OCTAVESM-S, AEE, CMMI®

for SMEs)

• Technology Adaptations

• IT Prof. Development series• Selected SEI Courses• Tech Adoption Workshops• New courses and training

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

® CMMI is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by Carnegie Mellon University.SM OCTAVE is a service mark of Carnegie Mellon University.

DIS

TRIB

UTI

ON

DEMONSTRATIONPROJECTS

Advanced Demo

Projects

EarlyDemo

Projects(Core

Insertions)

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense© 2003 by Carnegie Mellon University

page 4

Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890

Enabling eCommerce – Creating an Electronic Environment

Bill Anderson, Sr. MTS, SEI


Magdic Precision Tooling

• HQ McKeesport, PA, founded in 1981


High Precision Compaction Tooling


Magdic Precision Tooling

• The Engineering Department and 20+ others


Challenge – Fight the Sneaker Net

Paper via sneaker net


Solution - IMES

COTS Evaluation - page 10

Carnegie MellonSoftware Engineering Institute

© 2002 by Carnegie Mellon University/National Research Council Canada Ecommerce Enablement

National Research Council Canada Conseil national de recherches Canada

PECA – A Recommended Process

Plan the evaluation

Establishcriteria

Analyzedata

CollectData

New criteria may be needed to distinguish

products

Unexpected discoveries may require reevaluation

New understanding leads to further evaluation

Data may reveal weaknesses in the experiments


Downsizing PECA• Not enough resources to generate team dynamics• Switched from train the team to be the team• Techniques that are motivated by need for

management alignment were superfluous• Team members were business owners so

decisions could be immediate• Team members had extensive process

knowledge, mitigating some stakeholder involvement value

• Preference for Subject Matter Experts over Facilitators


Downsizing PECA 2

We established criteria with AHP• Worked very well• We did not dwell on differences between requirements and criteria- Largely because we carried AHP through

to Analysis, effectively normalizing the comparison of performance


Licensing

Switch from negotiated T&C’s to shrink wrapped license• No warranty – typically only warrant media• Protects vendor, little or no protection for

buyer• Think of it as buying a car in “as is” condition• Remedies are in the maintenance/service

arena• Perhaps some protection could be generated

through Purchase Order terms?


Licensing 2

The vendors could not predict the specifics of the required use licenses• PC emulating terminal services mode had

embedded licenses• Thin client terminals needed a separate user

license

One of the third party packages would not operate due to license incompatibilities


Shrink Wrapped Maintenance• Embedded 3rd party packages were not included in the

maintenance agreement• Base package feature enhancement relied upon an

upgrade to a 3rd party package• When one of the 3rd party packages did not function the

base package license blocked the reverse engineering required to remedy the situation

• The vendor recommended separate agreements with the 3rd party packages- Will they recognize the base license?- Who does the integration?- Are the interfaces open and disclosed?


Adoption or Adaptation

Small business adopts the software and can only adapt their processes• Vendors want to be all things to all people

- The Prego syndrome• Process mapping still brought value• Can the vendor communicate his recommended

usage scenarios?• Pull the recommended best practices out of the

vendor• Stay in the vendor’s sweet spot


Adoption or Adaptation 2

Training in the small• Business doesn’t want to spend the time, has

little capacity to continue operations if someone is “in training”

• A key reference question – specific names of trainers

• We made the mistake of trying to make the vendor customize his training- Take your (small) vendor off his beaten path

at your own peril


Measurement

A foreign concept to the small business• Once the money is spent, return is by gut feel• Weekly usage chats spread knowledge,

increased utilization, and solved problems• Paperless environment is self healing• Electronically linked files generated big savings

in search time• Web portal freed internal resources by allowing

clients to directly status their orders- Great win-win


Measurement 2The database backbone is full of performance indicators• The typical user cannot mine the data• This package had no business trending reports

- The information is there but no easy way to retrieve it was provided

• A system requirement that we missed and did not evaluate at selection

• The package had only runtime licenses of the report tools, so user report generation was limited- But the user doesn’t have the skills or resources to

apply, even if they had the tools


Lessons 1When downsizing - be aware of the motivations behind your process steps

Management alignment is easier, so these activities become superfluous

All the stakeholders may be on the team so outreach is not as necessary

Decisions can be rapid when the business owners areteam members


Lessons 2Decision support software can be very helpful for software selection and other issues

Properly implemented, decision support software can help rank, compare, and clarify subjective issues, improve communications among different stakeholders, and facilitate the “what if” thinking that can lead to better decisions.

With facilitation it appears to scale well for the small business.


Lessons 3Shrink wrapped licenses protect the vendor not the buyer

Find other vehicles to communicate buyer concerns and issues. Don’t try to renegotiate a shrink wrapped license but do understand the vendor’s position on the many important issues that impact the program’s life cycle.


Lessons 4It takes two to tango

Our attempts to reengineer the business processes were limited by the vendor’s willingness to participate in our efforts.

The less expensive software package doesn’t support a lot of custom process work by the vendor. The vendor organization may not even grasp the concept.


Lessons 5Stay in the vendor’s sweet spot

Finding a vendor that knows and is committed to your business is critical. If the vendor is dedicated to you as a market, your issues will be market issues, creating more incentive for the vendor to resolve them.

The smaller the business entity the more important this becomes. The small fish doesn’t get to design the pond.


Lessons 6Do your homework

Often, vendors and prospective customers focus on the “bells and whistles” of the software, rather than the “nuts and bolts”.

Qualify the vendor’s trainer, s/he must not only know the software, but how you are going to use it.

The small business doesn’t get to change the software, make sure you can live with it before you buy.


Lessons 7Listen to the vendor’s recommendations

Follow the vendor’s recommended best practices, not because they are best practices but because they represent the road most traveled, most well known.

Modify your business practices to leverage this well known road.


Lessons 8Vendors will sell flexibility

The marketplace forces the vendor to be all things to all people (or at least a broad enough set of people to generate a market).

In reality the software will have “optimal use scenarios”—those ways of using the system that are tried and true.

These are the scenarios that will have the lowest implementation risk; find them and change your practices to take advantage of them.


Lessons 9The business must be prepared to change

COTS software is designed around a general business model.

The business should expect that changes will be necessary and desirable, especially if the software embodies improved or “industry best” practices.

This also will keep you closer to the vendor’s sweet spot.


Lessons 10

Conduct an open and frank dialog with your vendor about all these issues. Cover commitments in writing. Understand the vendor’s position and your associated risks.


BACKUP


TIDE ProgramObjective“… demonstrate the cost savings and efficiency benefits of applying commercially available software and information technology to the manufacturing lines of small defense firms”.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000

ElementsDemonstration Demonstration

ProjectsProjectsStudies of ControlledStudies of ControlledTechnology InsertionsTechnology Insertions

Workforce Workforce Development Development

Education & TrainingEducation & Training

Technology Technology DevelopmentsDevelopments

TIDE - risk reduction, proof of feasibility for SMEs


5. Vendor ProcessVendor uses org 慉s Is?making only changes to

current as are needed forefficient use of system

GOAL: Begin w/ best use of system

4. Analyze 慉s Is?ProcessVendor can抰 be expected to

read flow charts.Person conducting walk thru will

learn & will id gaps/needs.ID steps = hightlight, circle�

may do while doing walk thru

1. TIDE Flow Charts1. Flow Chart w organizational,

departmental swim lanes

2. Major Process Steps w/deliverables by role

Co抯 differents sizes; different# products;

Goals and RisksAdoption Planning &Management

SystemSelected

ID Big Picture 慉s Is?stages 慣o Be?VisionID Data Sources

Work ProcessesAnalysis & Design

ChangeManagement Communication

Review Artifacts(available from Selection

Process)What are missing pieces?

Rewards &Recognition

Organize ProcessMapping

(Architecture,boundaries)

As IsProcess

Mapping (2)(Changes,

Keepers, Issues)

Process Mapping for System ImplementationWednesday, August 21, 2002

揂Analyze s Is Walk thru w/ vendor

ID steps for sys implementation

Vendordescribes/chartsideal process (3)

3. 慉s Is?Process MeetingsDon抰 include vendor in these

meetings. May distract participants,as they are tempted to ask

questions about how the systemwill perform.

慉Map s Is?toVendor Ideal, so

areas of significantchange are evident

DocumentProcesses

PlanImplementation

(phased)

Develop rolebased training

Design processfor feedback onsystem/process

testing/trials

Develop/review HighLevel Map ID areas ofdesired improvement

w/ managers

慣Design o Beprocess (1st

draft)

Work w/ VendorNegotiate w/

vendor

SYSTEM MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR TRIAL USE

2. 慉s Is?Process MappingInclude:

Tasks (steps)Decisions, decision criteria, dataneeded, % of decision outcomes

Systems & usageDeliverables

NOTES

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COTS Selection and Adoption in a Small Business Environment … · 2016-06-01 · Change Management...

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