Business Automation Solution Methodology

Achieving the vision of the customer is Workpoint’s goal. By partnering with Workpoint, you will leverage the skills, dedication and creativity of our technicians. Our Professional Consulting Services shorten time to market, eliminate implementation risk, and ensure that projects stay within budget and timeline constraints. Workpoint approaches projects with a consistent, structured methodology that has been proven in numerous customer implementations. Our solutions maximize your investment in personnel and implementation resources, and ensure that your organization is positioned for the future.

Workpoint has developed the Business Automation Solution (BAS) methodology for improving and accelerating business automation projects. BAS applies a process and data-centric modeling approach that results in early delivery of prototypes as tangible illustrations of the project’s value, divided into controllable stages.  Using BAS and Workpoint, project teams develop solutions that meet business objectives more quickly than using other contemporary methods.  Further, the automation solution developed include greater range of functionality, increased stability, and are less expensive to develop and maintain overtime.

Workpoint's BAS methodology uses a structured five-stage approach that leads to effective automation solutions.  Each stage results in tangible value-added results meaningful to both technical and business sponsors of a project.  High-level descriptions of the purpose and results from the five stages can be viewed in the following sections.

Stage 1-Automation Solution Specification

The first stage involves the project team in the active creation of process, data, and interface prototyping, with the support of an experienced BAS process analyst.  Using a process- and components-centric approach to requirements definition, this phase results in a semi-functional application prototype strategy, plus a detailed functionality specification and project plan for developing a fully functional prototype, appropriate for internal and external demonstrations.

Stage 2-Functional Proof of Concept

The second stage serves three primary purposes.  First, it results in the stable application prototype detailed in stage 1, a demonstrable illustration and proof-of-concept suitable as a complement to funding proposals and requests for upper management approval.  Second, development of the prototype uncovers unknowns, both in terms of business requirements and technical integration issues, which virtually removes false starts and delays from the next stage development effort.  Third and most important, the stage drives the project team to a low-level functionality specification for the ultimate application deliverable.  This low-level functional specification results in the detailed, reliable project plan for developing, testing, and deploying the required solution, including dependencies, resource assignments, and costs.

Stage 3-Solution Development

The third stage focuses on the creation of the final deliverable solution, including technical component development, component integration, testing, documentation, and construction of a user-training program.  Automated applications developed from the Workpoint automation solution include automation processes and activity modules as the common unit of development.  The Workpoint automation processes rapidly connect the activity modules together, to fulfill the business purpose of the required application.  Automation processes and activity modules are developed and tested in parallel for agility, significantly reducing the effort required to achieve world-class results.  This stage produces the final solution, packaged for installation and production, plus the plan for support of the application solution rollout. Effort required to complete this phase varies significantly, based on the scope of the solution required.

Stage 4-Solution Deployment

The fourth stage provides the support necessary to install, deploy, and support the application solution through its first usage.  Workpoint's Automation solution deploys in the Cloud or On-Premise. Project staff work hand-in-hand with customer operations and technical staff to ensure that transition occurs smoothly, and the solution continues to meet the business objectives.  The project team also develops the proposal for ongoing support and enhancement of the solution.

Stage 5-Solution Management

The final stage of the BAS methodology supports the ongoing analysis of improvement requirements for the solution and the implementation of the improvements.  The deliverable solution, benefiting from the automated process and activity module development approach, is easily extended and enhanced with much less effort, with many process related changes requiring only administrative intervention.