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Alignd
Paid discovery and blueprint

ERP discovery and blueprint

A signed requirements document you can buy on its own. The costly mistakes in a project usually happen in the first three weeks, when people are guessing at what's needed.

Product

What you get.

  • A structured set of questions, with the ones that block progress flagged on day one
  • A map of how the work runs today, including the workarounds
  • Data model, integrations and their fallbacks
  • A section that spells out what the system won't do
  • An implementation proposal you can compare against other quotes

Proof

questions in a recent discovery
136
questions in a recent discovery
of them blocking, flagged on day one
28
of them blocking, flagged on day one

Who it's for

Businesses about to choose an ERP, CRM or HR system who want quotes they can compare, and teams mid-implementation who need to write down what the system was meant to do.

More on who this suits

Businesses about to choose an ERP, CRM or HR system who want quotes they can actually compare. It also helps teams halfway through an implementation that's going wrong, who need to write down what the system was supposed to do.

What's included

A structured question setA set list, with the blocking questions flagged on day one.

We work through a set list of questions instead of running a workshop that drifts. We flag the blocking ones on day one, because answers we can't get are what usually delay a project. A recent discovery ran to 136 questions, 28 of which were blocking.

Process mapping

How the work runs today, including the workarounds, and who moves each record from one status to the next.

Data model and integrationsYour records, how they relate, and a fallback for each integration.

The records you keep, how they relate to each other, and a fallback for every integration, so a third party who's slow to reply can't hold up your go-live date.

What the system won't doAn out-of-scope list, which is where the surprises usually hide.

A section that lists what's out of scope. If something surprises you during acceptance testing, it usually means the requirements document missed it, so we put the effort in here.

An implementation proposal

Milestones and a price you can compare with other quotes.

Common mistakes we help you avoid

Free discovery rushed to win the deal

Free discovery rushed to win the deal, which ends up as a document written to close a sale.

Nobody asking what it won't do

Requirements collected without anyone asking what the system will not do.

Trusting an API page

Assuming an integration will work just because the vendor has an API page.

Blocking decisions found in week six

Finding the blocking decisions in week six instead of on day one.

How we work

Discovery and the blueprint come straight after the free call and take one to two weeks.

  1. 01

    A call

    30 minutes, no charge

  2. 02

    Discovery

    1 to 2 weeks, paid

  3. 03

    Blueprint

    Included in discovery

  4. 04

    Build

    3 to 8 weeks

  5. 05

    Acceptance

    1 to 2 weeks

  6. 06

    Go-live and run

    Ongoing

How it's priced and run

Discovery takes one to two weeks. It's paid work with its own deliverable, and it's the second step of our process, after a free call.

You own the blueprint and can take it to any implementer. If you build with us, the discovery fee is credited against the Implementation.

Questions buyers actually ask.

When discovery is free, its cost is hidden in the implementation price and it gets rushed to win the deal. Paid discovery gives you a blueprint you own, and leaves room for us to tell you the right answer might be a smaller project, or none at all.

One to two weeks. It mostly depends on how quickly the blocking questions get answered.

Yes, that's why it's sold separately. We write it so that any competent implementer can build from it.

Yes. If you build with us, the discovery fee is credited against the implementation.

The blueprint describes your business rather than any one product. We build on the Frappe stack, and if Frappe isn't the right fit for you, the blueprint will say so.

Let's start with a call.

Thirty minutes, free of charge, and you won't sit through a sales deck.