Optimize Solution development, delivery, and effectiveness

This week's blog will focus on a four step process to optimize Solution development, delivery, and effectiveness using the APPS Methodology.

A.P.P.S stands for Analyze, Process, Plan, Solve.

These are four very simple ways to improve solution delivery and effectiveness. However, optimizing solutions, solution delivery, and solutions effectiveness is not just about applying these four steps; it is all about the creating the right mix of each.

What is the right mix? Is it a standard formula?

These are both good questions, but before I answer those I would like to explain what each process entails.

1. Analyze:

This is the first step to solution delivery. Analyze means to find out what is the current state. This step is about gathering data and creating information from the data that will help you identify a baseline of the situation for which you are in the process of solution delivery.

A baseline is a realistic and reasonable reference to the present state against which future progress will be measured.

To Analyze means to ask relevant questions e.g. how long have you been in business, how many products do you have, what are your sales figures, how many customers do you have, etc.

Basically you want to ask questions that give you hard data and not generalization (or soft data).

You also want to identify the goals and objectives here so that you know where you want to go, i.e. what results you are trying to achieve. In other words what will the solution solve?

2. Process

If you recall in the previous step we motioned collecting data to make information. Information is a derivative of data. This means that data by its self does not mean anything. However, once organized, it becomes information. Action is based on information. Therefore, we can see here that results and quality of data are directly related.

The common mistake people make here is that they jump from Analysis to solution. Process means to research and make sense of the information. It means to validate the information and ensure that data is the right data.

An example would be of researching external sources for industry information like stats and trends, talking to others who have experienced the same, are the goals realistic, is the time frame realistic?, etc.

3. Plan

Once you have analyzed and processed, the next step is to create a plan of action, which is also known as the solution. Creating a plan involves planning activities where you device strategies to take you from point A to point B. Creating a plan leads to a solution. Think of a plan as a map. A map that will guide you towards the results that you set out to accomplish in the first place.

The ingredients to the plan are the information you collected from the analysis and process phases. This is not as simple as it sounds. Creating plans can be a very time consuming activity. Depending on the solution you are trying to produce, it may involve creating models, experimentation, surveys, etc.

4. Solve

The last step is where the "road meets the rubber" as they say. Now that you have your plan, you must implement it. This may be an obvious "next step", however, this is where people fail the most. To solve means to put your plan into action.

If you have done a thorough analysis, have processed the information diligently, and planned with the solution in mind, then there should be no reason for failure. In fact your solution will be highly optimized and will yield exponential results.

This above four steps are what is required for solution development, solution delivery, and solution effectiveness.

Now to answer the two questions:

What is the right mix?

Unfortunately there are no industry standards which define the "right mix". Having said that fortunately for us there are models, studies, and countless examples inferring that the effort involved in an "effective" solution delivery is usually only between 10%-30% of the overall effort involved in creating the solution, i.e. the analysis, process, and plan phases take a total effort of anywhere between 70%-90% of the overall effort.

Is there a standard formula?

Again, the answer is no. Each industry and each solution is a result of a unique combination of analysis, process, plan, and solve phases involved in solution development, delivery, and effectiveness. However, as mentioned before, there are guidelines and solution delivery models. It is important to know that the competitive advantage, which is the result of a unique combination of each process (analyze, process, plan, solve) is attributed to effective and optimized solution development and delivery techniques.

Till next time

Salman K Khan (Sal)
http://www.skkservices.com/