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This page aims to give a detailed overview of customer-projects accompanied by the Open-Xchange professional services team:
This article gives a detailed overview of the process  to run an Open-Xchange implementation project together with the OX Professional Services team.
The different phases and decisions as well as the documents necessary to accompany this process are listed here.
 
The phases and decisions are documented here, as well as the documents and tools used to accompany this process.


The following diagram gives a birds-eye view of the whole process:<br>
The following diagram gives a birds-eye view of the whole process:<br>
<div style="min-width 840px;">[[File:birdseye7.png]]</div><br>
<div style="min-width 840px;">[[File:birdseye7.png]]</div><br>
=Initialization=
During this phase the product gets demoed and the feasibility of the project is evaluated as well as potentially necessary customization to fit into every environment.


At the end of this this phase a detailed offer is made and the final "Go" / "No-Go" decision is made.
=Initialization Phase / Pre-Sales=


* Technical Demo (webcast or on-site)
The first phase of the project, the "Initialization Phase" is typically the pre-sales cycle to evaluate the product and to evaluate the feasibility of the project as well as to identify potentially necessary customization to integrate into every environment.
** presentation of the product including all features relevant to the customer
 
* Architecure Overview
At the end of this phase, the results of the evaluation are used to provide a detailed offer and to make the final "Go" / "No-Go" decision.
** Integration with customer systems instead of out-of-the-box
 
** Explain the many ways to OX and its data
Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:
** Used Standards and programming languages
 
** Scaling / server density
*User Interface Demo and Evaluation (webcast or on-site)
** Available APIs
* Architecture Overview
** Options for branding / whitelabeling
** Integration into existing customer systems
* Proof Of Concept (POC)
** Sizing, Scalability
** Machine in the customer-environment
** Available APIs, standards and programming languages
* Technology Transfer
** Branding / Whitelabeling
** Evaluate customer-environment (mailsystem, loadbalancer, storage, provisioning)
* Proof Of Concept Installation (POC) in target environment
* initial Workshop(s)
* Technology Transfer / Workshop
** Using the agenda given below
** Using the agenda given below
** resulting in the Customer Implementation Concept
** Evaluate existing environment (mailsystem, loadbalancer, storage, provisioning, ..)
* RequestForInformation / RequestForQuotation
** Results in Customer Implementation Concept
** answered by the filled out SOW
* Request For Information (RFI) / Request For Quotation (RFQ)
 
==Tools and Results in Initalization Phase==
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/21816/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Workshop Agenda]
 
This document containing the "Workshop Agenda" is used to prepare for the initial technical workshop. The goal of the workshop is to get a common understanding of all existing infrastructure systems and the capabilities of the OX product.  The preparation document lists all persons/roles, who should attend the workshop as well as the topics, which will be covered within a typical evaluation workshop. The workshop will take 4-6 hours.
 
 
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/128210/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Basic Statement Of Work]
 
The "Basic Statement Of Work (SOW)" describes and offers all OX PS implementation efforts already known and agreed upon at this point in time. In addition this document is the one central document, outlining the whole project. It is used to document the common understanding of the whole project.
 
It starts with the motivation to run the project and contains all goals and the scope of the whole project. Stakeholders on both sides are defined as well as detailed responsibilities and milestones to measure progress.


==Tools and Results in the Phase==
All efforts, which are already known at this stage of the project are listed in this document.
*[https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/22276/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Project Charter]
The Project Charter is the one central document, outlining the whole project. It is used to document the common understanding of the whole project to ensure, having the same understanding in all projects parties.
It starts with the motivation to run the project and contains all goals and the scope of the whole project. Stakeholders on both sides are defined as well as detailed responsibilities and milestones to measure progress. Also further organization of the project is specified including details about documentation, reporting and communication.
All efforts, which are already known are listed in this document.
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/21816/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Workshop Agenda] This contains topics for the initial workshop
*[https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/21758/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Customer Implementation Concept] This is a "living document" as well in that it is updated during the project to reflect the current state of affairs
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/22277/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Basic SOW] The basic SOW describes in detail all Open-Xchange implementation-efforts already known and agreed upon at this point in time.


=Concept=
*[https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/21758/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Customer Implementation Concept]
During this phase it is decided what exactly there is to do, by whom and when. The resulting Customer Implementation Concept formalizes this information, accompanied by (several) SOWs which detail Open-Xchange efforts.
 
* Detail-Workshops
This "Customer Implementation Concept" outlines all results from the technical evaluation until this point in time, mainly resulting from the workshop. It contains all results from the initialization phase, as well as all already known topics, to be discussed and analyzed in the future.
** installing a test-system
 
* Adaption
This is a "living document" as well in that it is updated during the project to reflect the current state of affairs.
** tailoring the system to the partners environment (authentication, provisioning etc.)
 
* Resources / Time
=Concept Phase=
** these are estimated based on knowledge of past projects
 
*Budget
The "Concept Phase" is the first one, after the joint project has started formally. During this phase, the basic implementation like installation of hardware starts, but most important, all necessary detailed concepts are created and finalized.
** this is etimated by the partner
 
* Milestones
During this phase it is decided what exactly will be done by whom and when.  
** are set to measure progress
 
* Quality Management
The Customer Implementation Concept from the Initialization phase will be finalized. All tasks to be done by OX PS are documented and offered in (seperate) SOWs.
** set up monitoring tools
 
* Risk Management
Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:
** address common difficulties in most projects
 
** tracked in the Requirements Checklist as well
* Detail-Workshops for all complex integration topics, to finalize the Concept paper
* Time Planing and Milestones will be agreed on
* Resources are planned to define the responsibilities for each task
* Budget and associated costs are fixed
* Quality Management and Risk Management starts in this phase
 
==Tools in Concept Phase==
 
* The Customer Implementation Concept from the first phase will be enhanced and is used as a living document to contain all known and discussed technical details. This document will be used throughout the whole project. So it is a very important source of information not only for implementation, also post-implementation as part of the system documentation.
 
* A [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/52878/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Requirements Checklist] will be introduced in this phase, which is used to track all open topics and issues. All closed topics will be moved to an "archive" to obtain a complete documentation of all project topics, as well as to be used for approval testing.


==Tools==
* Implementation Concept from the last phase (living document)
* Requirements Checklist from the last phase (living document)
* WorkBreakdownStructure [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50871/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 mindmeister.com-format] [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50873/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 pdf] [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50872/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 rtf]
* WorkBreakdownStructure [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50871/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 mindmeister.com-format] [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50873/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 pdf] [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/50872/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 rtf]
*several SOWs (preferrably one per topic)


=Implementation=
The "Work Breakdown Structure" is a tree-like view on all known topics "work items" known at the recent point in time. A template, based on OX project experience, is used during the workshops as starting point. Then the WBS will be enhanced in all workshops and discussions to build a tree, which is as complete, as possible.
During this phase everything that was planned before will be realized.  
 
* SOWs will be created for all topics, when implementation or customization is requested from the OX team. Each topic will be tracked in on separate SOW, to keep the process as transparent as possible.
 
=Implementation Phase=
 
Within the "Implementation Phase" everything that was planned before will be realized, like the name says. However, in reality there always is an overlap in Concept Phase and Implementation Phase.
 
Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:
 
* Installation / Configuration of the live-system
* Installation / Configuration of the live-system
* Integration
* Integration into infrastructure
* Customization
* Customization, Branding, Theming
** branding etc.
* Documentation
* Documentation
** all systems involved, including responsibilities
* Quality Management
* Quality Management
* Change Management
* Change Management
** new requirements are also tracked via the Requirements Checklist
* Training (Admin, Support, Sales)
* Training
 
** administrators / support staff
 
==Tools in the Implementation Phase==
 
Typically all tools from the former phase will be used to track the implementation process.


=Approval Phase=


==Tools==
During this last phase in the project, everything that was realized will be verified and approved against the documented requirements. After approval the launch process start, recommended in several steps, beginning with a soft-launch.
* Requirements Checklist (continously expanded)
* OX Test protocols


=Approval=
Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:
During this phase everything that was realized will be checked (again) to make sure it is ready and exactly to the customers wishes. As soon as that is the case it is our recommendation to do a "soft-launch", a launch of the production system but with only a limited number of users (ca. 5%). When that is done successfully and any last-minute issues are uncovered and fixed the product is launched.


* Tests
* Testing, manually and automated
* Review
* System- and Configuration Review
* Soft-Launch
* Soft-Launch
* Migration
* Migration
* Handover to Support
* Training (Admin, Support, Sales)* Handover to Support
* Documentation including architecture, setup, test-accounts, etc.
* Project retrospective
* Handover to Open-Xchange support


* detailed technical documentation including test-accounts, credentials, people in charge etc.
* Customer tests
* Lessons learned
* Open-Xchange-internal project retrospective
* Handover to Open-Xchange support
** test OTRS process
==Tools==
==Tools==
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/18613/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Meeting Minutes] These minutes cover attendees to a meeting, topics discussed, decisions made and action items.
 
* Requirements Checklist ... This list produced during the previous phase contains agreed upon and done items. These should be checked again in this phase by the customer´s quality assurance team for the live system.
* [https://ox6-dev.open-xchange.com/publications/files/1/projectTemplates/52878/current?secret=30e01261e422f9ec9b0af51b0d3319e2 Requirements Checklist... This list produced during the concept phase contains agreed upon and done items. These will be used in this phase to verify the correct implementation of all topics.
* Customer test protocols

Latest revision as of 14:27, 12 November 2013

This article gives a detailed overview of the process to run an Open-Xchange implementation project together with the OX Professional Services team.

The phases and decisions are documented here, as well as the documents and tools used to accompany this process.

The following diagram gives a birds-eye view of the whole process:

Birdseye7.png


Initialization Phase / Pre-Sales

The first phase of the project, the "Initialization Phase" is typically the pre-sales cycle to evaluate the product and to evaluate the feasibility of the project as well as to identify potentially necessary customization to integrate into every environment.

At the end of this phase, the results of the evaluation are used to provide a detailed offer and to make the final "Go" / "No-Go" decision.

Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:

  • User Interface Demo and Evaluation (webcast or on-site)
  • Architecture Overview
    • Integration into existing customer systems
    • Sizing, Scalability
    • Available APIs, standards and programming languages
    • Branding / Whitelabeling
  • Proof Of Concept Installation (POC) in target environment
  • Technology Transfer / Workshop
    • Using the agenda given below
    • Evaluate existing environment (mailsystem, loadbalancer, storage, provisioning, ..)
    • Results in Customer Implementation Concept
  • Request For Information (RFI) / Request For Quotation (RFQ)

Tools and Results in Initalization Phase

This document containing the "Workshop Agenda" is used to prepare for the initial technical workshop. The goal of the workshop is to get a common understanding of all existing infrastructure systems and the capabilities of the OX product. The preparation document lists all persons/roles, who should attend the workshop as well as the topics, which will be covered within a typical evaluation workshop. The workshop will take 4-6 hours.


The "Basic Statement Of Work (SOW)" describes and offers all OX PS implementation efforts already known and agreed upon at this point in time. In addition this document is the one central document, outlining the whole project. It is used to document the common understanding of the whole project.

It starts with the motivation to run the project and contains all goals and the scope of the whole project. Stakeholders on both sides are defined as well as detailed responsibilities and milestones to measure progress.

All efforts, which are already known at this stage of the project are listed in this document.

This "Customer Implementation Concept" outlines all results from the technical evaluation until this point in time, mainly resulting from the workshop. It contains all results from the initialization phase, as well as all already known topics, to be discussed and analyzed in the future.

This is a "living document" as well in that it is updated during the project to reflect the current state of affairs.

Concept Phase

The "Concept Phase" is the first one, after the joint project has started formally. During this phase, the basic implementation like installation of hardware starts, but most important, all necessary detailed concepts are created and finalized.

During this phase it is decided what exactly will be done by whom and when.

The Customer Implementation Concept from the Initialization phase will be finalized. All tasks to be done by OX PS are documented and offered in (seperate) SOWs.

Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:

  • Detail-Workshops for all complex integration topics, to finalize the Concept paper
  • Time Planing and Milestones will be agreed on
  • Resources are planned to define the responsibilities for each task
  • Budget and associated costs are fixed
  • Quality Management and Risk Management starts in this phase

Tools in Concept Phase

  • The Customer Implementation Concept from the first phase will be enhanced and is used as a living document to contain all known and discussed technical details. This document will be used throughout the whole project. So it is a very important source of information not only for implementation, also post-implementation as part of the system documentation.
  • A Requirements Checklist will be introduced in this phase, which is used to track all open topics and issues. All closed topics will be moved to an "archive" to obtain a complete documentation of all project topics, as well as to be used for approval testing.

The "Work Breakdown Structure" is a tree-like view on all known topics "work items" known at the recent point in time. A template, based on OX project experience, is used during the workshops as starting point. Then the WBS will be enhanced in all workshops and discussions to build a tree, which is as complete, as possible.

  • SOWs will be created for all topics, when implementation or customization is requested from the OX team. Each topic will be tracked in on separate SOW, to keep the process as transparent as possible.

Implementation Phase

Within the "Implementation Phase" everything that was planned before will be realized, like the name says. However, in reality there always is an overlap in Concept Phase and Implementation Phase.

Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:

  • Installation / Configuration of the live-system
  • Integration into infrastructure
  • Customization, Branding, Theming
  • Documentation
  • Quality Management
  • Change Management
  • Training (Admin, Support, Sales)


Tools in the Implementation Phase

Typically all tools from the former phase will be used to track the implementation process.

Approval Phase

During this last phase in the project, everything that was realized will be verified and approved against the documented requirements. After approval the launch process start, recommended in several steps, beginning with a soft-launch.

Typical activities and topics in this phase are as follows:

  • Testing, manually and automated
  • System- and Configuration Review
  • Soft-Launch
  • Migration
  • Training (Admin, Support, Sales)* Handover to Support
  • Documentation including architecture, setup, test-accounts, etc.
  • Project retrospective
  • Handover to Open-Xchange support

Tools

  • Requirements Checklist ... This list produced during the concept phase contains agreed upon and done items. These will be used in this phase to verify the correct implementation of all topics.