A major NZ retailer – Dynamics 365 CRM and Azure Data Lake Migration
Background
Our client had embarked on a multi-million dollar programme to migrate their back-office financial and business management solution from an on-premise and legacy Finance & Operations system to Dynamics 365 in the cloud, and to migrate their business intelligence solution from a legacy Data Warehouse to an Azure Data Lake Gen 2 solution utilising data pipelines, analytical services and the Microsoft Power Platform in the cloud for ad-hoc data visualisation and operational dashboards. However, the cloud transition stalled during the UAT stage due to issues in data migration, organisational change and quality assurance.
Luminate was engaged to review the progress of the cloud transition, to recommend an action plan to recover the programme, and to lead the programme to completion.
Type of engagement
Project Advisory / Consulting
Approach
Luminate’s 5-step Project Recovery process allowed us to evaluate the client’s cloud transition against the original objectives and to recommend an action plan to expedite the delivery, as follows:
- Acceptance and definition – review the client’s cloud transition objectives, identify what “good” looks like, establish the success criteria.
- Assurance framework – review cloud transition plans, architecture, designs, budget, resourcing processes, governance and stakeholders, and compare to the objectives and success criteria.
- Action planning – identify the underlying obstacles to successful cloud transition, validate with stakeholders, research and develop options (including SOW estimates) for execution of remedial activity.
- Review and acceptance – formal submission of options plan, discussion of options and rationale to deliver greatest value, coordinate decision-making process, agree recovery plan.
- Execution – provide refined execution plan including roles and responsibilities, authority to execute, success criteria and benefits realisation plan.
Key outcomes / Benefits
The engagement delivered the following to the client:
- A project review report focusing on pragmatic delivery, allowing a clear understanding of the required drivers for success and the obstacles that were preventing it.
- A change in approach from functional-led to process-led, shifting the focus of the cloud transition from technical integration to the delivery of business outcomes based on well- understood process maps.
- A revised pragmatic recovery plan including the assumptions and risks for delivery of scope, schedule and budget.
The engagement successfully identified the obstacles to cloud transition, established remedial processes, and aligned the delivery team and stakeholders to a pragmatic action plan with defined success criteria.
The client subsequently engaged Luminate to lead the cloud transition programme on an ongoing basis. The programme is back on track towards its strategic delivery objectives.
A major NZ transport company – Loyalty Programme Software-as- a-Service
Background
Our client is midway through a multi-million dollar, multi-year programme to migrate their customer loyalty programme from an on-premise, custom-built legacy solution to a best-in-class Software-as- a-Service solution in the cloud. The new SaaS solution will run out of the Amazon Web Services Sydney data centre and integrate with the client’s front-end mobile applications, back-office application components and data warehouse business intelligence platform.
Luminate was engaged to lead the cloud transition programme from end to end, establishing executive governance over the transition and an agile, value-based, business-driven delivery framework.
Type of engagement
Programme Leadership
Approach
Luminate’s N+1 capability framework allowed us to provide the right staff to thrive in the client’s highly agile business culture, and our pragmatic Agile approach allowed us to customise a delivery methodology to drive the success of the engagement utilising a mixture of in-house resources and multiple suppliers.
We led the creation of the business case and established a client Steering Committee, accountable to the executive-level investment forum, which controls and oversees the client’s cloud strategy. We defined and established a multi-year value-based roadmap with a prioritised release schedule to ensure cloud objectives and deliverables translated into strategic business outcomes. After detailing the business, digital and cloud requirements to meet the strategic objectives for the loyalty programme we went to market with an RFP that went out to global vendors specialising in providing Loyalty programme Software-as-a-Service. After selecting the successful vendor and negotiating the ongoing partnership we set up Agile squads to carry out the end-to-end design, implementation, data migration and cutover work which was planned out in 3 monthly programme increments. The architecture squad created the new cloud target architecture state, mapping the SaaS solution functionality back to the business requirements. The cloud architecture squad worked around the constraints of the legacy on-premise architecture and established the connectivity solution for the challenges of data cleansing and migration. The squad also designed the Extract, Transfer and Load solution to migrate on-premise data into the new SaaS solution using the client’s on-premise data warehouse to create the Customer Business Tables required to be ingested in to the AWS hosted Software as a Service. Each quarterly programme increment has resulted in a Production release and the migration of on-premise data and functionality to the cloud; we carried out System Demonstrations at the end of every sprint as a playback with key stakeholders to demonstrate continuous delivery.
Key outcomes / Benefits
The engagement has so far delivered to the client:
- A multi-year, multi-million dollar business case strategic investment decision approved by the clients Executive Programme Forum for a new Loyalty Cloud-based solution
- Agile governance and business prioritisation processes, tightly coupled to the client’s cloud strategy
- A high-value partnership with a long-term Software-as-a-Service cloud solution provider
- Agile programme delivery framework and agile teams, demonstrating continuous delivery to the cloud platform via sprint playbacks
- Realisation of the client’s Digital cloud architecture strategy which will ultimately improve competitive advantage, drive revenue growth, improve customer satisfaction, retire technical debt and reduce security risk.
Luminate remains engaged by the client to lead the customer loyalty cloud transition programme to completion.
A major NZ insurer – Dynamics 365 CRM Implementation
Background
Our client had identified a business need to consolidate multiple, legacy, on-premise relationship management systems into an enterprise CRM and workflow management solution. After evaluating several cloud solutions the client decided to transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM.
Luminate was engaged to create the Business Case, help choose the cloud solution, engage the implementation partner and manage the project delivery through to successful transition.
Type of engagement
Project Leadership
Approach
Luminate’s Project Kick Start Process allowed the client to fast-track the Business Case approval with reliable and robust project initiation. After completing the initiation and securing the project funding we established a client Steering Committee to govern the cloud transition. We went to market with a lean RFP process to select a Microsoft Gold Partner to implement, customise and migrate to a new Dynamics 365 CRM cloud tenancy. As a niche consultancy Luminate is used to engaging smoothly with multiple vendors on the same projects. After selecting the implementation partner, we built, formed and fostered collaborative working relationships between the implementation partner, other vendors, and the client’s own staff. We oversaw and coordinated the efforts of multiple teams to design the cloud architecture, to develop new functionality, processes, workflow and automation that leveraged the capabilities of Dynamics 365’s apps and online services, train the users, and cut over live operation to the new cloud solution.
Key outcomes / Benefits
The engagement delivered to the client:
- Robust and rapid project initiation and fast-track Business Case approval.
- A high-value partnership with a Microsoft Gold Certified implementation partner.
- Smooth working relationships and effective delivery from multi-vendor, cross-functional teams.
- Successful consolidation of multiple, legacy on-premise systems and migration to a Software-as-a-Service Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM cloud solution which ultimately improved adviser monitoring and oversight, reduced key person risk, improved team efficiency and improved data quality and reporting.
The client subsequently engaged Luminate to return for the next stage of their cloud transition journey.