To-Increase Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics Collaborative Development Project Agreement Your Growth. Our Goal. w w w. t o - i n c r e a s e. c o m
Product: Collaborative Development Project Agreement Company: To-Increase B.V. Date: December 2009 Copyright 2009 To-Increase B.V. All rights reserved. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of To-Increase B.V. To-Increase B.V. assumes no liability for any damages incurred, directly or indirectly, from any errors, omissions or discrepancies between the software and the information contained in this document. 2
To-Increase Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics Collaborative Development Project Agreement Collaborative Development Project Agreement
Overview This document describes the collaborative development agreement and outlines how it works within an implementation project. The intended audience for this document is customers, project managers, sales executives, and pre-sales consultants. Purpose of Collaborative Development Collaborative development is a project agreement between a Microsoft Dynamics customer, their Microsoft implementation partner, and To-Increase as the ISV. The purpose of the agreement is to further develop specific new functionality or features that are relevant to a To-Increase solution or add-on. The relationship between partners and customers/prospects is illustrated below: Prospects, Customers MBS & IB Marketing Strategy Partners Component board ( P R E ) S A L E S R E S E A R C H Solutions Board Architecture Board Development Marketing Distribution & Professional Services Prospects and Customers A customer or a prospect is a current or soon-to-be licensee of the Microsoft Dynamics AX or Microsoft Dynamics NAV business management solution. Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) and IB (Industry Builder) Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) is the name of the core organization that develops, extends, and supports Microsoft Dynamics solutions. An industry builder is an MBS Microsoft Dynamics development partner that is responsible for creating a vertical solution for a specific industry, as well as customizing, maintaining, and supporting the solution. To-Increase is an industry builder for Microsoft Dynamics solutions. Partners Partners are the organizations that implement Microsoft Dynamics solutions for customers. 4
Solution Board The Solution Board is a virtual department that is operated by selected employees and a product manager for a specific industry. The Board can work with a customer or prospect and their partner to determine the direction of the To-Increase solution as well as features that could be added or enhanced. As soon as the specifications are well-defined, the Architecture Board reviews and rejects or approves the project. When approval is granted, the collaborative development project begins. Architecture Board The Architecture Board is a virtual department that is operated mainly by the CTO and the product managers of To-Increase. The Architecture Board grants final approval of the proposed collaborative development agreement based on the details comprising the solution. The Collaborative Development Experience The collaborative development project results in a new set of features to be developed for To-Increase solutions or add-ons. To-Increase brings the following solutions and add-ons to the market: P R O D U C T S T R A T E G Y NAV AX Job Management Time Registration Order Management Manufacturing Service Management Discrete Mfg Retail WMS and Distribution Civil Construction Connectivity Studio Web Services Studio Notification Mgmt Document Enchange Replication Mgmt Data Collection Connectivity Studio Web Services Studio EDI Studio DMS Business Analytics Studio Data Collection Studio Studio Smart Client Common Business Integration Architecture Office CRM Mobile Due to the unique requirements of an individual company, industry-vertical solutions can usually meet between 85-to-95 percent of the company s needs. In most cases, the remaining 5-to-15 percent of the company s requirements are met by customizations. Collaborative Development Project Agreement
When it s discovered that the solution does not meet a specific customer requirement, an answer is determined by one of two options: Customization Collaborative development Either option leads to the same resolution determining the features the customer or prospect requires. Further analysis often indicates a few fundamental differences between customizations and the original collaborative development agreement. Customization versus Collaborative Development The following table illustrates how the two processes relate to each other from the view of a customer or prospect. Criteria Customizations Collaboration Costs and investments Number of partners involved for a customer or prospect 1 2 Support impact and costs during the system s life cycle HIGH LOW Maintenance impact and costs during the system s life cycle HIGH LOW Upgrade impact and costs during the system s life cycle HIGH LOW Total cost during the systems life cycle HIGH LOW Responsibility and ownership customer To-Increase Total development investment HIGH LOW Risk factors Knowledge sustained by partner and ISV during system s life cycle LOW HIGH Project delivery cycle time Low medium Surrounding information Compatibility with new features in future versions of Microsoft Dynamics business solutions NO YES Online documentation no YES Training materials no YES User guides no YES Extensions on a roadmap no YES Part of Microsoft certification no YES The goal of collaborative development is to create a better long-term scenario for the customers, prospects, and partners involved. Choosing collaborative development significantly reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO). For example, if a customer needs a specific function to substitute parts in Engineering Change Management, and the feature is not part of the current industry or vertical solution, it must be developed by customization or collaborative agreement. The following chart illustrates the days each option requires to resolve the problem. 6
Costs and Investment Estimates Customizations Collaboration Development investment 20 days 20 days Support impact and costs during system life cycle annually 5 days 1 day Maintenance impact and costs during system life cycle annually 5 days 1 day Upgrade impact and costs during system life cycle annually 10 days 3 day Total annual development investment 20 days 5 days The annual time savings by using funded development is 15 days per year. The time savings using customizations is zero. Because To-Increase will incorporate the developed features into a standard solution, a customization ultimately becomes a feature of that solution. Customers that pay maintenance and subscription fees will benefit significantly from the updated solution, because they don t need to worry about paying for expensive upgrades every time Microsoft releases a new version or service pack, which currently occurs approximately every two years. Collaborative Development Process The process of collaborative development follows the same steps as Microsoft SureStep in that it can become part of a partner s implementation methodology. The methodology is based on the concept shown below: Partners can download information about SureStep at: https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/partneressentials/serviceplans/surestep/consulting_surestep_methodology. htm?printpage=false Collaborative Development Project Agreement
Collaborative Development Agreement When functionality for a To-Increase Solution needs to be developed for a customer or prospect, a project agreement needs to be created between To-Increase and the partner. Usually an end-customer is not involved in this process. Project Definition The project definition is determined by To-Increase, the implementation partner, and the customer or prospect. It contains a scope of work, which is then translated into a cost proposal. The partner usually organizes project definition meetings. Intellectual Property (IP) Ownership To-Increase will retain ownership of the developed solution so it can be absorbed and supported into future releases. Investments Because To-Increase is retaining the IP, a price model around the development investment can be discussed. To-Increase offers a reduced price model for collaborative development. This means that the customer will benefit from an investment that s less than what s required for customizations. 8
Collaborative Development Project Agreement
Contact e-mail adresses sales@to-increase.com info@to-increase.com The Netherlands (HQ) To-Increase BV Kazemat 2 3905 NR Veenendaal T +31 (0)318 531 900 F +31 (0)318 531 901 info@to-increase.com www.to-increase.com Your Growth. Our Goal. w w w. t o - i n c r e a s e. c o m