From project to journey
In a typical PIM implementation project, there are different project phases, the ultimate goal of which is for the customer to go-live with the solution. These project phases are typically:
- Discovery phase;
- Build phase;
- Validation and training phase;
- Go-live phase;
- Warranty phase.
After the warranty phase, there may be a maintenance phase depending on customization and the customer’s team. We may meet with the customer regularly to catch up and sign a new contract when a new version of the PIM is to be released. Again, this was all fine in the age of being a technical integrator.
With our new PXM approach, we’re adding new services to our portfolio and changing the structure of our PXM projects. Again, depending on the customer, a typical PXM project may look like:
- PXM ideation phase;
- Kick-off phase;
- Discovery phase;
- Integration and build phase;
- Training and validation phase;
- Go-live phase;
- Nurture phase.
In reality, ‘project’ terminology does not fit in this new approach and it may need reworking to adapt to our PXM customer journey.
Helping our customers to create a vision of their PXM
As you can see in the phases described above, we are taking a more holistic approach. We begin by supporting our customer to create a vision of their PXM and identifying all the stakeholders. By creating a vision, we challenge our customers to set (ambitious) goals and to adopt a compass to navigate through the seas of implementation. This vision is then translated into a roadmap and possibly a PXM backlog. By doing this, we can facilitate the change management needed within companies in order to work towards turning this ambitious goal into reality. It also allows our customers to think on a strategic level about their PXM, resulting in PXM implementation that is genuinely supported by the entire company rather than one or two departments. Synergy is created. In this PXM ideation phase, customers and vendors are included, involving all stakeholders and making sure what is being implemented actually adds value for everyone. It also reduces the risk of tunnel vision, as it becomes less about the tools themselves and more about the benefits for stakeholders.
After this ideation phase, all the required applications have been identified and the timing of when to add these applications to the IT landscape has been clarified. The following five phases (from kick-off to go-live) are repeated throughout the delivery of the roadmap and for each application. Depending on the customer, some projects run in parallel. One example is our work on use cases where companies are multi-OPCO and multi-region. We began the MVP for the next OPCO or region after the previous MVP (single OPCO, single region) had been delivered, speeding up the roll-out throughout the organization.
In the nurture phase, the aim is continuous improvement, supporting our customers to reach their goals, in line with their vision of PXM. This support is co-created with our vendors, to maximize the result for our customer. This is unique, as we are the only Akeneo partner to provide this service (that we know of!).
