Have you just decided that you would like to have a competent partner with whom you can realize your ideas and visions for your company? I’m happy to tell you that you’ve come to the right place! Whether you want to sell a product, are looking for an Identity and Access Management implementation for your company or customers or want to implement an agile project – we will actively support you in your endeavors. By the way: We have already talked about the five reasons for an Identity and Access Management solution here.
To do so, many companies implement a multi-level plan – instead, we focus on the so-called Minimum Viable Product (MVP) so that you can use your solution as quickly as possible. But what exactly is an MVP? Let me explain.
The Idea Behind the Minimum Viable Product
An MVP is a term coined in Lean Startup, a concept used in business and product development method with the aim to shorten product development cycles. The idea behind an MVP is creating an actual product with very minimal requirements so that customers can use it as soon as possible. Eric Ries, who introduced the concept of the MVP, defines the MVP as “that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
Working with a Minimum Viable Product not only minimizes development time, but also leads to earlier testing of the implementation. However, the MVP does not imply that this is all about a minimal product. On the contrary, an MVP does create quite some overhead due to testing the implementation. There’s still the need for a lot of communication with the customer, as well as analytics, metrics, and fine adjustments of the product.
We at amiconsult work with MVPs because we aim to have quick delivery and ample time for feedback loops. What sets us apart from many other consultants and experts is that we work in short cycles so that we receive immediate feedback from the customer. This is important for us to assess whether we are on the right track and perfectly realize your wishes. Additionally, this feedback provides us with the necessary insight to confidently prepare for the next cycle. More on that now.
How and Why We Work with Minimum Viable Products
Many companies devote a lot of time to consulting – while that surely is important, we aim to keep that exploration phase to a minimum to build the MVP as quickly as possible and to provide a fast and efficient solution. In this explore phase, we discuss the desired product with the customer, as well as an architect from our side. We speak about your goals and all involved challenges. We also touch upon areas that need improvements.
The MVP often consists of the Active Directory, Human Resources and critical business systems. In fact, these are usually the three systems that you ideally start with. Once these have been introduced, the rest can be implemented. This is where you configure, test and document everything regarding the new system. One important thing must not be forgotten: This is also where the go-live is carefully planned. This is crucial since the change affects all users and, as we all know, people are creatures of habit: You must communicate this well and implement it correctly. We want people to accept the “new”.
When you work with us, you will mainly deal with our experts David, Julia and Hannes – they will take care of your project with full speed. Julia describes her motivation behind our involvement as follows:
Projects often get hung up on poor planning. Usually the scope of the individual steps is too large or the feedback cycle is not agile. That’s why we always focus on the smallest possible “bits” to get a visible result that we can use to develop further in a meaningful way.
(Julia Weiler, amiconsult, 2022)
And Then What?
After having implemented the Minimum Viable Product it’s no longer just about driving the project forward, but also about running the system. Everything that has been planned and newly built must now survive in everyday life.
Now, it is primarily a matter of closely observing the system in operation, making fine adjustments and continuously improving it, as well as, further anchoring it in the company by, for example, onboarding other systems, identities, etc. An effectively managed change process is just as important as well-functioning monitoring and fast, adequate incident handling.
Once the system has survived the day-to-day test, the planning for follow-up projects must begin immediately in order to exploit all the strengths of a deployed solution or to completely shut down legacy systems. And then, you’re ready to use your new system to your heart’s content in its entirety.
We at amiconsult value fast communication channels, aim to involve customers closely in the project, desire feedback regularly and readjust the project’s implementation as much as necessary, so that you are satisfied with the product. This is how we add value and achieve remarkable results. If this article has caught your interest, why don’t you let us know by contacting us? We are happy to help you with the implementation you have been planning for a while now and just haven’t found the right partner for yet.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
