Success by Design
Solution Blueprint Review
An Overview of Solution Blueprint Review
Solution Blueprint Review
Why?
• Ensure that the solution scope and details are understood in a structured manner
• Ensure that the solution design concepts are sound
• Drive communication within the implementation team
• Prevent issues and mitigate risks at an early stage of the project
• Provide a baseline understanding to plan other Success by Design activities on
When?
• The Solution Blueprint review should be run at or near the project start or the
Initiate phase of the project, just before the primary implementation activities
start
How?
• At the minimum, the implementation team must be prepared to share the
information in the available Solution Blueprint template
• If the implementation team pushes back, remind them the Solution Blueprint
Review is the first step in process and provides context for all other guidance
and offer to discuss the high-risk gaps in the review
• Prepare and detail the Solution Blueprint in a common template that the
FastTrack team provides
• Present and discuss the details of the Solution Blueprint with FastTrack team
• Collaborate with the FastTrack team in identifying risks and potential issues
existing in the Solution
• Take on actionable insights back to the Solution, to reduce the risk and address
the issues
Solution Blueprint Review Process
Understand the steps from beginning to end
KNOW Make sure that you are familiar with the review topics, items and questions that
1
you will cover in the workshop.
Determine the required inputs, attendees, and execution mode… then get it
2 PLAN
scheduled.
3 EXECUTE Review the input materials and conduct the workshop to collect your findings.
Produce the findings from the review, classify them as issues risks and
4 PRODUCE
assertions and provide recommendations.
Review a draft of the findings and recommendations with the implementation
5 REVIEW
team.
6 PUBLISH Publish the finalized findings and recommendations
Work with the implementation team to ensure risks are mitigated and issues are
7 FOLLOW UP
resolved.
Breaking down barriers to participation
Solution Blueprint Review is the first step in process and provides context for all other guidance and offer to
discuss the high-risk gaps in the solution blueprint review
Most projects have a scope, budget and target go-live date defined as part of the
engagement agreement that the customer has with their implementation partner.
We’re not ready to The presence of these implies the existence of at least a conceptual solution and
implementation approach. This forms the basis of the blueprint.
review the blueprint
yet…. we just started the
project… • If we are missing scope, budget or target go-live date there we have inherent risk.
• If we have scope, budget or target go-live date with out a conceptual solution
design we have inherent risk
We expect big changes This is another way of saying that we have no confidence in the conceptual solution
following analysis and and by proxy the scope, budget and target go-live date.
solution modeling.
Let’s wait until we get • It is critical that all parties involved have the same understanding of the state of the
through those activities solution. Doing a blueprint review will help reinforce that understanding and
to review the blueprint… define non-negotiable constants that cannot change during analysis and solution
modeling
Planning for the Solution Blueprint Review
Solution Blueprint Review Preparation
Prepare for the workshop by gathering the details of the solution such as:
Data Strategy
Process Catalog Deployment Locations
(Entities / Migration Scope)
Integration Strategy
Process Block Diagram Project Charter
(Interface Register)
Analytical Data Aggregation
Application Diagram Project Plan / Schedule
(Scope)
Key Gaps Environment Strategy Responsibility Matrix
ALM Strategy System Usage Profiles Test Plan / Strategy
Business Unit / Legal Entity
Production Instance Strategy Security Strategy
Structure
How long does a solution blueprint review workshop
take?
Workshop Duration Differs By Project
8 Hours + OAG and CE Apps
8 Hours Multiple OAG Apps
7 Hours Dynamics Finance
Dynamics HR
6 Hours
5 Hours
4 Hours
Multiple CE Apps Time
3 Hours
2 Hours Single CE App
1 Hour
Other Factors
On FastTrack engagements for customers
How much is known up front? investing $100K - $300K, the Microsoft
How early in the project is the workshop? FastTrack architect does not attend this
How complex is the implementation? workshop. Microsoft FastTrack spends
approximately 45 minutes reviewing the
How standard is the approach? workshop outcomes.
Solution Blueprint Workshop Execution Modes
Option 1 - Onsite Option 2 - Remote
Delivering the When executed
workshop onsite Session 1 remotely via Teams the Session 1 Session 2
and in person can Program Strategy workshop can be Program Strategy Business Process Strategy
be a great way of broken up into smaller
meeting the Test Strategy sessions that can be Test Strategy
implementation more flexibly scheduled
Business Process Strategy
team and building over the course of a few
a working Application Strategy days.
relationship.
Data Strategy This example shows
When done onsite how you might break
Integration Strategy Session 3 Session 4
the workshop is down an 8-hour review
generally Intelligence Strategy into multiple 2 hours Application Strategy Intelligence Strategy
compressed into a sessions.
single session Security Strategy Data Strategy Security Strategy
with a set agenda
ALM Strategy Integration Strategy ALM Strategy
to allow subject
matter experts to Environment & Capacity Strategy Environment & Capacity Strategy
join as needed.
Workshop Participants
Mandatory As Needed
Partner Subject Matter
Customer Project Manager
Experts
Team members in
implementation leadership
Customer Subject Matter roles should plan to attend
Customer Architect the entire review.
Experts
Team members with
specialist roles may only
Partner Project Manager
attend sessions specific to
their role.
Partner Architect Workshops that exceed 10-
12 participants may
struggle with efficiency.
For $100K - $300K customer implementations, the partner organization should provide both the architect that is responsible for the implementation
as well as an architect that is responsible for conducting Success By Design for the implementation. These are not the same person.
Executing the Solution Blueprint Review
Solution Blueprint Review Execution Tips
Balance Breadth and Depth “I don’t know” is a Finding No Partial Reviews
Go deep enough to find a Not covering something is The solution blueprint is by
problem. Don’t solve it in different then asking and not design a wholistic exercise to
the workshop. getting an answer establish context
• Its better to get through • If the team is not ready • The solution blueprint
each topic at a high level to discuss a topic at all establishes a baseline on
than 1 topic in detail the assumption should which you base the rest
• Once you identify the be that there is no plan of the program
risk or issue move on in that area. • It is risky to provide
• “Parking Lot” large areas • Lack of the ability to advice on any topic
of uncertainty for follow make an assertion without context
deep dives means there is
uncertainty.
Solution Blueprint Content
The Workshops The Questions The Patterns
Workshops and Inspection points to allows The knowledge that can be
engagements to create us to activate the shared to drive impact for
opportunity for impact opportunities customer success
The following section provides examples of key points within each topic and some of the elements that a reviewer might be looking for. These are not an
exhaustive list of questions. The baseline questions are meant as a starting point to drive a conversation in which there will be opportunities to discover
potential issues and risks. This conversation will be slightly or significantly different depending on the individual implementation.
Program Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Goals and Objective What does customer success look like?
Governance and Methodology Is there a known methodology in place?
Project Schedule Is it realistic?
Are we gathering “to-be” requirements from
Requirement Gathering Approach the right sources in the business?
Do we have the right process and tools in
Requirement Management Approach place to manage requirements and
traceability?
Test Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Approach Are the right types of tests planned?
Has enough time been allotted to be
Duration
successful?
Is the testing happening at the right
Schedule
times?
Responsibility Are the responsibilities clear?
Are the responsible parties capable of
Preparedness
performing testing?
Business Process Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Are there risks around what is being
Scope
implemented?
Is the process architecture known and
Structure
structured?
How is process used in the
Management
management of the solution?
Are there factors that complicate the
Complexity
process architecture?
Application Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Which ones and how are the going to
New Packaged Components
be used?
Which ones and how are the going to
Legacy Components
be used?
New Developed Components What and why?
Data Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Do we know what master data will be
Master Data
managed in the system?
Do we know what transactions will be
Transactional Data
facilitated in the system?
Do we understand detailed migration
Migration Scope
scope (entity & source)?
Are responsibilities clear and
Migration Approach
responsible parties capable?
Do we have volumes that require
Volumes
special consideration?
Integration Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Do we understand scope at the
Interface Scope
interface level?
Does the team understand the available
Interface Technology Approach
patterns and usage?
Do we know the key non-functional
Throughput and Response Time
requirements?
Is there a solid design for integration
Middleware
management?
Intelligence Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Is there a clear scope of the use of BI in
Scope
the solution?
Are requirements tied to process
Requirements Approach
requirements?
Does the design include the use of the
Technology Strategy
latest stable technologies?
Do the needs for sourcing data for BI
Data Sourcing
add complexities and risk?
Security Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Are the capabilities and constraints
Authentication
related to authentication understood?
Are the capabilities and constraints
Network Access
related to network access understood?
Is the scope of compliance
Compliance
requirements understood?
Are the requirements and constraints
Data Residency
related to data residency understood?
Are requirements and constraints
Data Privacy
related to data privacy understood?
Application Lifecycle Management Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Is there a strategy in place that
Preproduction Instance Strategy
supports the project approach?
Does the team have a strategy for the
DevOps
use of DevOps?
Have the requirements and constraints
Continuous Updates
of continuous update been considered?
Is the team aware of operating
Configuration Management
schedules and volumes of the solution?
Environment & Capacity Strategy
What are we talking about? What are we looking for?
Has the number of production instances
Production Instance Strategy
been determined and how?
Business Continuance and Disaster Are the BCDR capabilities of the
Recovery solution components understood?
Are there challenges with in-scope
Location Deployment Scope
deployment locations?
System Volumes and Operating Is there a structured approach to
Schedule managing configurations?
Complete the Solution Blueprint Workshop
Solution Blueprint Outcomes
PRODUCE REVIEW PUBLISH
Partner review architect reviews
Partner review architect publishes
Partner review architect prepares the findings and
the findings and
$100k - $300k findings and recommendations recommendation with the
recommendations to all
and reviews with FastTrack customer and partner
implementation stakeholders
implementation team
FastTrack architect publishes the
FastTrack architect prepares FastTrack architect prepares findings and recommendations
>$300k findings and recommendations findings and recommendations to all implementation
stakeholders
Thank you!
