• The IT Blueprint
  • About the IT Blueprint
  • Vendor Engagement using the IT Blueprint
  • The IT Blueprint and enterprise software development
  • Integrated Modelling and Design in detail
  • Aligning people, business and technology
• High performance user interface design with XPDesign
• Eye Tracking
• Causality: why people do what they do
• Change management
• Standards compliance
• Psychology

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Vendor Engagement using the IT Blueprint

Vendor engagement using the IT Blueprint

The IT Blueprint is exactly like the architect’s blueprint for a new building.  It’s the first thing that’s done before seeking vendors to build it for you.  The IT Blueprint specifies exactly how the application must work to ensure the solution is usable, requires little or no training and makes it easier for people to do their jobs.

With the IT Blueprint, everyone is clear on the end goal.  It has significant benefits for how you achieve successful application development:

• Release the Blueprint to market for vendors and integration partners to quote on.  Because your requirements are now complete and unambiguous, you can easily determine who can actually deliver what you need to run your business effectively.

If there are confidential matters in it, then release it to a restricted group under NDA.  In this case you would release it to both packaged solution and custom development vendors.

• The Blueprint means the prospective vendors can precisely quote on the assignment as they know exactly what is needed and how ‘big’ the application is.  You don’t need to pressure the vendors on price, because they give you a fixed price quote on a fixed piece of work.
• As the project progresses, use the Blueprint to evaluate what is built against what is required.  If the gap analysis is large, you can easily enforce compliance, because you told them exactly what you wanted.  There should be no room for interpretation or misunderstanding.

It’s easy to dismiss the IT Blueprint as too much initial work.  However, the fundamental causes of IT failure are poor requirements and an unusable interface.  It’s the same with building and construction — you don’t start anything until the architect has drawn up the plans.

If you don’t get the requirements right up front, your project ends up experiencing high levels of iteration and multiple releases to get it right.  The ongoing cost to fix problems is easily between 10 and 100 times more expensive than the initial cost, in terms of direct redevelopment costs and lost opportunity.  It is always cheaper to invest properly up front, rather than pay for it many times over at the other end.

The design of the Blueprint usually accounts for a small proportion of the estimated project cost: typically around 10 to 25%.  But the net effect of getting this part right, first time, means that iteration is drastically reduced, as are post launch change requests.  This approach at least halves the total cost of ownership, with everything required available in the first release.