Technical Discovery

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You know it’s time for a change. A new system promises optimized technology, added efficiency and more automation. But how do you get from A to Z? How do you make literally hundreds of decisions to ensure you are building on the very best platform with the very best extensions and integrations for your unique operation?

From large and impactful decisions like which platform to align with and how best to integrate third party services, such as your ERP, to smaller decisions like which particular extensions or apps to use, so many choices are at play when planning a migration or other complex technical feature for your site. Our technical discovery process is designed to:

  • Dramatically increase the likelihood of selecting the optimal platform and extensions for your project
  • Build the strongest foundation for your business for years to come
  • Lower the chances for oversights down the line by fully articulating the plan up-front
  • Decrease unknowns and shorten the timeline for implementation
  • Serve as great foundation for building a long term client/development team partnership

The two main facets of our technical discovery process typically include in-depth analysis of both your ecommerce and your operations.

Ecommerce
The ecommerce phase includes the development of a specifications document outlining the functional requirements and user-experience features of your ecommerce store. The document will include an analysis of platform fit. Choosing a platform is one of the foremost goals of your particular discovery. We will work with you to catalog existing features and determine which should persist into the new build. We will also be happy to assess and estimate wishlist items and new features and help you develop a phased approach to implementing them.

Operations
In the operations phase of our discovery process, we’ll explore these five facets:

  • Inventory management
  • Order fulfillment & shipping
  • Purchasing
  • Sales channels
  • Accounting & reporting

We interview key stakeholders with insight into each of these five areas of your business. These interviews are designed to help us understand the overall landscape of your operations while raising awareness of some of the more complex elements of systems integration, so that they can be addressed as early in the process as possible.

The outcome is a fully-articulated, vetted and well thought-out roadmap
that answers the following:

  • What will my minimum viable product (MVP) look like? Including: platform fit analysis, analysis of apps/extensions/modules required to meet operations needs, analysis of 3rd party integrations and their potential roles in the project, infrastructure notes and specs.
  • How does the solution fit within my budget and timeline? Are there pieces of the project that can be phased in to get to market quicker and on budget?
  • Have I considered all stakeholder and administrator needs in the solution?
  • Does this solution create a solid foundation for my long-term business goals?
  • Have I considered the technical limitations and possibilities of all software with which I am choosing to align my business?

Time after time, this process has been the foundation of successful project launches and platforms that emerge ready for growth.

During our technical discovery process with Command C, we gained valuable insight into our current technology. Through their unbiased approach and analysis, Command C uncovered many challenges, and then provided a clear roadmap of possible solutions to help us overcome them.

– Amanda Busch, NYC Bar Legal Referral Service