Phlo System’s 40-Point Plan for Customer Success
For any CTRM/CM vendor, implementation and support can be a key differentiator. I recently spoke with Jasmine Assan of Phlo Systems about its implementation approach and much more. Jasmine is product manager for OpsPhlo, Phlo System’s Commodity Management solution, and also a business analyst. “I oversee the implementation of the solution at clients, any customizations and integration that needs to happen and provide implementation support,” she told me. That prompted me to ask about implementation and how Phlo Systems approaches it.
Phlo has developed an implementation methodology, and it is a 40-step process she told me. It starts with a pre-implementation discovery phase – basically a project initiation and planning that looks at all aspects of how to get the project started, staffed, managed and scoped. An aspect of this part of the project is to determine which modules are essential for the go live. One aspect of Phlo’s approach is to get the basic system up and running as soon as possible. This will involve in part, configuring the solution in terms of things like commodities, markets, accounting practices and so on, she told me. “The idea is to define a core solution to get them started with.” Points of integration and APIs are also examined at this stage.
The next phase involves data migration and planning primarily, she told me. “It’s very important to ensure that the data is cleansed and enriched as well as redefine for OpsPhlo use if necessary,” she said. “This phase often involves lots of data mapping, cleansing and migration testing including the APIs.” Another phase involves looking at user roles, process flows and understanding what might be changing with the implementation. This also informs the training side of the project. “After UAT, the system then goes live and this all takes 6 to 8 weeks depending on what is being configured and what is part of the go-live.”
For Jasmine, communication is essential in terms of making implementation a success. Understanding the requirements and end goal and how to ensure little disruption to the business are all key points of communication she said. Another key area is change management and successfully onboarding users to ensure system utilization. “It’s really all about managing people,” she said. One aspect of this is being able to replan if something goes wrong and timelines or resourcing needs change due to adding new requirements or similar. Yet another in getting users to adopt the new solution as often there is a reluctance to learn a new system and to change generally.
The process that Phlo uses is based on the collective experience of more than a dozen successful implementations it has done to date, she told me. Taking a modular approach certainly helps reducing initial complexity for the users. “We have learned how to phase out certain features and functions to minimize project risks,” she said. “However, we also try to be very flexible and work with clients in order to establish a long-term partnership based on trust.” And this approach certainly seems to work, she told me, as many older clients continue to add new functionality, commodities, or geography.
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