We aim to be there well after the project is completed and have been live for a number of years. Our Consultants have extensive and long standing relationships with customers, some of which extend over more than a decade or two.

Our consultancy services can include:

Informed requirements gathering

– Tailored RFI Questionnaires

– Vendor Evaluation and selection

– Post Implementation Reviews

– Critical review of new projects and completed implementations

We have undertaken large UAT programs for our clients spanning months and including feedback cycles, iterations to configuration and sign off, we are also experienced in the short UAT cycle and are happy to help in either case. We are not afraid to tell you if you’re not ready for UAT or Go-Live.

A new system can be stressful, and having no consulting resource on-site can make things worse. Usually systems go live after a new month start, this means that the users start to become familiar with it during normal BAU, however, the real issue of nervousness and stress arise on the first month end. We will work with you to retain presence at month end, either on-site or remotely

Staff turnover can be difficult to predict and more difficult to cover, new staff may not have adequate CODA knowledge and little handover. This is often the start of what we term as “diminishing knowledge and diminishing ROI”. The new person only does what they are told and then “limitations” on functionality creep in. Soon there is a drop in usage of previously “configured” functionality and a return to basic methods to do the same, these are often manual or excel based and take the user out of a controlled system environment and into areas where there is more risk. Many of our assignments are based on this scenario. If we have designed and built the system we will probably have left some adequate training on site. If not then we can effectively cover hand holding and on-site and in-situ training. We regularly undertake workshops for clients where there has been a high staff turnover and we able to increase the productivity of users by making them aware of functionality that they regularly avoid for fear of not knowing what is does.

We have covered a number of post implementation reviews, some shortly after go-live and others where the business has changed or out grown the existing configuration. We have been able to advise on a course of action to align the business and CODA-Financials either through solution re-engineering or bespoke software development or both. We cover:

High level solution reviews – where the business has grown and needs more analytical capabilities
In depth solution reviews – where the functionality was not been enabled in the original project and there is a need to understand the impact of enabling it now.
Critical Solution Reviews – will the current system help you move forward
Our Independence mean that if the software vendors “proposed” solution is weaker than open market competition then we will advise accordingly

Critical review of new projects and completed implementations
Project oversight – we can help review project timelines, resources and budgets with an independent insight into the realities of financial solutions and systems.
Seemingly quick implementations – we have advised some clients on the reality of seemingly quick implementations when the client expected considerably longer, e.g. 20 days when in reality it is significantly longer.
Excessive time to implement, where the implementation team have been given an excessive time line, sometime this is due to the non-availability of resources or not knowing the application in depth.
Guidance on design and build – we have a strong background in offering guidance on projects that require less SME days because of in-house experts and are willing to help on key points as they arise in the project.
Our method of engagement varies with each client, some have used the team at LEVEL8 in the pre-sales cycle when CODA is being evaluated so that the sales pitch can be broken down into “real” deliverables. We have also advised clients on the suitability of designs of their CODA system. Chart of Accounts evaluation and re-engineering projects are common and we can often find a smarter way of designing the system. We also bring our experience of bespoke development for key process bottlenecks and can apply this to potential situations in any new project. This helps smooth out the buy-in process for any new system.

We aim to work with you and the vendor. We establish strong, trusted relationships with all of our clients and then use our extensive network of CODA employees past and present to ensure that we help you deliver the system that fits your organisation.

We work hand in hand with Unit4 on the technical side, in-fact we use their technical resources so that there are no on-going issues. Our partnership approach is that if Unit4 are involved then they will help resolve any technical issues. As for business processes review and design in CODA, we have a strong working relationship with Unit4 and will ensure that they have an overview of any design so that they can support the application going forward. This approach has been developed because of other consultancies creating poorly designed applications which cause problems for the client and Unit4. In some cases these have led to early re-implementation by Unit4 themselves.

Rest assured that the Unit4 way of design is a result of many years of hard work by amongst others the team at LEVEL8. We have written many of the guides and design documents that have been used as reference points to develop the process and an efficient design.