Zoom in on what you know and diagnose the As-Is
We often jump to making a great solution without spending enough time on the problem. Your OTC aspiration and impact case might define your issues; however, you need to break down your entire process into specific detailed steps and understand the following within each step:
- What happens in this step, and who does it?
- What is the data input to this step, and who provides it?
- What is the output of this step, and who uses it?
- What are the systems used, and how do they interface?
- How much time is value-adding, how much time is wasted, and how often is the step done “first time right”?
These insights are created by engaging with process owners and stakeholders within each specific step and will provide you with an understanding of the handshakes that take place throughout the process and the review of quality and adherence to the collaboration model. Also, you will gain insights into the data flows from one step to the next, and more specifically, whether the data is considered master data (data on customers, products and employees) or transactional data (data on orders, delivery and invoices). The questions you cannot answer will be your pool of issues which need to be addressed and improved in the To-Be solution design.