Frequently Asked Questions

Apart from being a great story about survival in the face of adversity, the “successful failure” is the story of how NASA and the 3 astronauts kept cool heads and got Apollo 13 home.  It also provided some key lessons that resonate with what we do and our approach.  The BIG 4 being;

1. Experience takes experience (there is no substitute)
2. Training is the next best thing
3. Assess and manage risks
4. Prioritise and communicate

These are things that we bring to every one of our engagements.  And we’re kind of nerdy.

We pride ourselves on being CCM gurus; we have deep experience with all the major CCM vendor solutions including OpenText Exstream™ xPression and Streamserve; Thunderhead & SmartCOMM’s; Quadient Inspire, PreS, Kofax CCM, Pitney Bowes Doc1 plus a heap of home-grown and custom applications.  When we talk experience we mean more than just we’ve seen the tools or done some training; we mean we’ve either worked for the vendors, implemented and developed on the platform as internal consultants to customers or worked with the vendors as development/implementation partners.

Sure. The Document Process audit or DPA is the first step we think about that sets the baseline for any future CCM/ECM implementation or discrete piece of work.  Its where we gather document and communication-related data across an organisation.  We identify documents, templates, processes, systems and interdependencies.  One thing we know our clients love and that is that it creates an agreed baseline of measurable indicators for process improvement and cost saving.  To find out more, click here.

Research. Research!!  Research!!!

Over many years we have built, modified and refined a methodology known as Dt4d™ – ‘design-thinking for documents.’  Our Dt4d™ process begins with CX research that is based on our research and the literacy of your customer segments.  We seek to understand your current state – do the existing documents fulfil their business purpose.  And there are 3 core things we want to know:

1. Can your customers find what they need?
2. Do they understand what they find?
3. Can they use what they find to act?

For more information on our plain language and visual design practise click here.

Good question.  If Apollo 13 had done thorough Quality Assurance they may have foreseen the possible risks in sending people into space inside a sealed container that is attached to explosives!!

Seriously though, QA is where you have or engage people with experience.  These people; we call ours QA Consultant’s or between us, “QA Ninja’s” 😉 – they know the “gotcha’s” having worked all sides of the fence.  And they know that organisational change sometimes means that IT and the business are not totally aligned. 

When we talk about ‘experience’ we really mean experiences – not just many years doing the same thing but many years doing many different things. 

• We’ve been the vendors (sales, services, training, delivery, support).
• We’ve been the independent consultants brought in to manage the delivery of major projects. 
• We’ve been outsource (mail or print house) or BPO providers. 
• Last but not least, we’ve been the customer. 

This blend of experience and grey hairs, gives us a unique perspective – the ability to quickly appraise any project against a risk profile – typically project cost overruns, time delays, scope creep and complexity.  Moreover, our experiences may highlight gaps and/or alternative approaches that can deliver better outcomes for everyone.  And worse case, we’ll help you figure out the scenarios to get your project back on track or back on a track. 

And sometimes, in highly regulated markets an independent view and regular QA health checks keep Steering Committees and Executive stakeholders up-to-date on progress and aware of any impending “gotcha’s.”