TMS Program Planning

SCT brings deep understanding the complexities of TMS implementations can be a daunting challenge for those without having gone through a number of cycles in the past. Our methodical approach to program planning includes workshop oriented interactions with the client and (if needed) partner organizations to gain a consistent view of success factors and resource requirements, preparing budgets and setting expectations that are realistic and measurable.     

Our Approach 

• Scoping Workshops 

  Scoping workshops take inputs from opportunity impact assessments and critical capabilities documented by SCT or the customer to balance project requirements with level of effort and timelines in order to derive project scoping assumptions and roadmap planning direction.  Walk-throughs at the functional level, discussions around integrated business architecture and data flows, and project methodologies are combined with discussions on roles and responsibilities and project budget and team structure to ensure necessary skills will be available.  

• Roadmap Development, Scheduling & Staffing 

  An output of the scoping workshops, project plans take shape in the form of phased implementation methodologies and scope assumptions, with supporting resource allocations and timelines required with clear expectations on activities and deliverables each step of the plan.  Longer term roadmaps reflect deferred functionality for clarity on what is in scope and what is not, and let the organization think through longer term design implications early in the process.    

• Organizational Impact Assessment 

  An organizational impact assessment combines resource requirements (ie TMS managers, integration specialists, pricing specialists, analysts, etc) from the implementation plans identified in the previous activity with stakeholder and staff interviews on skill sets, career development priorities, and existing workloads to recommend key staffing considerations (new roles that need to be filled, potential vacancies to be filled by existing staff, and/or recruiting profiles as needed in the event that experienced personnel are needed or new roles need to be filled.   

• Budgetary Summary and Business Case Justification 

  A summary level budgetary summary is pulled together, typically with 2-3 competing options (perhaps multiple vendors under consideration or different investment/risk levels in program and staff allocations.  All elements of the budget from software subscriptions to implementation services and hardware requirements will be included, as will long term costs associated with steady state support and maintenance.  Where needed, a justification / ROI model will be developed to defend the investment with both tactical cost-savings calculations and strategic considerations.   

• Executive Summary 

  A final deliverable inclusive of value opportunities/program justification, phased implementation timelines, resource requirements, roles and responsibilities, and budgetary requirements will be collected and prepared for executive alignment.  Ideally, this presentation is shared with the greater organization as a gate to ensure organizational alignment and shared purpose in support of the strategy.