Even with the most advanced software solutions a major requirement for today's consultant is understanding the clients business.

Optima Energy believes in getting clients requirements right the first time. Therefore, every new project begins with a Business Requirements Study. This is an initial study conducted with personnel representing various departments as specialists in their respective fields.

Its purpose is to identify in detail the operational, functional, reporting and information requirements of our clients. Constraints and objectives are highlighted to provide opportunity for improvement to business processes and achievement of company goals. Understanding of the clients business ensures that the right solutions are applied. Proposed solutions consisting of process flow, system flow, recommended software and hardware are presented to achieve the objectives. The Business Requirements Study provides first insight, ahead of actual project initiation.

Project Initiation involves identification of project resources and thereafter, allocating and scheduling the resources. A project plan with timelines, resources, tasks and responsibilities, is introduced to explain the implementation strategy conveyed to all relevant parties. As it is crucial to account for assumptions and risks, contingency planning and control procedures are also identified and put in place.

The project's progress will be monitored against deliverables with sign-off mechanisms and status meetings.

The Project Team consists of the Project Manager, Consultant(s) and key users representing various departments. Upon assigning the project team; tasks, responsibilities and timelines are delegated accordingly. The features of the application and functionalities are introduced and project team members are encouraged to participate and contribute towards system design and decision-making throughout the project implementation process.

A business requirements study is usually conducted prior to project award. Thus, a post-award review of the requirements is necessary to account for significant changes that would affect application configuration, reporting requirements and implementation timelines.

In the event of major changes, a variation order will be necessary.

System analysis and design focuses on configuration planning of the application to meet requirements of the company utilising the proposed solution. It includes interface design, data flow design and logic flow of the application. The security and audit procedures are considered during the design phase.

Client participation ensures that requirements are properly interpreted and this in turn, contributes towards client-confidence during implementation.

The system design will be properly documented with sign-off mechanism and will serve as a reference in the System Configuration stage.

This stage will consist of application configuration, testing and systems integration according to the predefined requirements.

Stage 7 - Optima Energy will work with the client's IT department, systems administrator and/or database administrator to ensure that all hardware, database and operating systems are appropriately prepared prior to installation.

Optima Energy will work with the client to identify job functions performed by each user/user group and thereby, tailoring the training agenda as best as possible. This will help ensure that the training provided is relevant in meeting real-world needs.

A 'transition' or 'cut-over' plan, including any required data migration, will be implemented to ensure a smooth transition to the new system with minimal interruption.

Data will be migrated from the existing system or a Microsoft® Excel environment to the new system. The client will perform all reconciliations and quality control of the uploaded data.

The separate modules are brought together and tested as a complete system. The system is tested to ensure that interfaces between modules are successful (integration testing) and to ensure that the system performs as per user requirements (acceptance/beta testing).

During this stage, Optima Energy provides on-site assistance to users, who are ordinarily first-time users, in order to encourage and build confidence when it comes to entering live data in the application.

Also, further fine tuning of the application can be easily and efficiently done while onsite.

A review is done together with the client to measure the achievement of set objectives and goals as defined during the initial study. It is crucial that deliverables are met within timelines to eliminate any unnecessary cost to the company. Interviews are conducted with users actively involved in the operational use of the application and problems are addressed and resolved.

Additional ideas that surfaced during the implementation process may be identified as new objectives and goals. The project team's view will be sought concerning potential areas of improvement that would add business benefit. For instance, increasing functionality and removing redundant system requirements.