Over the years we have seen it all: technically flawless projects that nobody ends up using, and simple projects that transform the way a company works. The difference is almost never the technology. It is in how the key phases are handled, in the team built around the project and in the week-by-week pace of work.
The phases where a project is won or lost
Not every phase carries the same weight. These are the ones that, if they go wrong, drag everything else with them:
- Discovery. You have to understand how your team works today, not only what they ask for. A rushed discovery ends in a platform that replicates the same old problems with a better interface.
- Solution design and data model. The decisions made here are the most expensive to change later. A poorly designed object or an over-automated process is paid for over years.
- Data migration. It always takes more work than expected. If the data arrives dirty, trust in the tool is lost on day one.
- Testing with real users. You have to validate with the people who will use the system, not only with the person who requested it.
- Go-live and the first weeks. Go-live does not close the project. The following weeks decide whether the team adopts the tool or goes back to Excel.
The team matters as much as the technology
A Salesforce project is not delivered by the partner alone. It works when a mixed team is formed from day one. On the client side, you need a business owner with decision-making authority and key users from each area. On ours, consultants and architects who understand both the platform and your business.
Training that team goes far beyond a course in go-live week. Your people take part in the design, test what is being built and understand why it works the way it does. That way, when the project ends, the knowledge stays in your organisation.
Our goal is that, when we finish, your team can administer and evolve the platform without depending on us for every change.
Weekly deliverables: no black boxes
One of the greatest risks of an implementation is spending months without seeing anything and discovering at the end that what was built was not what was expected. That is why at Horizon CX we work with weekly deliverables that provide value from day one:
- Every week we show something working: a screen, a process, a report.
- We collect your feedback in the moment and adjust before the change becomes expensive.
- Progress, risks and pending decisions are always in sight.
Problems appear while they are still small, and you see the project grow instead of waiting for one big final delivery.
A few questions to help you choose
Choosing a partner is largely about finding someone you understand. Before you decide, it is worth sitting down and talking it through. These questions usually help make that conversation useful for both sides:
- Which people will be involved in the project day to day, and what experience do they have in a sector like mine?
- How do you like to start? How much time do you spend understanding how we work?
- How often will we see progress?
- How do you support our team during the project and after go-live?
- Can we see a project similar to ours?
Let's talk about your project
At Horizon CX we are a Salesforce Summit partner and we work as an extension of your team: close, fully transparent and committed to the project generating a real impact on your business.
Write to us and we will tell you how we would approach yours.
