We've had the privilege of witnessing remarkable successes through our client partnerships in implementing OneStream, the best technology on the market to solve business problems. While our dedicated team, proven approach, and extensive experience contribute to our achievements, there's an often overlooked aspect of our work that we believe holds immense value: prototyping.
Think of prototyping as the opportunity to live in your dream house before you actually build it. You've designed this beautiful house in your mind or on paper, and you're excited to start construction. However, by moving into a 'prototype' house first - a simpler, non-permanent version of the final product - you can experience the design in reality.
You might discover the living room isn't as spacious as you thought, the kitchen layout isn't convenient, or the windows don't let in as much sunlight as you'd hoped. These issues are hard to see in the planning stage, but become evident when you 'live' in the space.
By identifying these problems in the prototype stage, you can make necessary adjustments before you start actual construction. This saves time, money, and potentially a lot of stress down the line.
Just like in this scenario, prototyping in any design process allows us to test out our ideas in a tangible, practical way, and helps us catch and fix potential issues before we commit to the final version. It's an essential step in turning good ideas into great outcomes.
In a recent episode of The OneStream Podcast, Nova’s Liz Weir shared her expertise on the significance of prototyping in OneStream implementations with OneStream’s Chief Solutions Officer, Peter Fugere. Here are the five top takeaways from their conversation.
While it may initially seem counterintuitive that something created during the implementation process won't have a life beyond that stage, the truth is that prototypes hold significant value and serve as the bedrock for a successful final product. They are more than just temporary artifacts; they are the stepping stones towards a solution that combines staying power, usefulness, and the human touch.
Prototyping provides a "safe place" for stakeholders to test out their ideas, collaborate, and iterate. This allows the team to move quickly and make adjustments as necessary, while also building trust with the client that they are in good hands.
On the podcast, Liz said: "The negative feedback or areas of improvement that you can get coming out of a prototype is going to make the next prototype even better." This mindset encourages an open and constructive dialogue, leading to continuous enhancements and an improved solution, even if the feedback may be challenging to receive.
Liz and her team once built 16 prototypes for a client, which she credits as key to achieving remarkable results. By the time they reached parallel and rollout, user acceptance testing was a nonissue because the client had already been using OneStream for several months through all the different prototypes.
While 16 might not always be necessary, Liz suggests that more than two but less than 16 prototypes is typically the right number for clients. She believes those numbers help the team strike a balance between productive iterations and moving forward with building the final solution.
Extensibility refers to the ability to accommodate diverse business units and their unique requirements while maintaining a unified and consolidated view at the top level. When explaining extensibility to clients, it is important to focus on the language of their business and how the platform can bring together seemingly disparate business units under a single language and voice.
To illustrate this point, Liz gave an example of an agriculture and manufacturing company, which may appear unrelated on the surface. They can, however, share a common leadership team overseeing both units, who may need consolidated reports that feature a unified perspective on customers, cost centers, products, and more.
Incorporating the "always be prototyping" mindset into the implementation journey creates value, fosters collaboration, and ensures the final solution exceeds clients' expectations. It allows organizations to refine, tailor, and build a robust solution that stands the test of time.
A big thank you to OneStream’s Chief Solutions Officer Peter Fugere for the engaging discussion and for hosting us on the show. To listen to The OneStream Podcast episode and to explore more valuable content like this, tune in here.