Software Implementation Partners: Working With Them & What It’s Like

Software implementation can be a daunting task. This process requires a lot of continuous support and expertise, and with that, a good deal of faith in the implementation team in charge. Pricefx, with over a decade of experience facilitating the integration of its customers’ 3rd party systems with cloud-native pricing software, appreciates this reality more than anyone. In case your company is considering working with an implementation partner to get your Pricefx solution up and running smoothly, we’d like to arm you with a detailed account of what exactly goes on in that process so you can approach your collaboration with confidence. 

In this article, we join forces with Babu Prasath, CEO of Lavendel Consulting, to give a detailed overview of what exactly it’s like to work with a software implementation partner such as Lavendel, including the phases involved, the key roles offering support throughout, and the project methodology used to ensure success. 

Responsibilities of a Software Implementation Partner  

Before we get into showing you what it’s like to work with a Pricefx implementation partner, we’d like to address who we’re talking about when we talk about software implementation partners.  

To do that, we’d first like to preface that in this article we use the generic term implementation partner to refer to any Pricefx partner who assists customers with implementation tasks, which is worth noting as Pricefx has partners who dedicate themselves fully to implementation and others partners whose primary responsibility isn’t implementation. 

The partner type we’re focused on here is the System Integrator (SI), as this partner type specializes in software implementation and data integration (such as those stored in a customer’s ERP and CRM systems).

An implementation partner is your first point of contact on all things Pricefx related and is responsible for assisting in the installation and maintenance of the software tool. 

Implementation partners can be counted on to support you well beyond the Pricefx solution go-live. Apart from implementing Pricefx software, their scope of responsibility in a pricing project includes:  

• Consultation: Depending on your business need, partners may suggest using Pricefx Accelerators as a starting point or devise a plan on how to configure the solution if you have more custom requirements.  
• Upgrades: Partners will inform you about any upgrades needed to your current version of the software tool and carry them out for you. 
• Demos: Partners lead technical demos for your team on current offerings or new releases. 
• Maintenance: Partners assist you with maintaining and enhancing the tool over time, including resolving technical issues. 

Now that we’ve revisited how an implementation partner supports your business in its pricing, let’s take a look at what a partner-led implementation project looks like step-by-step. 

Phases of a Partner-Led Software Implementation Project 

A partner-led software implementation project is typically broken into the initiation, discovery phase, foundation sprint, implementation, and maintenance phases. We’ll go through each one to give you a complete picture of the kind of collaboration you can expect.  

1. Initiation (Request for Proposal and Partner Selection)   

There are two ways you can start your collaboration with an implementation partner, either through direct contact with a partner or indirectly through Pricefx. 

Choosing the right implementation partner depends on various factors, such as size and objectives of the project, rollouts, level of technical and functional complexity, the required timeline for execution, among others. However, rest assured that the Pricefx partner ecosystem is tailored to meet any of your project requirements.  

2. Discovery Phase  

The next stage involves a discovery call with your implementation partner of choice, where you’ll have an opportunity to paint a high-level picture of your pricing challenges and what you’re looking to achieve from the tool. You’d do this mainly by providing the partner with user stories that sum up your requirements for Pricefx software (these will be later documented in Jira, a project management tool, and serve as the basis of the partner’s quotation).  If you don’t have user stories available, partners can support you in building them.    

3. Foundation Sprint 

Following the discovery call, the implementation partner closely examines all requirements mentioned in initial discussions to ensure maximum alignment on the future success of your pricing project. This period is referred to as a foundation sprint and typically lasts 5 days, with the last day serving as more of a bonus day to tie up any loose ends.  

Let’s break down what each of those days look like, including their purpose and the tasks involved, so you know what to expect: 

Day 1 – Customer Presentation: The foundation sprint kicks off with a presentation by your team that addresses your current pricing or quoting process, the integrated systems you’re currently using for pricing, the pricing difficulties your team faces on a daily basis, and how you plan to measure success in a pricing project.  

Day 2 – Partner-Led Technical Demo: On the following day, the partner will lead a module-specific demo showcasing some areas of interest to you; for example, they might go through the Rebate feature with you to show how it can be used and configured, or give an overview of the Price Setting-related modules. In short, the discussion on this day is tailored directly to the requirements expressed by your team on the discovery call and in their presentation.  

Day 3 – Technical Discussion with Customer IT Team: The partner leads a technical discussion with your IT team to discover all relevant upstream and downstream data systems for integration.  

Day 4 – Documentation of Requirements: The partner goes through each of the user stories provided in the discovery session output in detail with you to then document them in a project management tool.  

Day 5 – Final Wrap Up: The final day is simply an opportunity to address anything that’s spilled over from the last four days to ensure nothing is missed.  

4. Implementation   

The implementation phase begins once the foundation workshop is finished and you agree with the partner on project terms. Implementation can be made up of multiple sprints depending on the complexity and size of the project, with each sprint lasting about 3 weeks.  At the end of each sprint, you should be able to see a demo and the progress made by the team, which ensures timely feedback to your team and proactivity in addressing any potential gaps.  

5. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) 

After implementation, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) will be carried out by a larger audience in your organization; typically, the end users of the application will be used to test and accept the application. During this time, the application will be tested from end to end for final acceptance before going live. Sometimes end users receive a demo at this stage, although most of the features that have been implemented would have already been seen by them at some point. UAT is also a chance for you to share any critical final feedback.  

6. Pricefx Go-Live  

Once UAT has been successfully completed, the go-live date will be fixed and the application will be deployed in the production environment connected with all live 3rd party systems. Users can now start using the application in their day-to-day work and see value from the implementation.  

7. Maintenance, Upgrades, and Future Projects   

Partner support on pricing projects doesn’t end once the solution is in production, as they’ll continue to serve as your first point of contact in maintenance-related tasks, including upgrades and technical fixes. This might involve taking care of day-to-day maintenance activities, ensuring your team’s satisfaction with the tool, and keeping you informed about new features and updates (including sharing release notes and leading demos).

Project Management in a Partner-Led Implementation Project: Roles Involved and Methodology  

Equally important to be aware of are the roles involved in a partner-led implementation project and the methodology used on a daily basis to ensure you’re happy with the tool, which we’ll get into now.  

Roles: During the implementation period, partners experts with relevant industry experience team up with customer business owners to get at the heart of your company’s pain points and steer the implementation in the right direction. The partner team will include a solution architect for technical considerations and demoing and a business analyst for discussions around pricing challenges. In addition, configuration engineers will be involved to configure the Pricefx application efficiently, guided by the solution architect, and integration engineers will also be involved to configure the Pricefx integration with upstream and downstream applications.  

Communication: A project manager from your side and the partner’s side collaborate and co-own the project, bringing in Pricefx resources when needed to provide you with top-quality support.  

Documentation: In addition to ensuring visibility to both parties by documenting all requirements and progress in a central location on Jira, partners also submit a report every two weeks to all stakeholders involved that tracks how the project is progressing, whether it’s staying on top of time and budget constraints, and any risk areas that deserve attention.  

Methodology: Partners lead the project using an agile project management approach to mitigate scope creep or budget run-over and ensure all requirements named at the start of the project are met in tandem with any new requirements requested as the project develops.  

In addition, partners will ensure they meet project goals by considering your requirements for what success looks like in a pricing project and measuring progress against this (e.g., how long your pricing team took to quote before using a pricing software solution vs. how long you expect the quoting process to take once the solution is operational).  

System Integrators Are Here to Assist You With a Successful (and Painless) Implementation Process   

As you’ve seen, a partner-led implementation project involves a lot more than software installation and data integration. Partners are here to make your life easier, not more complicated, and work with you collaboratively to guarantee you get the most value of the solution in line with your specific requirements for the tool. 

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the many ways system integrators set your company up for success, consider checking out our previous article on what a system integrator does below: