“Our Implementation Plan is thorough, methodical and intense.”
Introduction
By adopting DiscipleSoft you have begun a great process of creating a strong foundation for your church’s growth and administration excellence. However, for your church to derive these promises in DiscipleSoft, implementation has to be done correctly. Without proper implementation, it is impossible to achieve the anticipated changes and results. In this section, we will articulate the process of implementing DiscipleSoft, and we encourage you to be meticulous and thorough in going through the presented material. The way software is implemented is probably the single most important factor that determines whether users derive value or not. There are no short cuts to correct implementation, our team is available to handhold you through the entire process to ensure you succeed in implementation.
Pursuit of Excellence
From our many years of experience in the software industry we have observed that there is a direct relationship between the quality of implementation and the ability to derive value from our solutions. Clients that stand to benefit the most from our solutions are those who take time to implement correctly. This is contrast to those clients who want to rush and start using the tools without proper implementation. Proper implementation is about aligning your internal environment with the new tools we are introducing.
Our implementation process is driven by a strong understanding that a rushed deployment of new software is often times, not a successful one. When it comes to deploying a new system, patience is needed. If the implementation is rushed your end users may not have enough time to develop the skills required to use the software effectively. Our implementation strategy takes an incremental approach that focuses on setting a strong and sustainable church-wide foundation. This approach is called Phased Rollout, which structures the implementation process into phases. This approach is in contrast with a “Big Bang” approach, which entails implementing the software in a single instance. The major flaw with the “Big Bang” approach is that it fails to appreciate that churches, in particular, are very unique organisations where change happens as a process, not an event.
DiscipleSoft is an ERP System
Because of its multi-dimensional functionality, DiscipleSoft belongs to a special family of software called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). ERP software is popular in the business arena where it facilitates the integration of business functions into one platform. DiscipleSoft was designed to bring this integrative approach to church operations and functions. The only way to successfully implement any ERP software is to ensure that there is total alignment between the software and your internal processes as a church. Without this alignment, you will not derive value from this powerful software.
Who should go through this document
This document is meant to be read by three groups of people, the Branch Representative, Functional Leaders and their Support Team Members. These three groups of people are known as the Onboarding Team. How to select these individuals and their specific roles will be covered in later sections. This document contains all the necessary information for successful implementation of our solutions. Your assigned account manager will be on standby to help you with understanding this document. Make sure you go through this document until you thoroughly understand it because we will be making reference to it throughout the implementation process.
Phased Implementation
Phased implementation is the most appropriate implementation strategy for DiscipleSoft. By rolling out the software in phases you allow the change process to take its course as all the key stakeholders are brought on-board in an organised fashion and system users are given ample time to build competence in using the system. There are a total of 4 Phases that the implementation will be divided into as should below;
Phase 1: Onboarding
This is the first phase we will start with and the most important one. The onboarding phase is designed to ensure that the Onboarding Team acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviours in order to become “up and running” and be effective users of DiscipleSoft. The goal of onboarding is to help the team achieve the key outcomes at the heart of DiscipleSoft within a 10-week period. The structure of onboarding is focused on specific outcomes that should be achieved during the 10-week period. Successful accomplishment of the onboarding outcomes will set the stage for more comprehensive adoption of DiscipleSoft.
Phase 2: Broad Based System Use
After successful onboarding, the next phase is Broad-Based System Use. During onboarding, the focus is on the more basic foundational features of our solutions, however during Phase 2, attention moves to more advanced features. The foundation set during onboarding will enable the teams to spread the use of the tools to a bigger audience within their specific departments. Your assigned account manager will help you navigate Phase 2.
In the next sections, we will give more information on the Onboarding Process.