Our Approach

Our Quest

Planning and Performance Management solutions have come a long way over the last 10 years. However, many companies trying to implement them are still faced with a myriad of challenges from picking the right product to implementation approach. And of course, do it yourself versus seeking professional assistance.

At Canrock Solutions, our goal is to get back to the true nature of consulting which in our mind has been significantly diluted over time. Oxford dictionary defines consulting as “providing expert advice professionally” and we feel that this is fundamentally our duty to our clients. In our quest to become great consultants we have realized that having deep expertise has been paramount to our success and more importantly to the success of our clients.

Canrock believes that the knowledge we have accumulated over the years can help you unlock the true value of your technology investment in the shortest time possible.

What sets us apart?

Expertise

Our core expertise, and hence our focus, is implementing solutions for the Office of Finance. We are selective when it comes to projects and are committed to doing them the right way.
Our team members have years of hands-on implementation experience and a mix of financial and technical skills; they are true experts in planning and performance management.
Staying true to our consulting core. We are founded and run by consultants, not sales people. We only make recommendations to our clients based on our quest to make them succeed, not meet internal quotas.
As trusted advisors, we strive to understand a comprehensive view of your business before making recommendations, and focus on more than just the technology. We know that trust needs to be earned and we work hard to earn it.

Innovation

Just because your business is complex, your performance management system need not be. We use innovative techniques in order to implement intuitive and sustainable solutions.
We develop and implement innovative assets such as the Canrock TM1 Toolkit™ in order to accelerate implementations and simplify solutions.
Our team is always up-to-date with the latest product releases and also experienced and educated with other performance management technologies.
As an IBM Cognos TM1 beta partner, we have insight and input into future product releases.

Quality

Quality of implementation is inherent in our internal processes. Every design gets reviewed by at least one more team member.
The entire Canrock team uses the same approach and techniques, enforcing quality and consistency in all our implementations.
We go out of our way to maintain a track record of success with our customers: all our projects have been successful and all our customers will support our quality of service claim.

Our Methodology

Canrock Solutions leverages IBM Cognos Solutions Implementation Methodology with customizations based on the specific requirements and needs of our customers. Rather than engaging in arguments about which method of project management is superior, we follow common sense and rely on many years of experience in the field.

In practice, we employ a blend of a waterfall and agile approaches adapting them to the specific needs of our technology sector. While waterfall approach emphasizes distinct phases of implementation, agile development advocates working software as the primary measure of progress.

Project Stages

Stage	Activities	Deliverables
Analyze	We set clear objectives and success criteria Requirements are carefully collected and analyzed We plan ahead: resources, effort, and timelines	Requirements Document Project Plan
Design	Prototype key design challenges At least 2 design alternatives are provided for each major decision point	Solution Architecture Application Data Flow and Dependencies Dimensional Model and Cube-Dimensional matrix Data Integration Key business rules and processes Reporting strategy Technical infrastructure
Configure	Set milestone for the next 2-3 weeks period Implement, unit test and review Feedback loop to design, make necessary adjustments	Complete functional application module at the end of each milestone. This approach significantly reduces the risk of project not meeting its objectives.
Deploy	User acceptance testing (UAT) End user training Promotion to production environment	Operational Guide for application administrators Training plan Test (UAT) plan
Operate	On-going support Collect feedback	Lessons learned and go forward plan

Key Implementation Principles

Clearly define project objectives, scope and success criteria from the start.
Involve customer’s resources in all aspects of the implementation process.
Perform knowledge transfer as a continuous process, rather than at the end.
Reduce risk by breaking overall deliverable into clearly defined and completely functional application modules. Review each completed milestone and adjust approach if required