On 04/07/2008 the second version of the Sure Step Methodology was released by Microsoft and presented during WPC 08 (Microsoft World Partner Conference) in Houston. What is Sure Step ? We have adressed this already in prior posts (see category Project Management), in essence it is an implementation methodology based on the project management principles of PMI/PMBOK.

On the partnersource Sure Step landing page, you will find this:

"an implementation methodology including an enhanced set of best practices and extendable templates that support collaboration with other partners, provide you more project predictability, and improve your customers’ satisfaction with their Microsoft Dynamics ERP or CRM solutions."

Effective project management is a necessity in every software implementation project. Project management is much more than creating documents. Microsoft is really convinced about the importance of project management and did a great investment in Sure Step in general and the second version specifically.

Partnesource: New in this release

During the year since Sure Step was first released, many Microsoft Dynamics partners have used it to improve their efficiency and new customer relationships. To date, more than 1,300 Microsoft Dynamics service and consulting professionals have been trained on Sure Step. Now, Microsoft is adding even more value to Sure Step in this latest release through many improvements to help you drive increased efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

• New templates and sample documents—364 in total, with sample customer deliverables defined, can be used as a reference guide to help you ramp new consultants and build project documents for customers
• Enhanced project types—5 in total, including streamlined activities and documentation for:
• Rapid deployments with fewer than 20 implementation steps to get your customers up and running quickly on their Microsoft Dynamics solutions
• Multi-site implementation rollouts for large, multi–geography deployments, allowing you to fully implement Microsoft Dynamics at one site and then quickly deploy at all additional sites
• New Sure Step Client helps make your projects easier to manage by providing you a new project workspace where you can customize and maintain multiple projects for multiple customers, with convenient views of all project deliverables and documentation

The new Sure Step Client is a fabulous improvement. You can now create your own project workspace and decide yourself which sure step documents and templates to use. You can also very easily add your own templates. Customization is no issue. For each document and template you can ask sure step guidance very easily. If someone on the project team wants to know about the purpose and details in this template, they are refered instantly to the corresponding content page of sure  step.

As from the early moments in the project lifecycle there is a systematic and very consistent build up untill the end of the project lifecycle.This guided by templates and tools. Early specs and gap fit situation will steer and drive analysis and design in a great way. It takes some time to understand and to see the complete picture but once you are there...you never want to go back from where you came. Sure Step V2 is that good that it becomes addictive:-)

Sure Step is the fastest starting point for any partner who wants to deliver quality implementations and improve his customer satisfaction rates. This is the moment to step onboard!

Plataan had the great opportunity and pleasure to develop the new official Microsoft courseware for Sure Step. This for AX, NAV and CRM tracks. We managed our own project with sure step guidance and templates and managed to deliver in time, on budget and with great quality.

We also delivered the TTT tracks (train-the-trainer) for Microsoft in Redmond. Many North American trainers and Microsoft staff attended the sessions. Everybody was pleased with both the courseware material and with Sure Step V2.

We will now deliver the Sure Step TTT EMEA session in Amsterdam. If you have any questions related to Sure Step, feel free to address them to me. I will try to help you out as much as I can, to get you on the Sure Step.

Also, check out our special training offer on Sure Step and Project Management:

http://www.plataan.be/en/navision/training_calendar/Project_Management.htm

    Vincent Bellefroid

  [email protected]

   Skype : vincent Bellefroid

Comments

[Nathaniel @ project management certification]

Sure Step is really great! Now, it helps make our work done fast and easy to use. Any partner will be able to keep their documents in order and make be happy for a well-organized implementations.Really cool!

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