Operational Model Design
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The document discusses Flexera Software's Operational Model Design consulting service. It helps organizations understand the complexity of entitlement management system design by cataloging business processes from prospect to support. Through workshops, Flexera analyzes the organization's operations and designs a blueprint architecture and operational model document detailing use cases. This provides requirements for developing a robust entitlement management solution and addresses issues causing high costs or limiting new products.
Operational Model Design
- 1. Ease Complex Problems with Expert Assistance Software vendors and intelligent devices manufacturers increasingly struggle with the growing complexity of entitlement management system design. They must grapple with supporting new business models, the demands of product lifecycle management, a plethora of entitlement and compliance policies and the unique challenges that accompany corporate acquisitions. In addition, organizations often lack a comprehensive understanding of business processes required to support their software or embedded software business. This stands as a critical hurdle to the design and development of a robust and scalable entitlement management solution and is often the root cause for high operational costs, and/ or an inability to bring new products or product license models to market. Flexera Software Global Consulting Services has extensive experience helping organizations make sense of complex entitlement management design issues. Operational Model Design assists organizations in making sense of this complexity by building cross-functional awareness of their operating environment through the cataloging of their prospect-to-support (figure 1) use cases. The introduction of industry best practices and the ways in which Flexera Software technologies have addressed similar business needs provides vision for the subsequent design of a robust and scalable licensing, entitlement and compliance management system. How Operational Model Design Works Operational Model Design features a combination of analysis and onsite, structured workshops, culminating in the creation of an operational model and use-case document. The operational model is a fully documented use-case catalog for all customer prospect-to-support business processes. The blueprint architecture for the entitlement management system design is also included in the document. DATASHEET Operational Model Design Improving Business Growth, Operational Efficiency and the Customer Experience Operational Model Design Objectives: • Accelerate deployment success through well- defined and accepted requirements definition • Document a comprehensive use-case catalog • Document a ‘blueprint’ architecture • Identify and address system and organizational constraints • Address use cases in extended ‘Quote-to-Cash’ scenarios defined as ‘Prospect-to-Support’ • Provide a single source of communication and knowledge transfer to enable entitlement and compliance management system design Configuration and Setup Pre Sales Entitlements Revenue Entitlements Administrative Entitlement Entitlement Admin Product Fulfillment Lifetime Lifecycle Customer Management • Taxonomy • Products • Models • Order Rules • New • Addon • Upgrade • Renewal • True-Up • ELA • Merge Account • Divest Account • New Contacts • Asset Management • View Entitlements • Return • Move • Emergency • Migration/MA • Demo • Try Buy • Evalution • Loan • Update • Patch Fix • Beta • Download • Install • Activate • Register • Configure • Add Users • User Hierarchy • Move Figure 1: “Prospect-to-Support” Business Processes
- 2. Education Assess Policy Operational Model Evaluate Plan Design Build, Test, Deploy 2 Weeks Go Live 8-10 Months 3 Months • Assessment Report • Context Setting • Policies • Operational Model (Use Case Catalog) • Reference Architecture Through pre-workshop exercises and subsequent workshop discussion, participants will define the operational model relating to entitlement and compliance management, including processes and systems supporting the end-to-end product lifecycle, supply chain, delivery channels and financial management. Specific use cases will also be derived including: revenue entitlements, non-revenue entitlements, entitlement administration, customer fulfillment, license lifecycle, license activation, customer management, business intelligence and transition planning. Upon completion of the Workshop, Flexera Software will deliver the documented operational model and use cases defined in the workshop to the project sponsors. Operational Model Design is part of the operational model phase of Flexera Software’s High Output Entitlement Management Deployment Methodology (figure 2) to deploy high-value solutions in the shortest amount of time. This methodology uses the Flexera Software Success Framework (figure 3). Prospect-to-Support Systems Processes Enforcement Compliance Strategy Product (Line) Strategy Structure License Metrics Revenue Generation Model • Recurring vs. Up-front Revenue • Perpetual, Subscription, Utility, etc. A unit of Usage to Apply Pricing • Simple, Fair, Scalable, Measurable • CPU, Server, named user, etc • Use Model Compliance Approach • Philosophy Vision • User Experience Technology Considerations • Common License Layer • License Key Methods Structure License Entitlement Fulfillment • Business Systems Integration • Business Processes Commercial Structure • Product Taxonomy Structure – Products, Bundles, Suites…. – Upgrade, Upsell, Update, etc • Commercial Units Revenue Model Commercial Intent Compliance Enforcement Entitlement Management Delivery License Model Product Market Climate Corporate Business Drivers Principles Customer Needs Figure 3: Flexera Software Licensing, Entitlement Management and Delivery Success Framework Figure 2: Flexera Software’s High Output Entitlement Management Deployment Methodology
- 3. Operational Model Design Objective The objective of Operational Model Design is to gather business requirements and to define a blueprint architecture and associated operational model. Delivery Approach The engagement is delivered by two Flexera Software consultants in three distinct phases: Phase I: Advance Preparation and Planning – Flexera Software: workshop preparation – Customer: pre-work reviewing the organization’s existing business flows and use cases Phase II: Requirements Gathering Workshops Five to eight days of interactive requirements-gathering workshops are conducted in a structured fashion, based upon the Flexera Software Success Framework. The workshops typically require participation by 10-20 subject matter experts from multiple cross-functional areas. Agenda topics include: • Business Requirements Review • Product Structure and License Model Review • Blueprint Architecture • Prospect-to-Support Use Cases o Pre-Sales and Non-Revenue Entitlements o Revenue Entitlements o Administrative Entitlements o Entitlement Administration o Customer Fulfillment o License Lifecycle o Customer Management o Transition Planning Phase III: Operational Model Development The operational model and use-case document is created, reviewed and updated. Project Timeline Operational Model Design occurs over four to nine weeks in the following sequence below: Workshop planning and scheduling: – Review existing business flows – Review existing use cases PREPARATION (1-2 WEEKS): – Map business requirements to business processes and use cases – Define blueprint architecture – Definition of prospect-to-support – Create initial version of operational model – Review and refine version with key stakeholders to acceptance WORKSHOPS (1-2 WEEKS): OPERATIONAL MODEL DEVELOPMENT (2-5 WEEKS):
- 4. Deliverables At the end of Operational Model Design, the organization will have signed off on a completed operational model. The operational model document will contain the following: • Blueprint Architecture • Prospect-to-Support Use Cases o Pre-Sales and Non-Revenue Entitlements o Revenue Entitlements o Administrative Entitlements o Entitlement Administration o Customer Fulfillment o License Lifecycle o Customer Management o Transition Planning o Mergers and Acquisitions and New Product Introduction Process This will enable the organization to begin the immediate design of an entitlement management solution. Primary Audience Customer resources required for this engagement and subsequent document review typically include a project lead and multiple cross-functional subject-matter experts. These attendees are expected to represent the following functional areas: • Order Administration • License Operations • Manufacturing • Finance Analysts • Customer Support • Sales Operations • Product Management • IT Business Analyst • Product Marketing • Fulfillment/Delivery Operations Related Services Operational Model Design is part of an overall methodology to produce a high-value licensing, entitlement management and delivery solution in a minimum amount of time. The following service is recommended prior to Operational Model Design: • License and Compliance Policy Design: this engagement empowers organizations to create official license policy documents. Operational Model Design is a pre-requisite for the following: • Entitlement Hub Build, Test and Deploy: this service takes the entitlement management system from high-level design to deployment. Operational Model Design
- 5. Copyright © 2012 Flexera Software LLC. All other brand and product names mentioned herein may be the trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. FX_SD_ECM-Operational-Model_Aug12 Flexera Software LLC 1000 East Woodfield Road, Suite 400 Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA Schaumburg (Global Headquarters): +1 800-809-5659 United Kingdom (Europe, Middle East Headquarters): +44 870-871-1111 +44 870-873-6300 Australia (Asia, Pacific Headquarters): +61 3-9895-2000 For more office locations visit: www.flexerasoftware.com Licensing, Entitlement Management and Delivery Services and Solutions Applications no longer just help the business, they run the business, and to software vendors and, increasingly, intelligent device manufacturers, they are the business. To compete and win today, software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers must go to market faster with differentiated product offerings, ensure they are fairly compensated, make every dollar spent count and retain every single customer. All of this must be done while facing substantial hurdles. Flexera Software has long been the global leader in Application Usage Management. Over 3,000 software vendors and intelligent device manufacturers rely on our comprehensive licensing, entitlement management and delivery suite of software licensing, entitlement management, electronic software delivery, software updates and compliance management solutions as core components of a strategic solution for Application Usage Management: FlexNet Producer Suite for Software Vendors and FlexNet Producer Suite for Intelligent Device Manufacturers. Flexera Software is unique in its ability to offer a comprehensive and integrated solution spanning the full lifecycle of business processes. These solutions provide critical business intelligence to sense market change and develop the appropriate course corrections and are designed to deliver the flexibility to quickly adapt to your evolving business needs. Together they transform numerous tactical tasks to address today’s strategic needs, delivering continuous software compliance, information at the point of action and optimized usage and value for your products. About Flexera Software Flexera Software is the leading provider of strategic solutions for Application Usage Management; solutions delivering continuous compliance, optimized usage and maximized value to application producers and their customers. Flexera Software is trusted by more than 80,000 customers that depend on our comprehensive solutions- from installation and licensing, entitlement and compliance management to application readiness and software license optimization - to strategically manage application usage and achieve breakthrough results realized only through the systems-level approach we provide. For more information, please go to: www.flexerasoftware.com Successful Entitlement Management Begins with an Operational Model Entitlement management should be operational-model driven. An operational model defines key business requirements, blueprint architecture, business process use cases and potential solution gaps. Operational models enable organizations to: • Reduce the difficulty of communicating complex business processes • Accelerate implementation of entitlement and compliance management systems • Reduce or eliminate root causes of high entitlement and compliance management operational costs • Reduce product structure complexity • Build cross-functional awareness of operational environment • Ensure that the monetization of products is delivered with a robust and scalable entitlement and compliance management system • Ensure entitlement and compliance management is viewed and communicated as a business solution solving business issues • Eliminate delays due to late requirements gathering Operational models are propelled by business drivers that encourage new revenue models, streamlined operational costs and improvement of the customer experience. These drivers help define the organization’s business goals, customer needs and competitive business practices required for a successful operational model.