Your Implementation Experience At Operative
Value and Expertise to Set You Up for Success
Investing in advertising management software is a decision that’s about more than technology.
At Operative, we know that your team (or teams) will be using our software on a daily basis for years to come. It is important to get the implementation process right and set up a collaborative relationship for the long term.
Our focus is on delivering value as soon as possible and for as long as possible. We do that with our unique offering of service, expertise, and quality delivery that has been honed over years of working with the world’s largest media companies.
Making sure you get maximum value starts with the very beginning stages of the implementation process to make sure you get up and running smoothly and have what you need to scale profitably. We have developed a tried-and-true implementation methodology that includes the following project phases:
- Prepare – Set up what we need to communicate with you throughout the implementation.
- Envision – Plan together to map out your needs and the required architecture for the project.
- Construct – Build out your instance in Operative.
- Validate – Road test your new instance on a small scale and refine as needed.
- Transition – Go live and get up and running with you and your teams.
Prepare: Initiation
We start with an introductory meeting so that your team can meet our team right away. From there, we plan for the official kickoff together. Our project manager will work with your project manager to collaborate on content for the kickoff to ensure that we’re collaborating from the start.
In parallel, we’re starting to set up the software for testing and live buildout. We’re also initiating project activities and all of the tools that will help us move through the implementation process smoothly.
We’ll be communicating through a few different platforms:
- Through the project we’ll use a collaboration tool where all files live including external files for clients to track and share documents.
- We’ll also set up a communication tool so that all team members can work together seamlessly. You can comment on our project as we go. We can also tag people and set dates. You’ll see that it goes deep in detail with up to 100 configuration items.
If you’re wondering, our platforms have shared SaaS environments for testing as well as a live production environment where every new client has a “tenant” or a private, secure instance for their data, reports, workflows and UI.
Envision – Kickoff and Solutions Orientation
Time for the kickoff! Our teams will have collaborated and we’ll all be working towards the official implementation process together at this point. We’ll translate your goals into development and set-up work that we’ll do to ensure you get exactly what you need when it’s time to go live.
At the kickoff, we will zero in on your goals and discuss what we need to set the project up for success such as information about your:
- Key Business Drivers
- Tech stack
- Organizational Structure
- Integration partners
- Data and data migrations
Later in the project, we’ll dive into your strategies for business which could include:
- Processes
- Product catalog
- Pricing
- Workflows
- Channels, targeting, and more
During this next phase, we also give you access to your demo tenant to see all the capabilities of the product you’ve purchased and what you can do with it as we set it up. You will have training and demos to play with and are welcome to bring in any members of your project team.
Our services team has expertise at every level - from consultative services to ad operations support. We’re set up to ensure you get value now and in the future.
Construct – Configuration and Testing
We can go as fast as you can go. Depending on the scope and the complexity of the project, this will take several weeks to a few months.
Configuration is a hands-on portion of the project where everyone has a bit more “homework” to do! While some elements are simple such as what currency you trade in, some things are complex such as mapping all products you have in your current system and how you want to configure that in your new environment. We’ll have a regular cadence of insight and data sharing as we build everything out so that we stay on track and stay in sync.
NOTE! Operative encourages new clients to use best practices and industry standards to ensure that you can scale and move fast once you are up and running. During configuration, you will have access to a tenant that’s fully set up with our best practices. You’ll be able to see how well our model version fits with your business needs. If that version works well for you as is, you can be live in weeks. If you need something more unique, then the timing will be longer depending on the custom work that’s needed.
Wherever you have unique needs, we make sure we’re configuring your instance to support those needs using available functionality We provide guidance during build-out so that you can get the most value in the long run.
Validate – Testing and Refining
By the end of this phase, the tenant is set up with all of your data so that you can test your business workflows from quote to cash. After everything is in place, we run a comprehensive end-to-end testing event called a Solutions Validation Workshop. Here you can go through all of your business flows and activities to create a “punch list” of configuration changes. This test takes about two weeks and then we take a week or so to update those configurations.
You get to test everything again in a second Solutions Workshop to make sure we’ve fine tuned the software to your needs.
As we put the finishing touches on your production tenant, we’ll also be working with you and your teams to provide training on the software. We provide robust “train the trainer” sessions so that you have expertise at your company and a way to scale knowledge across your teams. We’ll go through all of the workflows, reports and details of the product. Optionally, we can provide full end-user training if helpful.
During this phase, we’re also evaluating the launch process including confirmation of your readiness. Once we both determine that everything is in place for launch, we move to production.
Production – Go live!
It’s time turn on your system in a live tenant, but that doesn’t mean we walk away. Our team migrates live campaigns to production and gives you your credentials. These activities typically occur over a weekend so we do not disrupt normal business operations.
Your team will learn from our team and be ready to take the controls in no time.
Hypercare – Support transition
When implementation ends, our relationship is just beginning! We stay close to your team throughout that first month after you go live. Not only will we be available for any questions, we’ll be getting you acquainted with your long term support team so that you have a smooth transition to working on Operative software.
Our services team has expertise at every level – from consultative services to ad operations support. We’re set up to ensure you get value now and in the future.