Example
Example: documentation of a needs analysis
This is what you receive after a needs analysis. The case: a parts dealer whose merchandise management system (ERP) and B2B marketplace are reconciled by hand.
Starting point
Orders from the marketplace arrive by email and are typed into the ERP. Stock and prices go to the marketplace by hand, as a CSV export from the ERP and an import there. The delivery status is entered by hand in the marketplace. The figures drift apart, and goods are sold that are no longer there.
Sketch
Requirements
- Must run on day one
- Stock from the ERP to the marketplace, daily, against live inventory. Orders from the marketplace into the ERP automatically. Never more goods sold than there are.
- Essential
- Prices from the ERP to the marketplace. Delivery status back to the marketplace. A fixed rule for which side counts when both changed the same record.
- Nice to have
- A log of every reconciliation, so it can be traced what changed and when.
- Cream on the cake
- A message when an item runs low or the reconciliation fails.
Left out
Other marketplaces, returns handling, an interface of its own.
Order of work
- Stock sync, protected against overselling14
- Orders from the marketplace into the ERP16
- Price sync6
- Delivery status back to the marketplace6
- Conflict rule and error handling8
50 complexity points in total.
Open questions
- Which side counts when both changed the same record?
- How often does the stock have to be reconciled, and how current must it be?
- What happens with marketplace orders for items the ERP does not know?
Yours will look like this
After the call I write down your processes, the requirements and the order of work in this form.
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