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Standard PCA Project Phases [Click on any Phase for Detail]
Click here to learn about PCA Consultation and Evaluation Phase Click here to learn about PCA Prototype Design Phase Click here to learn about PCA Detailed Design Phase Click here to learn about PCA Development Phase Click here to learn about PCA Testing and Refinement Phase Click here to learn about PCA Migration and Deployment Phase Click here to learn about PCA Maintenance and Support Phase

Consultation & Evaluation Phase

Our initial goal is to answer two questions: Can we help you?   And, is our cost and schedule estimate compatible with your budget and timing?    Our objective is to establish confidence on both sides that the Project is feasible from technical, business and financial perspectives, and build a good working rapport with you as a prospective PCA Client.     To this end, our Consultants will work with you one-on-one to develop a clear picture of your business needs, priorities and concerns, help you understand the options that are available, and recommend the most cost-effective approach to meeting your needs.

About PCA Estimates

Factors that can influence our estimates include:
  • Scope and Complexity of your business application e.g. number of forms, tables, reports, 3rd-party controls, integrations, calculations, etc.
  • Quality of your existing application: is your application properly engineered?  Or, is an extensive business process re-engineering required?
  • Functional Gaps that may exist between your current application and, thru a series of discussions, what we understand you actually need.
  • PCA Experience with Clients in the same industry and/or similar types of applications.
  • A bottom-up Engineering Assessment of your business application code.
If we observe any unknowns or ambiguities during our evaluation, we will always attempt to gather additional information.    If your application needs require further focus and/or refinement, we will work with you to properly scope and prioritize your needs.   Our experts take a disciplined approach to help you get the most value — to properly align your business needs with your budget and schedule constraints.   Our consultants will challenge you to separate must-haves from nice-to-haves — with the objective of determining the smallest set of application capabilities that are necessary to meet your essential business needs.   It can oftentimes makes more sense to defer a new capability to keep the Project budget and schedule on track.
We provide Clients with estimates vs. fixed-costs to accommodate discovery of new requirements that can (and often do) surface during a project — enhancements that are necessary to fully optimize your new application.   Sometimes it is not until PCA Prototypes the new solution, with the new capabilities, streamlined functions, improved User Interfaces, etc. — and gather your feedback — that we are able to determine which capabilities offer the biggest pay-back.
If we both determine the Project is feasible and a good fit, at your request PCA will send you a Project Agreement that identifies your primary business and functional objectives, initial cost and schedule estimates, and Project milestones and target dates within our standard design-build process.