“First off, we want to help customers understand the services and see how it’s going to be a fit for them in the organization,” says Avanade’s Molnar. “Because our background comes from the traditional messaging migration front, we’re not necessarily always looking at BPOS as the solution. We’ll talk to customers about all the options to see what’s the best fit and really help them define a conceptual approach that they would want to take moving forward. Typically, the reason we’re having that conversation is because the customer is operating on a dated messaging platform and wants to move. The other piece is that we also come in and help the customer do a business value assessment. They can get an indicative look at what the value of this is going to be. I’d say that’s something we’ve seen some very good results with when looking at BPOS and comparing the other options from a hard cost perspective.”

Once Avanade helps with the cost analysis, plus deep dives into business value and technology requirements for prospective solutions, if all still looks positive then it’s time to proceed into trial set-ups. Having an advisor on-hand at this stage can be invaluable. We all know the experience of buying a new, high-end product and then not utilizing it to its full potential because we’re either too busy or too uninformed to utilize it properly and fully. This throws the assessment and cost analysis all out of whack. Having a deeply qualified advisor on hand to guide you through the trials, particularly at the outset, can make all the difference.

That said, no company is likely step blindly off a platform migration cliff. After six months of working with clients on trials, Avanade notes that most if not all of them prefer to trial BPOS within a group or a piece of the organization. This lessens the footprint of the deployment and makes it easier for management to assess early issues and benefits.

Check out our Microsoft BPOS Resource Center