Questionnaire for examination, etc. Pre-project survey: an example of conducting, a report. Automated design systems

The creation of a project for a new building, structure or reconstruction of an object is necessarily preceded by a number of preparatory measures that allow you to take into account all the features and initial data of the structure, land plot and engineering communications. The starting stage of the preliminary design stage is a pre-project survey, which allows, in the process of further development of design and technical solutions, to fully comply with the requirements of the current SNiP and regulations, all the conditions of the Customer and his wishes. Preliminary activities will depend compound draft design , the timing of the preparation of design and technical documentation and the complexity of the work.

Characteristics of the procedure and its features

Pre-project survey - a complex of specialized works on the collection, processing and system analysis of objects for various purposes. Based on the collected data, a comprehensive justification of the construction or reconstruction, their feasibility, the occurrence of possible difficulties and problems. To achieve the most reliable and effective results in the process of conducting the survey, various types of high-tech tools and equipment are used.

Professionals who perform research work must have specialized education, have official permits from state authorities and structures of the SRO system.

Why is a pre-project survey carried out:

1. To assess the real state of the object before its reconstruction, expansion, completion or modernization.
2. In case of loss of design and technical documentation.
3. When making mistakes in the preparation of the project.
4. When making adjustments during the construction process, which were not reflected in the drawings and in the actual work.
5. When assessing the physical and moral deterioration of structures and engineering networks.

Often ordered today pre-project documentation at the pre-investment phase for the purpose of reasoned justification financial investments, their expediency and systematic implementation of the project.

Main stages of work:

• Preparatory stage: study of the Customer's wishes, collection necessary documentation and other data.
• Familiarization with the object, coordination of the terms and cost of services, development of a program of activities and preparation of TOR (detailed terms of reference).
• Comprehensive visual and instrumental inspection of the object.
• Analysis of the obtained results and performance of necessary calculations.
• Drawing up a conclusion about the state of the object.

Where to order a pre-project inspection?

The diversified company "Region" provides individuals, construction and contracting organizations, investment and development firms with a full range of services for the preliminary survey of facilities, construction sites, construction in progress and engineering systems. Time of pre-project work and draft design cost depends on the structural complexity of the object, the amount of work to be done and their composition, location construction site and the availability of reliable data on the actual state of soils, engineering highways and communications.

An information survey is an important step in optimizing the preschool educational institution and implementing the EDMS. After all, the quality of decisions made to optimize processes and develop requirements for the functionality of the EDMS directly depends on the information received and the quality of its presentation.

In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to the main principle of the survey - to obtain a complete, reliable and up-to-date information about the processes that are planned to be automated.

Pre-project survey

From the point of view of a consulting company offering its consulting and EDMS implementation services on the market, i.e. implementing an EDMS for an analyst is external project, the pre-project survey is considered as part of the sales methodology (as one of the "pre-sale" phases). However, most of the work of this stage is performed by the analyst, as well as at the analysis stage provided for by the implementation methodology. For this reason, the pre-project survey is also considered as part of the implementation methodology.

Conducting a pre-project survey can also be useful for analysts performing work on the implementation of the EDMS as internal enterprise (organization) project, i.e. the analyst is an employee of the company where the EDMS is being implemented.

Scheme of the results of the pre-project survey

Goals pre-project survey are:

• receiving general information about the object of implementation of the EDMS;
• definition of implementation goals;
• definition of general key requirements for the EDMS and project boundaries;
• determination of the general state of the organization of document circulation and office work;
• identification of the main users (clerks, managers, etc.);
• determining the overall level of complexity of a potential project;
• assessment of needs for data migration and integration with other software;
• collection of information necessary for the preparation of an effective and winning commercial offer[if the work is carried out by a company external to the object of implementation] .

In order to obtain the necessary information about the project, a survey and interview of the main users (Customer, project manager, heads of departments, main users) is carried out.

sample questions Questionnaires, the answers to which will allow obtaining primary information from the Customer and future users of the EDMS, are presented in the “Questions for Questionnaires and Interviews” section.

As a result pre-project survey is carried out:

• assessment of the scope of work required for the implementation of the EDMS;
• preparation of a report on the pre-project survey;
• preparation and demonstration of a prototype solution (if necessary);
• preparation of a commercial offer.

1. Goals and objectives of the implementation of the EDMS;
2. Boundaries of the project for the implementation of the EDMS;
3. Other information received.

After conducting a pre-project survey, it becomes possible to assess the scope of analytical and technical work that will need to be carried out, as well as what results should be achieved.

As a result, a document is developed that contains a description of the main requirements for the ERMS, the boundaries of the project, and other identified information. If the information survey is carried out by an organization external to the Customer, a solution prototype is also prepared for demonstration to the Customer (if necessary) and a commercial offer.

At this stage, based on the received primary information, the Project Manager (PM) draws up a basic work plan, a hierarchical work structure (WBS), as well as the Project Charter. At this stage, the choice of the platform on which the EDMS will be developed can also take place.

Information survey and analysis

Using the results of the Pre-Design Survey as starting point, during the Information survey, the information received earlier is clarified, existing business processes are investigated and described (“as is” - “as is”), future, optimized business processes are proposed (“to be” - “as it should be”), and it also describes all the necessary modifications in the system to support these business processes and EDMS interfaces.

Scheme of the results of the information survey

Goals information survey are:

• study and accurate description of business processes to be automated;
• definition and description of system modifications, interfaces, incl. interfaces with external systems and means of transferring data from existing programs to be developed and implemented during the project;
• development of terms of reference (TOR);
• development of recommendations for reengineering (optimization) of document flows and organization of document circulation and office work.

The purpose of this stage is to identify the requirements of the Customer to the results of implementation, therefore, close teamwork Customer, Key Users and Analyst throughout the information survey and analysis phase. Typically, the Information Survey is the next step after the Due Diligence, and involves a detailed study of all areas of the business that will be affected during the course of the project, and does not simply identify the main functional areas and vital applications ("killer applications"), as is done in the Due Diligence stage. .

In order to obtain the necessary information, a survey and interview of the main users (Customer, project manager, heads of departments, main users) is carried out similarly to a pre-project survey, but at a more detailed level. Sample questions of the Questionnaire, the answers to which will allow obtaining information from the Customer and future users of the EDMS, are presented in the “Questions for Questionnaires and Interviews” section.

results works are reflected in the document "Functional requirements" (FT) or the Report, or the terms of reference (depending on the complexity of the project).

The final document must contain:

1. Functional requirements for EDMS;
2. Description of EDMS interfaces;
3. Description of business processes;
4. Recommendations for reengineering (optimization) of workflow;
5. Other information obtained during the survey and analysis.

As a result of the work carried out to organize effective office work and workflow and decision on the implementation of the system electronic document management the project team formulates the requirements for the automated system, draws up a list of processes to be automated, determines the priorities and sequence of their automation.

After defining the goals, objectives, boundaries of the project for the implementation of the EDMS, work begins on the development and implementation automated system electronic document management.

With the aim of efficient automation working with documents is recommended:

1. Make a list of existing types of documents In the organisation
2. Do examination of each type document (see below)*
3. Compose list of employees responsible for the creation of documents (who creates what types of documents)
4. Compose list of employees who endorse, sign, approve documents (who, what types of documents; conditions under which a visa is required, signature)
5. Based on these lists make a general itinerary passage of documents with the conditions of passage - algorithm (Operogram or Scheme of graphic workflow)
6. Determine the necessary accounting documents(reports): conditions for creating reports and their forms
7. Determine what types of documents need to be put under control (determine the terms, forms of notification, form of a control card, conditions for removing control)
8. Based on surveys write instructions for DOE if necessary
9. Draw up a nomenclature of cases(indicating the retention periods and principles for the formation of cases) if necessary
10. Make a list, which reflects the mechanism of access to various types documents (depending on position)

Examination of each type of document:

• describe the technology of documentation (compilation): a set of details, their location, methods of filling (if necessary);
• describe the forms of registration and control cards (RCC): the set and arrangement of fields in the card;
• show the conditions for the movement of documents (the presence of signatures, visas, verification, etc.);
• show the scheme of movement of documents (route) or a list of the main approvers, signers, etc.;
• describe the method of registration, codes that are assigned to various types of documents

Questions for questionnaires and interviews

Listed here are questions that can be used in questionnaires or when interviewing users when conducting an ERMS site survey. Questions are advisory. There are no clear requirements for conducting a survey, so the Analyst must be creative in obtaining the necessary information, structuring and displaying it.

Needs to automate the document management process:

1. What are the long-term and short-term goals for implementing the system?
2. What are the main criteria for the success of the document management system implementation project?
3. When is it desirable to implement the system? What are the reasons for these deadlines?
4. Who is the main initiator of the project: in the interests of which department or manager (managers) is it planned to implement the system?
5. Who are the main customers of the EDMS (what divisions) and the main participants in the EDMS?
6. When implementing the system, is it planned to completely or partially switch to paperless technology of office work and document flow? Describe how you see it.
7. Is it planned to use systems of cryptographic protection of information and electronic digital signature(SKZI and EDS)? If YES, please indicate the name or type of priority systems.
8. Processing, what types of documents, formats and types are planned to be automated by means of the system?
8.1. Briefly describe the main parameters of each of them, indicate the differences.
8.2. Specify priorities
9. How many jobs are planned to be installed immediately?
10. How many jobs are planned to be connected to the system as a result (in general)?
11. In which departments is the implementation of the EDMS planned?
12. Describe the main functional responsibilities departments - the main participants in the EDS.

Organizational matters:

13. Are there technical specialists who will lead the project from the Customer?
14. Are there PEI specialists who will lead the project from the Customer?

Questions about preschool education:

15. Are there approved regulations, instructions, regulations or other regulatory documents governing the work with documents (descriptions of office work and document flow)?
15.1. How well developed and relevant are they?
15.2. Are they planned to change?
15.3. If such documents exist, please provide them for analysis.
16. If there are no such rules (regulations, instructions, methods) or they are not relevant, is it necessary to conduct a survey, description and optimization of existing processes?
16.1. Is there an understanding of the need and timeliness of such actions?
16.2. Or is it planned to automate processes "as is"?
16.3. If survey and optimization is to be carried out, define survey areas, objectives and optimization criteria.
17. How is the record keeping?
17.1. centrally;
17.2. decentralized;
17.3. Mixed.
18. Which department or employee is responsible for handling documents?
19. Who organizes work with documents in the company (which department)?
20. What functions (processes, work) need to be automated for the specified types of documents? Describe them (briefly)
21. What is the approximate volume of document flow per year/month for each specified type of document?
22. List the types of documents for which forms and templates are used, the work with which is planned to be automated?
23. What forms of accounting and registration are used for each type of documents? Describe their structure, filling rules, rules for generating registration numbers.
24. What documents require additional control? Describe their characteristics and control requirements.
25. What types and types of reporting should be implemented for each type of documents?
26. Types of work performed on each type of document. Changes that occur to a document during a business process.
27. Describe official duties on processing documents of employees - participants in the document flow.
28. Describe the existing technology for working with documents in an organization, department:
28.1. the procedure for forwarding processing and registration of incoming documents;
28.2. the procedure for consideration by management of incoming documents and the issuance of a resolution;
28.3. the structure of the resolution;
28.4. procedure for placing documents under control;
28.5. types of control;
28.6. deadlines;
28.7. a list of documents, the progress of which is subject to control;
28.8. technology for monitoring the execution of documents;
28.9. the procedure for accounting for documents received for execution in structural divisions;
28.10. the procedure for removing documents from control;
28.11. the procedure for reviewing draft documents by management, their approval various departments and statements;
28.12. the procedure for registration and forwarding processing of outgoing documents;
28.13. development order internal documents;
28.14. organizing the storage of documents in structural divisions and in the central archive of the organization.
29. What needs to be changed in working with documents?
30. What forms of accounting and registration are used for each type of documents?
30.1. Describe their structure and filling rules (if any).
30.2. Registration number formation rules
31. What types and types of reporting should be implemented for each type of documents?
31.1. current business reports;
31.2. final business reports;
31.3. statistical business reports;
32. Ability to establish and track links between documents

Questions about archiving:

33. Is there an archive like structural subdivision?
34. Who is responsible for the prompt storage of documents?
35. Are there any instructions for storing documents? In the presence of normative documents please provide them.
36. Is the Nomenclature of Cases developed (every year)?
37. Which division ( executive) is responsible for the compilation and approval of the consolidated nomenclature of cases.
38. Is an examination of the value of documents and destruction of documents carried out?
39. Is there a scientific reference apparatus? Who is leading it? Describe its structure.
40. Is there a policy on access to documents, especially confidential ones?
41. Is it planned to transfer the archive of "paper" documents to the system?
41.1. Specify the approximate number, format and types of documents.
41.2. Is the archive of documents geographically distributed? If YES, where are the document storage locations located?
41.3. Specify the required time frame for transferring information to the system.
42. What rules are applied for writing off documents in cases, transferring them to the archive, what are the storage standards?
43. Rules for working with the Nomenclature of cases of the unit, its structure and organization of the storage of documents in the unit, work with which is subject to automation.

Description of the structure of the organization:

To carry out an initial assessment of requirements, information about the organizational structure of the company is required. The description of the organizational structure must be a diagram (in Visio, ARIS format or in another similar format). A text description is also possible. The scheme (or textual description) of the organizational structure should reflect:

44. List of top-level organizations ( Management Company, a list of complexes, branches, individual legal entities. persons (for example, company offices), etc.), including:
44.1. the name of the organizations;
44.2. geographical location of organizations;
44.3. relationships between organizations (hierarchy);
44.4. spheres of activity of organizations.
45. Organizational structures of top-level organizations, which should contain:
45.1. the structure of departments;
45.2. interrelations of divisions;
45.3. functions of divisions;
45.4. divisional responsibilities.

First of all, we are interested in information about the structural units that will be involved in the implementation of the electronic document management system.

IT infrastructure of the organization:

46. ​​What technical support is available: characteristics of the server, client places?
47. Is the information system(s) currently being used to automate current tasks?
47.1. If YES, what functions are implemented in it?
47.2. What do not suit / current problems?
47.3. Is it planned to replace it completely or partially?
47.4. Data migration: how it is planned to carry out the transfer of accumulated information:
- do not endure
- transfer manually
- transfer automatically.
47.5. If an automated transfer of “old” data to a new system is planned, it is necessary to provide information on the structure and storage formats, and formulate requirements for data conversion.
48. Is integration with other systems required?
49. What is the typical configuration of client workstations (processor, RAM, operating system etc.)?
50. Is a list of standard software installed on office PCs? If YES, please provide this list.
51. What are the characteristics of the underlying server hardware?
52. Do employees of the enterprise use corporate e-mail in their daily work? What mail server and client are you using?
53. Specify the version and developer of the server software of the corporate Email.
54. What is your network topology:
1.1. Is the local network based on a Windows NT domain?
1.2. How many workstations are in your local network?
1.3. Is there a territorial distribution of the network? If there is:
1.3.1. What is the distribution of workstations by branches (offices)?
1.3.2. What is the bandwidth of communication channels between network segments?
55. Is there a dedicated file server designed to store documents? What is the approximate volume of documents stored on this server?
56. Is there a strategy for storing unstructured information (PCs, dedicated file servers, storage subsystems, etc.)
57. What is the average volume of documents stored on client workstations?
58. What corporate Information Systems(CIS) are used in the enterprise?
59. Are there any licensed DBMS and how are they used? Specify the developers and versions of the DBMS used in the enterprise.
60. Are directory services used to identify users? If YES, please indicate which ones.
61. Is there a service technical support users (helpdesk)? Is there a regulation for this service?
62. How many employees does the department (department, administration) have information technologies? What are the main tasks of this division?
63. Specify the systems with which the document management system should be integrated.
64. Indicate the approximate ratio of employees who have access to documents only for familiarization to the number of employees who have the right to modify and perform certain actions.

SED Requirements:

65. What functional requirements to new system You consider the most important, list and describe.
66. The composition of the attributes of each document card:
- Name
- Description
- Label on the form (name on the form)
- Data type
- Method of filling (manually, from the directory, ...)
67. Search for documents by attributes of registration cards List of details of a search card
68. The need to form a history of work with documents, track the progress of execution and the approval process, etc.
69. Necessary filters in the system
70. Information requests that the system must satisfy

We propose to issue the information obtained as a result of the survey in the form operograms or in the form algorithm. As an example, we propose to consider the life cycle of orders for the main activity. The technology of working with this type of documents is the most unified and can be used in various enterprises.

Examples of the process of working with a document

We propose to issue the information obtained as a result of the survey in the form of an operogram or in the form of an algorithm. As an example, we propose to consider the life cycle of orders for the main activity. The technology of working with this type of documents is the most unified and can be used in various enterprises.

Operogram life cycle order for the main activity

Click on the image with the mouse to enlarge it

Algorithm for processing orders for the main activity

Development of functional requirements

Based on the information listed above, the Analyst develops functional requirements for the EDMS or TOR for the development of the EDMS. In particular, the Analyst must draw up requirements for the format and composition of registration and control cards (set and arrangement of fields in the card, methods of filling in the EDMS, etc.), routes for the movement of documents and other requirements necessary for setting up and developing the EDMS.

Automation of work and, accordingly, setting tasks for software development should be carried out in the presence of regulatory documents governing the work with documents: instructions, regulations, form albums, etc.

In the absence of such documents, it is necessary to develop a document (s) fixing (s) basic rules for working with documents, the work with which is planned to be automated.

Documentation

During the survey, the following documentation is prepared:

1. Information survey report (infological model)

Purpose:
Recording information obtained during the survey, interviewing the Customer's employees in order to develop technical specifications for the creation and configuration of an automated system

Includes:

• Description general characteristics Customer;
• Description organizational structure;
• Description of technical equipment;
• Description of business processes to be automated;
• Description of user requirements;
• Recommendations for improving business processes.

2. Terms of reference for the creation of an automated system (data model)

Purpose:
Development of technical requirements for the functionality of the automated system, its architecture

Includes description:

• workstations;
• system functions;
• card attributes;
• interfaces;
• directories;
• action buttons;
• terms of notices;
• other technical requirements to SED.

The sections of the documentation described above may be added and changed as documentation development is a creative process, and also depends on the professionalism of the Analyst who develops these documents.

CONSULTING

When automating a customer's business processes, an IT company very often needs to conduct a pre-project survey. This problem automatically raises a number of interrelated questions.

1. Is it necessary to conduct such a survey at all? What will it give to the customer and the IT company itself?

2. What are the objectives of the pre-project survey?

3. What should be its result?

4. Should I do a pre-project survey for free or take money for it?

5. How to justify the effectiveness of such a survey for the customer, can it pay off?

Here, each company makes a decision in its own way: someone generally considers such an examination inappropriate (“we will get into battle, and then we'll see ...”); others, conducting it during implementation, do not single out this work in a separate article; still others carry it out as an independent stage of work, but do not take money for it; the fourth rightly consider the pre-project survey to be a separate commercial product. My experience as a manager and consultant shows that a pre-project survey is a necessary component of the work of almost any IT company related to the implementation of automation systems. And from proper organization and the implementation of this stage sometimes depends on the success of the entire project.

Within the framework of this article, I will try to answer the above questions, based both on my own practice and on the experience of clients with whom I had to communicate, introducing the technology of conducting a pre-project survey from scratch.

The need for a pre-project survey

The approach of some IT companies to business automation is well illustrated by this anecdote.

An inventor comes to the commission and offers a new shaving machine for the street.

“But how does your device work?” - ask his members of the commission.

“Very simple,” the inventor replies. “You throw a coin into the slot, put your head into the machine, and two blades begin to shave you.”

“Sorry, colleague, but people have different face shapes!” - members of the commission make remarks to him.

“Yes,” says the inventor, “but this is only before the first shave...”

The main task of any automation is to keep unique competitive advantages automated company. We must not allow that, as in this joke, all companies after automation become the same person. Therefore, if we want to maintain the unique competitive advantages of the customer's business, then with any modernization of business processes, it is imperative to conduct a pre-project survey.

Of course, one can make a deep analysis of the reasons that determine such a need. They may be the high estimated cost of the project, the need to change existing business processes during automation, the inclusion of work in the project, the scope of which cannot be determined in advance, etc. However, remember how in one very instructive tale the commander interrupted the general’s report about the cause of the defeat :

Our defeat was due to a number of reasons, the general began. - Firstly, the gunpowder was raw ...

Enough, - the commander stopped him.

There is a similar situation here, since for a pre-project survey it is quite enough that the customer has unique business features (and every company should have them, otherwise it would simply not survive in the market and give way to competitors).

So globally, the question of the need for this kind of work is solved quite easily - they must be carried out if the automated company is in a competitive market.

What does a pre-project survey give to the customer and the IT company itself

As we all know perfectly well, any work or service will be in demand on the market only when it is beneficial to both the customer and the contractor. Therefore, let's briefly consider what, in fact, gives both of them a pre-project survey.

During the pre-project survey, the customer can:

Get detailed description existing business processes in the company and compare real business with his idea of ​​him;

Optimize existing business processes by using the practical experience that consultants from an IT company received during previous implementations in similar companies;

Assess the degree of compliance functionality the proposed system to the real business processes of the customer;

Timely highlight your unique advantages and take them into account at the stage of system implementation, and not after it is put into commercial operation;

Clarify the budget and deadlines for the implementation of the automation project, taking into account possible improvements to the system for the unique features of their business processes;

Assess the resources (both technical and human) that will be needed during the implementation phase of the system. Schedule the allocation of these resources in a timely manner to complete the project in optimal timing and without exceeding the budget;

Assess possible risks that may affect the quality of work;

Optimize the cost of deploying the system due to the possible implementation of part of the work on their own;

Get a better estimate economic effect and return on investment.

Benefits of due diligence for an IT company:

Increasing the level of customer satisfaction by aligning his expectations formed at the stage of pre-sales (when sellers offer a “dream”) with the real capabilities of the system to support specific business processes;

Clarification of the timing of the implementation of the system and the resources required for this, allowing you to plan their allocation in advance;

Timely clarification of the unique advantages of the customer to take them into account when configuring or finalizing the automation system;

Reduce implementation time and reduce execution risk free works. Necessary improvements to the system will be carried out before or in parallel with its deployment, and not after the end of the trial operation phase, which usually reveals deficiencies. The situation when a discrepancy in functionality is discovered at the stage of completion of the project automatically entails additional unplanned work. At the same time, the customer usually has difficulties with financing such work, and in order to successfully complete the project, they often have to be done free of charge;

Identification of probable risks that may affect the quality and timing of implementation. Timely provision of measures necessary to minimize the impact of these risks on the success of the project;

Obtaining data to justify the number of licenses and the structure of the project;

Fixing the current state of affairs in automated units and the main parameters of their work will justify the effectiveness of the proposed system;

Establishment of personal contacts of consultants with the main executors of the customer on the project will further simplify their joint work;

Expanding the knowledge base (if any) on the main business processes of customers in this industry.

Of course, not all the arguments in favor of a pre-project survey are listed here, however, as practice shows, this is quite enough to convince the customer of its necessity.

The main tasks of the pre-project survey

Each company has its own view on the priority of the tasks associated with the pre-project survey, but the most important of them, in my opinion, is the study of the basic business processes of the customer and the clarification of the main problems that he would like to solve with the help of an automation system. The most effective tool for this is usually a specially designed questionnaire based on the actual practice of conducting pre-project surveys. It allows the consultant to ask the customer's employees all the necessary questions regarding the main activities of the automated units, without forgetting anything. I strongly recommend that you interview employees of various ranks for each item - from performers to top management. I very often had to deal with a situation where top management believed that specific business processes were going as they were originally conceived, but in reality the work in the company was carried out in a completely different way. At the same time, middle managers had their own opinion about the functioning of the process, which was different both from the ideas of top managers and from the actual activities of specific performers participating in these works. This state of affairs usually evokes a lot of emotion when reading a due diligence report. Finding out the true situation and stating it in the form of a clear document helps to build trust in external consultants and establish a trusting relationship with both the client's management and ordinary employees.

Obviously, the next most important task of the pre-project survey is to identify the unique competitive advantages of the customer. As practice shows, about 75% of the business processes used by the customer coincide with the processes in similar companies in the same industry, 10% realize its unique competitive advantages, and the remaining 15% are the result of the second law of thermodynamics :) (a consequence of the “natural growth of chaos ”) and should be eliminated during the project. But those competitive 10% that are so important for business simply need to be preserved with any automation (naturally, provided that these advantages can be formalized). Most often, this issue is solved by configuring the system for the customer, but sometimes the services of programmers are required to take into account the unique features of the business. I note that here we are not talking about custom development, but about the introduction of circulation automation systems.

By understanding how the customer's competitive advantage will be supported, the IT company will be able to assess the need and cost of product refinement, as well as understand what additional resources may be required for this.

An important goal of the pre-project survey is to diagnose the state of the customer's IT environment, that is, to assess the computer equipment, software, communications used by him, the skill level of IT specialists, etc. At this stage, it is necessary to understand whether the customer has enough resources for the successful implementation of the system automation. Here we come to another task of the pre-project survey - the analysis of the potential risks of the project and the description of their likely consequences. At the same time, consultants should not only record all possible risks, but also offer the customer ways to reduce each of them.

Any CIS involves the accumulation of information about the operational activities of departments, so the next topic of the pre-project survey should be the collection of requirements for automated departments.

The information accumulated in the system will remain a dead weight if it is not possible to analyze it, therefore it is very important to find out during the pre-project survey what types and forms of reporting the customer needs. Usually, automation tools already include a standard set of reports, but each customer rightly considers his business to be unique, and therefore requires a unique system of this kind, implemented, as a rule, using a special report generator.

An urgent task of the pre-project survey is to clarify the final budget of the project and the timing of its implementation, taking into account all the data received. These terms can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as the readiness of the client’s management apparatus to participate in the project, the motivation of the customer’s and contractor’s representatives, the likelihood of sabotage by employees of automated departments, possible dismissal (or, conversely, hiring) key manager some time after the start of the project, insufficiency of the existing computer park and technological base to achieve all automation goals, lack of a procurement budget necessary equipment and much more. Therefore, the consultant must find out in detail all these circumstances and reflect them in the report, including for internal use. Drawing up the second - internal - report will allow you to reflect in detail all the nuances of the relationship and recommendations for the specialists of the implementation and integration department.

Another important issue that needs to be addressed at the pre-project survey stage is the development of recommendations on the choice of project implementation methods. Here it is important to clearly fix which of the problems previously formulated by the customer cannot be solved with the help of the proposed automation system, and to suggest organizational or other ways out of this situation.

Each company can easily add a dozen more tasks that it would like to solve at the survey stage, but, as real practice shows, getting answers to the questions listed above already makes the pre-project survey quite effective.

What is usually the result of a pre-project survey

The main result is the final report on the work performed, agreed and signed by the customer and the contractor. Let's look at the necessary sections of such a report. If you do not dwell on the standard sections on introductory words, a list of abbreviations, acronyms and abbreviations, then the following basic components can be distinguished in the report:

- description of the customer's existing business processes;

- a list of the main tasks that need to be solved using the automation system;

- assessment of the customer's business processes and recommendations for changing or optimizing the work of departments, taking into account the benefits provided by the IS;

- unique competitive advantages of the customer, which must be taken into account when implementing the system;

- analysis of the existing IT environment for compliance with the requirements of the system corporate governance, recommendations for its change;

- assessment of work on the integration of CIS into the existing IT infrastructure of the customer;

- description of a in automated units and requirements for analytics;

- assessment of possible risks in the implementation of the project and determination of measures necessary to minimize their impact;

- a description of the customer's wishes that cannot be implemented in the proposed control system and will require improvement, an estimate of the time and cost of such improvement;

- a proposal for the implementation of the project with a rationale for the proposed option, setting the number of workstations required for the customer and clarifying the project budget.

A separate document of the pre-project survey should be a preliminary work schedule, including, among other things, an agreed list of responsible persons (both from the customer and from the contractor), their areas of responsibility and the basic rules of interaction between them. For the effective implementation of the system, it is recommended to draw up a regulation on the information exchange between the customer's employees and specialists of the IT company conducting the survey, and, importantly, to stipulate the timing and procedure for monitoring the performance of work.

Some companies (most often those that are engaged in custom development) upon completion of the pre-project survey provide the customer with a draft specification.

Do a pre-project survey for free or take money for it?

The answer to this question depends heavily on the objectives of the survey. If that purpose is a rapid survey to "lure" the client (usually by having the client fill out a questionnaire), then it seems reasonable to do it for free.

If the purpose of the survey corresponds to the tasks described above, then it will require the diversion of significant company resources and must necessarily be paid. This pre-project survey is a full-fledged consulting service that allows not only to assess the need, timing and budget for automation, but also to optimize the customer's existing business processes.

As practice has shown, it is not difficult to sell pre-project survey services if the company has implemented the appropriate technology and the sellers clearly know (and can clearly explain to the client) the purpose of the survey and what benefits the customer will receive from it.

How to justify for the customer the effectiveness of the pre-project survey

The issue of evaluating the effectiveness of a pre-project survey, as, indeed, of any other service, is one of the most difficult in business, since its result is not always obvious to the customer and is often perceived very subjectively. To justify the economic effect of consulting services - and a pre-project survey, as mentioned above, is precisely a consulting service - each business segment has its own unique algorithms and techniques. However, here we will consider other, simpler and more universal methods that allow the customer to roughly assess the effectiveness of the pre-project survey.

Consider potential savings channels, the consideration of which can help justify the need for a pre-project survey.

1. Saving manpower and time:

When finalizing the system for the unique competitive advantages of the customer at the initial stage of implementation, and not after commissioning;

At the stage of integrating the system into the customer's IT infrastructure, due to the fact that all information about the state of the enterprise's IT environment and the nuances of integration is clarified before the start, and not during implementation;

Thanks to the timely allocation of material and human resources both from the side of the contractor and the customer;

Due to an early assessment of possible risks that can affect the process of implementing the system, and the development of measures necessary to minimize their negative consequences.

Any delay in the progress of the project translates into serious additional costs for the customer, which can be quite easily calculated in each specific case.

2. Possible reduction in the cost of implementation:

By identifying services and works that the customer can perform on their own;

By adjusting the timing of some work after clarifying their real labor intensity.

3. Improving the efficiency of the CIS and the productivity of employees by optimizing business processes, taking into account the unique features of the customer.

4. Refusal to use an automated system, if at the stage of pre-project survey it turns out that it will not allow solving the customer's tasks or its completion will cost too much.

In my practice, there was a case when a client with very specific business processes, based on the results of a pre-project survey, was recommended not to deploy CIS, but to conduct organizational changes and optimize the technology of working with their customers, since the effect of the implementation of the system (it required an expensive revision) would not pay off the costs. As a result, the client saved tens of thousands of dollars, and the pre-project survey paid off only by improving the efficiency of the department, which changed the technology of employees' work on the recommendation of consultants.

The lack of a pre-project survey stage in most cases leads to a significant delay in the implementation of projects and an increase in their cost, both due to organizational and technical problems that arise during implementation. Quite often, such projects generally end in complete failure. According to a study by the Standish Group, almost a third of the 2.5 thousand IT projects they analyzed were not just unsuccessful * 1, but were not completed at all. In Russia, such data is much more difficult to obtain, but I am sure that the proportion of unsuccessful implementations will be no less.

*1 Unsuccessful projects are considered to be projects in which deadlines were missed, budget was violated, or expected results were not obtained.

Therefore, if a consulting company does not want to have unrealized projects in its track record, then it simply needs to conduct a pre-project survey of the customers' business. It is better to refuse the contract at the initial stage than to get bogged down in work and end up with a stain on your reputation.

Keywords: enterprise survey, interviewing and questioning, incoming information registry, internal information registry, outgoing information registry, enterprise express survey report, reference model, full business model of the organization, functional domain model.

Tasks and stages of pre-project inspection of the automation object

An enterprise survey is an important and defining stage in the design of an IS. The duration of the examination is usually 1-2 weeks. During this time, the system analyst should examine no more than 2-3 types of activities (personnel accounting, accounting, transportation, marketing, etc.).

Collection of information for building complete business model of the organization often comes down to the study of documented information flows and functions of departments, and is also carried out through interviews and questionnaires.

By the beginning of the survey, the organization usually provides a set of documents, which usually includes:

Summary information about the activity of the enterprise.

Information about the administrative, financial-economic, production activity of the enterprise.

Information about the accounting policy and reporting.

Regular document flow of the enterprise.

Register of incoming information.

Register of internal information.

Register of outgoing information.

Information about the information-computing infrastructure of the enterprise.

Information about responsible persons.

REGISTER OF INCOMING INFORMATION
(Business name)		(Department name)
		Who handles	Where does it come from	Labor intensity	Periodicity, regulation	How to obtain
REGISTER OF INTERNAL INFORMATION
(Business name)		(Department name)		Document Processing Characteristics
	Name and purpose of the document	Who handles	To whom	Labor intensity	Periodicity, regulation	How to obtain

REGISTER OF OUTGOING INFORMATION
(Business name)		(Department name)		Document Processing Characteristics
	Name and purpose of the document	Who handles	Where does it go	Labor intensity	Periodicity, regulation	How to obtain

Lists of questions for interviews and questionnaires compiled for each surveyed unit and approved by the head of the company. This is done in order to:

preventing access to confidential information;

strengthening the targeting of the survey;

minimizing the distraction of employees of enterprises from the performance of their duties.

General list of questions(with their subsequent detailing) includes the following items:

the main tasks of the units;

collected and registered information;

reporting;

interaction with other departments.

Questionnaires for managers and specialists may include the following questions:

What (from the point of view of your division) should be the goals of creating an integrated enterprise management system?

Organizational structure of the unit.

Department tasks.

The sequence of actions when performing tasks.

What types of external organizations (bank, customer, supplier, etc.) does the unit interact with and what information is exchanged?

What reference material do you use?

How much time (in minutes) do you spend doing basic operations? What are the peak days? (periodicity per month, quarter, year, etc.) Technical equipment of the unit (computers, network, modem, etc.). Used software products to automate business processes.

What reports and how often do you prepare for management? Key specialists of the division who are able to answer any questions on business processes used in the division.

Characteristics of remote control objects.

Documentation in the workplace.

The data collected in this way, as a rule, do not cover all significant aspects of organizational activity and have a high degree subjectivity. And most importantly, such surveys do not reveal stable factors associated with the specific characteristics of the organization, which can only be influenced by methods of functional adjustment of the organizational system.

An analysis of the surveys of the heads of the surveyed organizations and enterprises shows that their ideas about the structure of the organization, the general and local goals of functioning, the tasks and functions of departments, as well as the subordination of employees, are sometimes contradictory. In addition, these ideas sometimes diverge from officially declared goals and rules or contradict actual activities.

If the structure of information flows can be identified by sample documents and configurations computer networks and databases, the structure of real microprocesses carried out by personnel in information contacts (largely undocumented) remains unknown.

Answers to these questions can be given by structural-functional diagnostics based on the methods of continuous (or selective) photography of the staff's working time. The purpose of diagnostics is to obtain reliable knowledge about the organization and organizational relations of its functional elements.

In this regard, the most important tasks of functional diagnostics of organizational structures include:

classification of subjects of functioning (categories and groups of workers);

classification of elements of the functioning process (actions, procedures);

classification of directions (problems to be solved), goals of functioning;

classification of elements of information flows;

conducting a survey of the activities of the organization's personnel;

study of the distribution (in time and frequency) of organizational characteristics: procedures, personnel contacts, activities, elements of information flows - individually and in combination with each other according to categories of workers, types of procedures and their directions (according to the results and logic of research);

identification of the real structure of functional, informational, hierarchical, temporary, problematic relationships between managers, employees and departments;

establishing a structure for the distribution of working time for managers and staff in relation to the functions, problems and goals of the organization;

identification of the main technologies of the functioning of the organization ( information processes, including undocumented), their goal-setting in comparison with the declared goals of the organization;

identification of homogeneous in terms of specific activity, target orientation and real subordination of groups of workers, the formation of a real model of the organizational structure and its comparison with the declared one;

determination of the reasons for the discrepancy between the declared and real structure of organizational relations.

A continuous "photo" of working time is the continuous observation and recording of the characteristics of workers in the process of functioning throughout the working day. In this case, the displayed parameters are sequentially entered into a pre-prepared worksheet. Below is the system analyst worksheet form:

Immediately upon completion of the examination procedure, the table is replenished with additional characteristics: technological branch, system function, subject, aspect, emotional background, etc.

Part of the indicators, those marked with an asterisk, are filled in during the examination, the rest - after. The content of the entries is as follows:

number (in order);

agent (position of the examined worker);

the time during which the procedure was performed;

procedure (the name of the content of the set of elementary actions united by the generality of the particular task being solved);

information (direction of information flow between the agent and the counterparty);

initiative (the initiator of the start of this procedure);

counterparty (the position of the employee who is in contact with the subject);

relation (reflecting the subordination of the agent and the counterparty, the form of interaction in this procedure);

problem (verbal description of the problem being solved).

The result of the pre-project survey should come" Report on the express survey of the enterprise», whose structure is given below.

Brief schematic description of business processes, for example:

purchasing and inventory management;

manufacturing control;

sales management;

management of financial resources.

Basic requirements and priorities of automation.

Evaluation of the customer's resources necessary to ensure the project.

Grade automation possibilities, proposals for the creation of an automated system with an estimate of the approximate timing and cost.

The documents included in the survey report can be presented in the form of a text description or tables, the approximate form of which is given below.

The main business processes of the enterprise

	B-P Business process name
	Sales: network, wholesale
	Procurement plan
	Placing an order for production
	Own production
	Purchase of raw materials