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Consulting & Implementation

Implementation method

An implementation runs in five fixed phases. Each phase ends with something you can verify.

The five phases

  1. 1
    Process review workshops

    Two to four half-day sessions with the people who will use the system. We map how work travels, where the workarounds live, and which reports matter. The output is a written process summary you sign off; it becomes the configuration brief.

  2. 2
    Data migration

    We extract from spreadsheets and legacy systems, clean what can be cleaned, and load into a staging environment. You receive verification reports — record counts, control totals, spot-check samples — and you sign them.

  3. 3
    Configuration

    Chart of accounts, folders, workflow chains and report packs are shaped around the signed process summary. Every decision is documented.

  4. 4
    Parallel run

    For one full cycle, InsightSuite runs beside the current process. Every difference is chased to ground and explained.

  5. 5
    Go-live and aftercare

    Cutover is scheduled for your quietest window with a consultant on call. First-month check-ins are weekly; the first quarterly health check follows.

Data migration, in detail

We take a full extract, keep your originals untouched, and load into staging first. Verification is three-layered: automated control totals (debits equal credits, opening plus movements equal closing), record-count reconciliation per data set, and a human spot-check of a sample you choose. Data moves to production only after you sign the verification report.

Historical data is a judgment call made together: two years is typical, seven is available. The old system stays readable while confidence builds.

What we need from you

  • One internal owner with authority over small decisions.
  • Access to your real data and processes early.
  • Two hours a fortnight from each affected role.
  • A quiet-period window for go-live.

Implementation risks and how they are handled

  • Unwritten expectations. Handled by the signed process summary in phase one: what the system will and will not do, in writing before configuration.
  • The busy-season collision. Go-live dates are chosen around your calendar, and once quoted the date is held.
  • The silent sponsor. The weekly note names decisions outstanding, so silence becomes visible in days.
  • Training as an afterthought. Training is quoted as line items from the start.
  • The long-tail customisation. Bespoke work is separated from the core project, priced separately, and begun only after the core is live.

Pricing and what a quote contains

Implementation is quoted as fixed-price work after the process review, not as an hourly estimate. A typical quote contains line items for: process review, migration (per data set), configuration (per module), testing support, training (per course and head), and go-live cover.

Two rules

No work starts before the written quote is accepted. The quoted price holds even when the migration proves harder than estimated.

Practical questions about implementations

How long does a typical implementation take?
A single-module implementation with one data set runs six to eight weeks end to end, most of it paced by your calendar rather than ours: the parallel run needs one full business cycle, and go-live waits for your quietest window. Multi-module programmes stage in waves — the full-suite case on our Projects page took one quarter in three. The honest answer is in the quote: each phase carries its own dates, and those dates hold.
Why can we not skip the parallel run?
Because it is the only phase that proves the system against reality rather than against specification. Skipping it converts every undetected mapping error into a live posting error, discovered by customers or auditors instead of by a verification report.
What do you need from our side, technically?
Less than most organisations expect: access to the data extracts, a server meeting the published requirements (or a hosting agreement if cloud), and one person authorised to make small configuration decisions. We bring the migration tooling, the training environment and the go-live cover. If your office has an external IT provider, we need forty-five minutes of their time in week one — not a steering committee.