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A Useful e-RoadMap
By Don Sussis
May 16, 2000

As businesses move into significant e-businesses, good planning strategies, design and implementation becomes more and more essential. Too many dollars and hours are spent getting it right, and no one wants to fly blindly into this often confusing and harrowing e-world. So, in my consulting work, clients often ask me for a "road map" that can lead them through the various stages that will "e-enable their enterprise." I recently found such a plan. It was developed by Michael Carter of U.S. Interactive; he calls it "e-RoadMap/The Electronic Enterprise Development Plan." Michael wrote it to describe the process of a "phased deliverables schedule for a unique solution to Electronic Enterprise." The services described are applied in three phases: 1) Innovation, 2) Validation, and 3) Launch.

I. Innovation Phase

  1. Business Case: Comprehensive cost/benefit analysis, return on investment establish and agreement on measurable objectives with multi-state strategies.
  2. Knowledge Audit: Documenting the form, access and storage of knowledge capital to best leverage it across the enterprise.
  3. Customer Care Audit: Providing a framework for your customer service offering as well as a detailed analysis of your current constituent inventory and attitudes.
  4. Enterprise Architecture Audit: Ascertaining future requirements through analysis of your embedded technological infrastructure.
  5. Brand Audit: Measuring your brand, its distinctiveness, how it is perceived by your target market, its effectiveness in various media and how it meshes with your overall corporate objectives.
  6. Channel Audit: Identifying channels that increase mind and market share to ensure that your Electronic Enterprise is marketed in the most effective manner.
  7. Competitive Analysis: Rating your existing Web sites and those of your competitors for ease of navigation, design, use of appropriate technology, community building and other areas affecting the user experience.
  8. Digital Brand Positioning Strategy: Use of competitive category analysis and consumer research to find the best digital positioning for your brand, name, and logo development.

    II. Validation Phase

  9. Creative concepts: combining compelling design with intuitive navigation systems to offer a choice of directions for your user interface.
  10. Digital Channel Strategy: Strategic disaggregation of the value chain enabling your company to boost your brand, heighten product exposure and increase revenue.
  11. Systems Architecture: Establishing guidelines to ensure use of correct, open technologies to realize the business impact of strategic Internet development.
  12. Digital prototyping: Visual demonstration of a product or service, including features and functionality. Increases success rates and creates proper phasing and momentum for the enterprise.
  13. Usability Testing: Presenting the solution to a sample of your target market and documenting their response to the interface in the context of the overall business strategy.
  14. Software Evaluation Workshop: Permits you to bypass the RFP process for best -of -breed electronic commerce vendors and reach informed software decisions in less time (about two weeks).

    III. Launch Phase

  15. Development Implementation Plan: Providing a prioritized, cost-justified frame work for establishing business, user and functionality requirements.
  16. Enterprise Design & Development: Defining requirements for creating Electronic Enterprise. Determines the scope of interactive solutions to be applied to current and prospective business operations.
  17. Custom Software Development: Creation of custom commerce solutions built on partnerships with key commerce, knowledge management and enterprise relationship management software.
  18. Custom Commerce Solutions: Robust custom commerce solutions built on partnerships with key commerce leaders. This encompasses: site development; operations; inventory management; warehousing; fulfillment, and secure online transactions.
  19. Enterprise Software Implementation: Partnering with best-of -breed software companies to deliver custom electronic commerce, digital marketing and enterprise management software solutions.
  20. Systems Integration: Integration of back end live and legacy databases to extend the functionality of interactive products and services and provide customers with greater access to required purchasing information.
  21. Media Plan: Analysis and recommendations for target market, placement, distribution and tracking.
  22. Media Placement & Tracking: Precisely placed and scheduled print and on-line media campaigns to reach your target market, enhance your brand image and make sales. Measures the success of each ad and media buy.

    How useful is it to have a planning guide, such as Michael Carter''s "eRoadMap," for you and your customers? To get a professional opinion, I asked Mark Hanny, VP of IBM''s Web Integrator Initiative. Here''s what he said: "As businesses move into meaningful e-businesses, the role of proper planning, design and execution becomes more and more critical.US Interactive''s eRoadMap is the type of plan that businesses need to think about and plan for the successful transition to real e-business." I agree.