Service Category

Microsoft Planner Partner Service

Readiness & Deployment

Deployment and Integration (2-6 Weeks)

Custom Configuration and Setup: Tailor Microsoft New Planner to seamlessly integrate with your existing systems using Microsoft’s powerful Dataverse platform. This includes configuring specific functionalities that match your organizational workflow and data handling requirements.

Data Migration and System Integration: Smoothly transition your existing project data into the New Planner environment, ensuring continuity and operational integrity. This step includes careful planning and execution to maintain data integrity and system functionality during the transition.

Community of Practice: Establish a community of practice that serves as the central hub for all Planner-related activities and knowledge sharing within the organization. This community will play a crucial role in driving the rollout of Microsoft Planner, fostering a collaborative environment for users to learn and share experiences.

Regular Reporting and Impact Assessment: Implement a framework for regular reporting on the rollout progress and its impact on business efficiency. This includes setting up metrics and KPIs to track usage patterns, user engagement, and the overall effectiveness of Microsoft Planner in achieving organizational goals.

Initial and Ongoing Training: Provide comprehensive training sessions during the initial rollout to ensure all users are proficient in using Microsoft Planner. Continue to offer support and additional training as needed to address new features, updates, and user feedback.

Support Structures: Set up dedicated support channels to assist users with technical issues, usage questions, and best practices. This support structure is essential for resolving problems quickly and maintaining high levels of user satisfaction and productivity.

This phase is structured to not only technically enable Microsoft Planner within your organization but also to cultivate an environment that supports continuous learning and improvement, ensuring that the deployment is both successful and sustainable.

Service Category

Microsoft Planner Partner Service

Adoption & Change Management

User Adoption and Community Building Program (6 Months)

Intensive Training with Key Users: Initiate the adoption phase by working closely with a select group of key users, providing them with intensive training on both basic and premium plans of Microsoft New Planner. These key users will become the champions of the tool within the organization.

Knowledge Transfer: Leverage the trained key users to disseminate their knowledge and skills to broader participant groups in their respective environments. This peer-led training approach helps in creating a sustainable learning environment and encourages practical, hands-on use of the software across different teams.

Regular Coordination and Support Meetings: Conduct regular meetings with the core team and key users to reinforce learning, address emerging challenges, and ensure consistent use of the platform. These meetings will be held weekly initially and then every two weeks, adjusting as necessary to meet the needs of the users.

Structured Collection of Feedback and Use Cases: Implement a structured approach to gather use cases, experiences, and feedback from all users. This effort supports continual learning and improvement of the deployment strategy, while also enhancing the tool’s effectiveness and user satisfaction.

Community and Resource Building: Focus on building a community of practice around Microsoft New Planner, facilitating a network where users can share insights, use cases, and best practices. This community will serve as a resource for all users to engage with and learn from each other, ensuring the active and effective use of the assigned licenses.

This phase is designed to not only introduce users to Microsoft New Planner but to also ensure they fully utilize their licenses, fostering a culture of continuous learning and collaboration within the organization.

Service Category

Microsoft Planner Partner Service

Extensibility

Planner Extensibility Consulting Service – Optional Enhancements

Advanced Piloting: Test advanced features in a controlled environment with selected user groups to refine processes before full-scale deployment. This includes experimenting with new functionalities that may be specific to different departments or use cases within the organization.

Model-Driven Applications: Extend the capabilities of Microsoft New Planner with model-driven apps for complex scenarios that require bespoke workflows and data relationships. This phase involves developing custom applications that integrate deeply with New Planner, enhancing its utility and ensuring it can handle a wide range of business processes and data complexities.

Functional Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your organization’s business processes, user scenarios, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. This analysis is crucial in identifying how Microsoft Planner can be tailored to address specific needs identified during the discovery and readiness phases.

Solution Design: Develop a high-level solution design document that outlines the proposed architecture, components, features, and benefits of the extensibility solutions for Microsoft Planner. This document serves as a blueprint for customizing and extending the functionality of Planner to better align with your business goals and user requirements.
Roadmap and Action Plan: Create a detailed roadmap and action plan that outlines the priorities, next steps, and milestones for the implementation of extensibility solutions. This plan ensures that all stakeholders are aligned on the timeline and critical actions needed to successfully enhance and expand Microsoft Planner’s capabilities within your organization.

Iterative implementation of Customizations: Based on the roadmap, begin the systematic implementation of customizations and extensions to Microsoft Planner. This includes developing and deploying new features, integrating additional tools or plugins, and continuously refining the system based on user feedback and evolving business requirements.

Ongoing Evaluation and Iteration: Establish mechanisms for ongoing evaluation of the extended features and integrations to ensure they effectively meet the intended business needs. Iterate on the solutions based on feedback and new insights gained from operational use, maintaining flexibility to adapt to new challenges and opportunities.
This phase is designed to maximize the strategic value of Microsoft Planner by ensuring it is fully customized to your organizational needs, thereby enhancing productivity, user satisfaction, and overall business performance.