5 Key Project Phases of Your Digital Transformation Journey

March 28, 2024

This article was written by Parul Kansal, Salesforce Consultant

Have you started preparing for a digital transformation project, but still feel overwhelmed by what’s ahead? Here are some questions we hear often from our clients before we start a project:

• What are our organization’s main problems?

• What are the issues we need to tackle first?

• Who needs to be involved?

• How long will it take?

• What is the time commitment for my team members?

• What are the implementation costs?

All these questions can feel overwhelming, but by preparing your organization for change and understanding the process in advance, you can help alleviate a lot of anxiety as you start your digital transformation journey. Similar to building a house from the ground up, we need to ensure we are intentional in our planning, and build towards the same vision of your future “house”. Here are the top five key project phases to expect during your implementation project at Belmar.

1. Planning/Elaboration

In Salesforce, we approach the planning phase much like planning the layout and design of a house. Just as you'd consider the essential elements like rooms, parking, and kitchen in a home, we identify the critical requirements in Salesforce; such as constituent management, donation management, and other core functionalities that you can't do without. This phase ensures that we understand your fundamental needs to create a solid foundation for your Salesforce implementation.

Once these necessities are defined, we can explore additional features and enhancements, similar to adding a chimney or a garden to beautify your home. In Salesforce, these are the "nice-to-have" elements that complement the core functionalities, enhancing user experience and efficiency.

During this phase, our focus is on listening to your requirements and desires for Salesforce. We provide a platform for you to articulate your vision, enabling us to craft a roadmap detailing the timeline, budget, and priorities for incorporating these features and enhancements. This meticulous planning ensures that your Salesforce instance is not only functional but also finely tuned to meet your specific requirements and preferences, just like a well-designed home tailored to your lifestyle.

Pain Points

Planning for a house and embarking on a Salesforce implementation journey share similarities in encountering pain points. For instance, one may face budgetary constraints, where available funds fall short of meeting all needs. Selecting the right materials for construction is crucial, which demands careful consideration and planning. Rushing into the construction phase without ample resource gathering can affect budgets and extend timelines, resulting in costly delays. Moreover, the tendency to dwell on hypothetical scenarios ('what if's) can prolong discussions about desired features and functionalities, further complicating the planning phase.

Similarly, in Salesforce implementation, inadequate planning and unclear requirements can lead to several challenges, such as scope creep, resource constraints, technical challenges, and time/budget constraints.

Keys to Success

Achieving success in both building a house and Salesforce Implementation requires thorough planning, clear communication, and a focus on achievable goals. By addressing potential pain points early on and maintaining a strategic approach throughout the process, organizations can navigate these challenges more effectively, ensuring a successful outcome.

2. Build

In both Salesforce and building a home, the “build phase” is an important stage where all of the planning is put into action to create something incredible.

Just as contractors follow architectural blueprints to construct homes, Salesforce consultants initiate implementation based on captured requirements, crafting functional solutions to align with business processes. This typically involves configuring the Salesforce instance in a Sandbox environment, encompassing customizations, integrations, automations, etc., tailored to meet client objectives and expectations.

Pain Points

In both building a home and Salesforce projects, challenges during the build phase can arise due to evolving requirements and unforeseen obstacles. Unforeseen challenges often emerge during Salesforce build demos, mirroring the unexpected issues homeowners encounter during home construction walkthroughs. These challenges may range from functionality gaps and user interface issues to performance concerns, requiring agile problem-solving. Additionally, integrating third-party tools or services can present compatibility hurdles, akin to incorporating materials in construction that may not seamlessly integrate, necessitating adaptability to ensure smooth transitions. Furthermore, adjusting requirements mid-build phase, whether in home construction or Salesforce projects, demands flexibility and may prolong timelines due to the complexities introduced by changing demands.

Keys to Success

Breaking down the build into distinct phases, such as sprints, and adopting an agile approach helps manage diverse expectations and navigate evolving requirements. Regular validation, coupled with open communication and collaboration between the project and client teams, mitigates misalignment and ensures progress stays on track.

3. UAT (User Acceptance Testing)

This phase marks the testing of your newly constructed home. In Salesforce, it's the moment to ensure that business processes function seamlessly. Just as you might detect issues like leaks in a house, you may encounter bugs in the system – issues that require prompt attention to prevent further complications. Additionally, you might identify enhancements, similar to realizing a feature was omitted in the initial planning. While bugs demand immediate fixes, enhancements may necessitate additional resources and time. Here, clear communication is key: we'll collaborate to address additional needs, manage expectations, and ensure a successful outcome.

Pain Points

A critical pain point during this phase is often the lack of knowledge. In a home setting, this might manifest as uncertainty about how to use specific features, such as controlling room temperature. In Salesforce, users who are unfamiliar with CRM systems may face challenges executing test steps. Effective UAT requires testers to possess a deep understanding of business needs and processes. Without this understanding, testers may struggle to assess whether the system meets their requirements accurately.

Keys to Success

Open communication, UAT triage calls, clear objectives, Salesforce Trailhead training, appropriate tester selection, and build demos are integral to overcoming pain points in the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phase. By integrating these practices, organizations can streamline the UAT process, address issues promptly, and deliver Salesforce solutions that align closely with business requirements.

4. Training

This phase encompasses detailed explanations of how we constructed your home aka set up Salesforce. We conduct Admin Training to provide comprehensive insights into backend configurations, and End User Training to ensure users are proficient in utilizing Salesforce to meet their needs. Training equips you with the knowledge to maintain your org effectively, addressing future developments and troubleshooting potential issues. It ensures you're well-prepared to manage your environment efficiently and effectively.

Pain Points

The training phase can indeed be overwhelming, requiring significant courage and time commitment as users immerse themselves in learning about their new organization and the systems they'll be using. This phase often involves absorbing a wealth of information about complex processes, configurations, and functionalities, which can feel daunting, especially for those unfamiliar with the platform or with limited technical background.

Keys to Success

Support, guidance, and encouragement are essential during the training phase to empower users as they navigate the learning curve. Collaboration between the project and client teams is crucial in providing comprehensive assistance. Training is not a one-time event; it's an ongoing process that evolves with new information and system updates. Therefore, staying informed about ongoing changes and promptly sharing updates with the team is vital for ensuring continuous learning and adaptation.

5. Deploy and Go Lives

This is the phase where everything is ready for use. Whether it's handing over the keys to your new home or providing login credentials for your Salesforce user account, this marks the moment when you gain access to the fully functional environment.

Pain Points

During this phase, it may be necessary to temporarily suspend operations for a day or two to facilitate the deployment process. However, deployment carries the risk of missing components, potentially impacting functionality. Additionally, if data migration is part of the process, incomplete or inaccurate data can result in discrepancies that affect business operations. Furthermore, Salesforce releases may introduce unexpected delays to the timeline.

Keys to Success

Conducting smoke testing immediately after deployment, thorough data testing during UAT, and strategically planning the Go-Live date before major releases are crucial steps in identifying and addressing potential issues. Additionally, we offer a support period post-Go-Live enabling users to ensure that everything functions smoothly in the live environment, to settle into your new home. These measures collectively contribute to the successful transition and operation of the system, enhancing user satisfaction and minimizing disruptions.

Ready to embark on your digital transformation journey? Let's address your organization's pressing questions and uncertainties head-on. Discover how Belmar can guide you through the five key project phases, ensuring a seamless transition to a more efficient and tailored Salesforce environment. Take the first step towards realizing your vision – click the button below! 

About the Organization

Belmar Consulting is an award-winning Salesforce implementation partner, who works with various organizations and enables them to succeed in their digital transformation journey. We combine our intimate knowledge of the public sector and the nonprofit industry with Salesforce to create and implement innovative solutions for our clients. Belmar’s dedication to delivering successful client projects means our clients are more effective in their role to fulfill their organizational missions.