This section summarizes the skills and knowledge your deployment team must have. Your deployment team will set up the software, define the proof-of-concept (POC) deliverables and perform efficacy testing. They will work with your consulting partner and end users to ensure the project deliverables meet expectations.

Suppose the POC sprint does not result in a satisfactory outcome. In that case, the team will determine what changes to make and what new POC sprint will be required to test those changes. They will also be responsible for working with leadership to submit any required financial justifications for executive review and approval.

Part of your deployment team will change for each sprint because you will need experts from the operational teams in your business. These temporary team members should understand their part of the business. These domain experts will know the procedures, systems and software used in their work area. After each sprint, these domain experts can return to their regular jobs.

Deployment Team Attributes

Deployment teams should be a manageable size. Permanent membership should be three to six members based on the size and complexity of your ongoing needs.

A well-appointed deployment team should include five personnel types who must already have (or be able to develop) the necessary skills and knowledge:

1. IT staff, including those who know existing security protocols and software affecting the project.
2. Team members, a team leader and a project sponsor.
3. A consulting partner with knowledge of design best practices for deploying and using your selected software.
4. Resources responsible for system maintenance during the project and permanently. (Internal or external)
5. Trainers for planning and delivering user training.

Your consulting partner can provide the deployment team with the technical expertise that your team lacks. The partner will provide two or three consultants who will do most of the early development, design work and training. This partner will help you perform data discovery to identify gaps and potential issues. The earlier you identify problems, the lower the cost of resolving them.

The deployment team will work with the consultants and the temporary team members (operational domain experts) to deliver the POC sprint. Keep the core of this team together for the duration of the project. Keep the consulting help until your team gains expert knowledge of the software and process.

In the next post, I’ll discuss how to conduct discovery sessions that will help you determine the specific workflows your team will work with to develop solutions.