Technical Resources

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Software Assessment

A Software Assessment is a thorough discovery, analysis and recommendations related to all software considered “Line of Business” applications. This is the first step in the process of evaluating the challenges an organization is experiencing related to the operational systems it relies on to conduct business. Components of a Software Assessment:

  • Business Case – Black Line initiates all assessment efforts it does with a thorough understanding of “why we are doing this”. Understanding of the “why” shapes the focus Black Line’s Engineers will use to prioritize the work performed and ensure it matches the Client expectations
  • Discovery – The identification of appropriate system components and related technologies, the research and review of those systems and the associated documentation.
  • Analysis – The analysis effort is conducted to compare Black Line best practices to the system information found during the Discovery process. The results of the analysis process is to establish “risk ratings” for each of the foundational technologies, business processes or management disciplines
  • Recommendations – Using the risk ratings defined during the Analysis phase, Black Line Senior Engineers will make recommendations to remediate each risk, the reasons why, and any supporting information to justify each business case
  • Options – Once remediation options are defined, options are identified that match the priority of the risks, goals of the Organization and establish budgetary costs to help guide decisions
Service Group
  • Software Development
Technical Value Propositions
  • Configuration
  • Maintenance
  • Performance
  • Stability
Black Line Value Propositions
  • Access
  • Compliance
  • Configurability
  • Risk Reduction
  • Strategic
  • Technical Stability

Why does this matter for your business?

Black Line is the most valuable to our Clients when we thoroughly understand the technical situation the Client is faced with. Making recommendations without the details does a disservice to the Client and violates our value system. This effort also provides the sales team and Engineering team to properly sort through the findings and organize results in a way understandable to the Business Leader. Communicating solutions at a business level provides a level of comfort that they are not being sold or talked over. Another value of Black Line is to communicate with respect and avoid techno-speak

What value does this add to your business?

If servers, or server related, technologies are not available the modern organization cannot function. Regardless if the server technologies are on-premise, cloud-based or virtual. As the name implies, Server technologies “serve” data, features, secure, and organize the digital assets of an organization.

  • Technical Stability
  • Responsiveness
  • Availability
  • Risk Reduction
  • Information

What common problems does this solve for your business?

Underperforming software solutions, data accuracy issues, quality problems. inability to access data, security concerns, systems that dont scale, frustration of end-users with systems

Why do you need a solution?

Most Clients want to know what they do not know. A Software Assessment provides them this very valuable information. Its also an opportunity to educate the Business Leader on the merits of various best practices and why they are important to their organization. In addition, it may validate the experiences they have now (or in the past), related to their line of business systems and provide logical reasons.

Business Leaders make good decisions when armed with information that makes sense, has evidence and is aligned with experience and business needs

What can you and your business expect from this service?

Business Leaders can expect:
  • The Black Line team will provide specific instructions to what is needed from their team, the level of detail required, what systems to access and coordinate with internal resources as appropriate. Business Leaders can expect no systems to be touched, altered, adjusted or otherwise modified during the assessment process. Black Line needs to fully understand the current state in the most stable state possible to reduce any additional risks
End Users can expect:
  • Depending on the level of responsibility of the end-user or employee they may be called upon to help clarify systems, gain access, answer questions and validate accuracy of information that has been gathered.

How does Black Line do it better?

Black Line has an established inventory of best practices organized in a thorough way to leave no stone unturned. If competitors even offer this solution its usually “off-the cuff” process that lacks standardization and structure. In addition, Black Line has been providing software solutions for decades (almost 40 years) and has a deep history and knowledge of what to look for and where risks lie

More Questions or Want to Talk?

Let’s get started by understanding your business’s needs.

We start with a conversation to deeply understand your wants and needs. Only by truly diving into discovery can we uncover the best solutions.

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