The Ascella Common Sense® Methodology (CSM) offers small and medium size organizations “state of the art” business practices pioneered and executed by the most successful enterprises on the planet. The Ascella Team formulated CSM by tapping literally thousands of pages of materials covering every stage and step in the process of transforming organizations through the efficient, effective and creative use of information technology. The Ascella methodology team brought to bear more than 100 person-years of successful IT product and service delivery on this effort. Much of our team’s expertise derives from IT project challenges we faced in previous IT services and consulting firms working in commercial and governmental organizations, such as Vodafone, AXA Insurance, or the Internal Revenue Service. Successful engagements in these sorts of enterprises demand meticulous execution, from business case analysis through organization transition to new operating models. Each critical project element in these complex enterprises-- people, process, organization and technology—is driven by an extensive body of knowledge that can stand alone. For example, the “people” element refers to creating a workforce that has the skills and motivation to execute the IT-driven change. Special expert practitioners using a range of specialized execution models, assess skills, develop and deliver training, using human factors analysis to support design, communication project goals and progress to aid motivation, etc. Business process analysis, work and job design, process management tools and so on are covered by the “process” element. Organization design, outsourcing strategy, locations, etc. enter into the “organization” element. The “technology” element is vast, covering everything from enterprise architecture planning, to system development methodology, tools, open source, etc. Finally, appropriate components from each of these elements must be combined, planned, resourced, managed, adjusted as necessary, consistent with business constraints such as schedule and resources. And, in complex organizations, multiple projects with competing and sometimes conflicting demands must be managed and reconciled. This Project and Portfolio Management element has its own foundational knowledge base, the Project Management Body of Knowledge® from PMI. The special contribution of the Ascella Common Sense® Methodology is to distill the vast body of methods, tools, best practices and management processes into a portfolio of highly focused Project Models that reflect the real world circumstances of small and medium-sized business. These models provides a structured approach to the kinds of projects smaller organizations take on to build their organization capabilities, to grow revenues, to increase profitability and business focus, while reducing risk. The following graphic depicts this Ascella vision for the CSM. The top row illustrates four Project Models that comprise Ascella’s key value proposition for clients. Beneath, is the repository of methods, tools, best practices and management processes that provide the foundation on which CSM is based We believe it is critically important to have access to the full range of detailed sources that “govern” IT-driven business transformation. Yet, many of these sources have large and complex projects in large and complex enterprises as their principal focus. Therefore, we have extracted the relevant processes, methods and tools for kinds of work we can do for our clients: Remote IT Infrastructure Management, Remote Accounting Operations, Remote Recruiting Support, and Application Management. These Models enable Ascella to support small and medium sized organizations in a wide range of scenarios, including: Technology acquisition – which includes addition or substantial changes to existing business systems or technical infrastructure, such as the selection and implementation of a new ERP, a new release of an existing ERP, new releases of networks, operating systems, website platforms, productivity suites, data warehouse or management reporting capabilities; IT Services acquisition – which includes selection and transition to new IT service providers to enhance, extend or replace existing internal or external IT staff , including process or functional changes that have an important technology dimension , such as transition to external service provider (SAAS or ASP) for CRM, Payroll or Benefits Management; Business process support acquisition – which includes selection and transition to process management and execution services to enhance, extend or replace existing internal or external administrative staff performing such administrative functions as accounting and financial management, human resources and recruiting or procurement and asset management. Process reengineering and reorganizations of people and/or business functions--including IT changes--that have defined roles and responsibilities, business purpose, schedule and cost. Often, actual Ascella engagements will consist of combinations of the above scenarios. For this reason, the actual project plan we create at the initiation of each engagement may well incorporate two or more Project Models, plus additional tools and analysis, as illustrated in the Ascella Project Planning Methodology below. In this example, a client might be transitioning to remote IT support and dealing with accounting system shortcomings. Critical goals might include cost savings and improved cash flow from an accelerated invoicing process. Depending on the specific circumstances these two major areas could be phased consecutively, starting with either, or they could move forward simultaneously. Business case analysis and organization capacity are two key drivers for these choices. CSM methods are highly “project oriented.” New initiatives have a defined business purpose or goal that is to be accomplished over a specified time frame using a planned level of resources. The purpose of the methodology is to: Ensure that all of these task elements are appropriately identified and understood (Scope) Define management tasks and implement a management process Define roles and responsibilities Define detailed project tasks, assignments and schedule, at least for the first “phase” Create common expectations Drive an effective business and task execution relationship between the client and Ascella One of the most important goals of the CSM is to ensure that management, users and technical staff can understand and appreciate all major tasks, their sequence and dependencies and their purpose—from the CEO to the sole proprietor and from the CIO to the part-time IT Contractor. To achieve this goal, we minimize the use of jargon and reference to particular tools and techniques at the first level overview. Additionally, we set forth the project sequence in a Waterfall(link to Wiki Software Engineering) style, where major tasks appear to move downstream. However, both project approach decisions, such as the use of agile development (link to Wiki, agile development) techniques, which we often prefer, or project phasing, which is inherently iterative, are not fully captured in our high level views of Project Models