Implement HP ALM and Quality Center Right The First Time With 6D

As an HP Elite partner, Northway Solutions Group has the opportunity to do implementations of HP ALM and QC 11.X for our clients.  One of the biggest challenges that any company has when implementing is a new tool is leveraging the tool in a way that optimizes the value that the tool brings to the organization.  The company often struggles to learn how best to use the tool, and many times lacks the basic organizational “best practices” that would enable them to be effective right out of the gate with the new solution.  Members of the company may have participated in multiple product demos where the tool expert made it all look easy. When they try to replicate what looked to be so easy in their environment, they struggle in getting the tool to fit their unique needs and processes.  They often experiment with different fields and transition rules that leave them with projects that are not consistent and are hard to maintain.  This can lead to despair on the part of the organization and can negatively affect the adoption and value of the tool.

We have worked with many clients to ensure that they do not experience this situation. Sometimes we’ve just plain cleaned up a mess. After reviewing a lot of “lessons learned” from multiple implementations engagements, we decided to develop a very streamlined and repeatable process for implementing Quality Center in an organization from the start.  It involves ensuring that the tool is aligned with the “best practices” of the organization.  This methodology is based on a standardized software development methodology called 6D, with is made up of the following phases:

• Define
• Discover
• Design
• Develop
• Deploy
• Deliver

The video below is just a small introduction to the 6D methodology. A much longer (over 30 minutes) video is available to review at our 6D page. That video takes you into all the details and shows you some of our deliverables, including code examples in Quality Center to demonstrate how we approach workflow customization.

The methodology includes all of the processes and templates needed to ensure that the processes of the client are understood and can be rapidly implemented in the toolset.  This methodology provides the organization with the ability to build a very stable, and consistent project template that can be used to drive standardization across the organization, thus improving adoption and ensuring the value of the tool is realized in the fastest possible timeframe.

At HP Discover, we allowed the attendees of our session a preview of our new 6D methodology. Today, we’re formally announcing it to the world:

If you want to know what all for “D” terms mean, check out our new 6D page and watch the in-depth video, where Brian Copeland explains it all for you step-by-step. I’d love to hear your feedback on this as well.