Why a technical discovery is necessary
If you’re planning a technology project to solve a complex business problem, you might have heard of the term "technical discovery." This is a phase that many projects start with, and it has different names depending on the context: assessment, road-mapping, planning, or discovery. But what is it exactly, and why is it necessary?
What is a technical discovery phase of a project?
A technical discovery is a process of gathering and analyzing information about the problem you want to solve, the goals you want to achieve, the requirements you have, and the constraints you face.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather a tailored and collaborative effort that involves multiple project leaders and contributors from different departments and levels of your organization. It also involves technology experts who can help you understand the possibilities and limitations of the solution.
Why invest in a technical discovery?
The purpose of a technical discovery is to create a shared understanding of the problem and the solution, and to define a clear and realistic scope and plan for the project.
It helps you avoid or minimize common pitfalls on technology projects such as:
Unrealistic expectations
Misaligned priorities
Unclear requirements
Insufficient resources
Cost overruns
Technical debt
A technical discovery also helps maximize the value and impact of the solution by aligning it with your business objectives, user needs, and best practices.
Do you always need a discovery phase?
One question we sometimes get is: is it really necessary to do a technical discovery for every IT project?
Well, not necessarily. If the project is relatively straightforward, or it’s focused on a small group of people, you might not need a discovery phase. If the leaders and stakeholders are all aligned, and the problem and solution are well-defined – you can likely move to the solution or build phase.
Often though, requirements are unclear. Or the business problem is complex because people have different and competing needs.
In our experience, a technical discovery phase is especially important for complex business problems that involve:
Multiple departments
Manual processes
Lack of automation
Content management inefficiencies
Productivity challenges, or
Records management issues
These are not simple problems that can be solved by deploying a simple switch such as enabling a few Microsoft 365 apps.
It involves thinking through a configuration that comes with trade-offs and decisions – such as when to automate retention of confidential documents. Some departments might need more detail on classifying confidential documents, such as Legal, whereas other groups might have one classification type for all types of documents. Competing and differing needs are going to create complexity somewhere in the project, and a technical discovery phase is the place to plan for that.
Technology projects that impact multiple areas of an organization require a deep understanding of how the organization operates, how people work, and what the business priorities are. They also involve multiple stakeholders from different teams or departments, who may have different perspectives, expectations, and needs. In these cases, we highly recommend spending the time doing a technical discovery process.
What steps are involved with a technical discovery?
When we do a technical discovery with a client, we adapt the approach to the core needs and what the organization has done already. We don’t want to overload people and repeat recent activities, but at the same time we need to gather a base level of information to understand the current state.
Here’s an example timeline and steps for a Microsoft 365 technical discovery project:
The standard set of activities we usually include are:
Defining the problem and assessing the current state: This involves Identifying and engaging the key stakeholders and users, and conducting interviews, surveys, workshops to collect data on the current state. We analyze that data and identifying the pain points, opportunities, risks, and dependencies. We can also evaluate the existing systems and infrastructure to identify the gaps and migration or integration needs.
Visioning activities: prioritize future state processes and workflows and exploring potential solutions (sometimes called the art of the possible).
Building a plan: This involves documenting findings and recommendations including a roadmap into a report or presentation. This can also include estimating the costs, benefits, timeline, and resources for future project(s).
If you’re interested in the steps in more detail, check out a past webinar on Creating an effective roadmap for Microsoft Office 365
To sum it up
There are multiple benefits of a technical discovery. It can help you:
Gain clarity and confidence about your project direction and scope
Increase stakeholder buy-in and alignment
Reduce projects risks and uncertainties including delays and cost overruns
Optimize costs and resources
Enhance user satisfaction and adoption
Improve quality and performance
Achieve faster time-to-market and return on investment
A technical discovery is a necessity for any technology project that aims to solve a complex business problem and the process can make the difference between success and failure. It is an investment that pays off in the long run by ensuring that the project delivers value and meets the needs of the organization and its stakeholders.
Get more information
Learn more about our technical discovery process with these resources:
PDF summary: Microsoft 365 Technical Assessment — Engagement Details (PDF)
Blog post: Building an effective Microsoft 365 roadmap
Learn more about how we can help you with your technical discovery needs, and reach out for a free consultation to talk about next steps.