Key Questions to Guide �Implementation Planning, Scoping & Readiness Assessment

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Last Updated: June 2024

Can OpenFn integrate with X?

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Yes. Any app. �

The interesting questions are…

• For what purpose? (What data exchange & business process to automate?)
• Why? (What value does automation provide?)
• How? (e.g., REST API, direct database connection, syncing file exports)
• How often? (e.g., real-time, daily, weekly)

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Answers to these^ questions help determine how the automation might work, and whether it’s a worthwhile investment.

Key scoping questions (short-list for early discovery)

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When you’re in a scoping call, we’re primarily looking for answers to these:

1. What value does automation provide?
2. Number of workflows to be automated?
3. How frequently should these workflows be executed?
4. How much data will be processed?
5. How many target systems? And which ones?
6. Does these target systems have a REST API or database we can connect to?�(If not, how else can we extract/import data? Maybe there’s a raw data export?)
7. Who will administer the OpenFn deployment? What is their background/skillset?
8. Are there any relevant data policies (re: data residency/privacy/security) to consider?
9. Any

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⭐ See Scoping FAQs for all questions used to collect info on business value, technical requirements, & customer capacity. ⭐

Key scoping outputs

• Answer the key scoping questions (see previous slide)
• Draw a basic diagram to record the expected data flows between systems and the steps to be automated → see the next slides for examples!
1. Note the workflow trigger & expected frequency of execution
2. Ask about estimated data volumes (hundreds, thousands, or millions?)

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Your goal is to draft something �like this every scoping call…

Every day, I want to sync the latest expenditure data from my ERP system to Amp Impact, so that grant managers can monitor actual expenditure and budget burndown.

User story describing when, what, & why

Basic diagram with boxes & arrows

Frequency

Target systems

Steps to �automate

Direction of �data flow

Data volume estimates

Key Questions → �the longer list for detailed scoping

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The following slides include key scoping questions to confirm the business value, core workflow requirements, technical feasibility, and client capacity �before starting a new implementation.

Implementations

Project Management

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` Open Function Group Version 2.0

Business Process Consulting & Functional Design

API/Systems Discovery and Technical Solution Design

Development (Javascript)

Configuration & Deployment

Training & Rollout

Ongoing Support

Work* needed for successful OpenFn implementations

*Work areas can be delivered by your organization, OpenFn, and/or a third-party consultant.

Business Value Assessment

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

Questions to determine the potential value of workflow automation…

1. What are the workflow(s) that the partner wants to automate?
2. How are the workflows currently being managed?
• Is there an existing manual or semi-automatic business process?
• If yes, how much staff time is spent managing these workflows?
3. What problem(s) will automation solve for? What efficiencies or benefits to be gained?
4. What is the cost of inaction?
• If we do not automate these workflows, then what is the status quo?
• Is the current workflow slow, insecure, or leading to poor data quality or service delivery?

Business Value Assessment

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

The answers to these questions will help you determine the potential ROI:

• Financial return on investment
• Efficiency gains, including staff hours saved and faster delivery
• Key indicators for monitoring success
• Other valuable outcomes (e.g., improved data quality or security, or better service delivery)

Workflow Requirements Gathering

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

Questions to determine the specific workflow steps…

• What are the workflow(s) that the partner wants to automate?
• How often should the workflow run? What is the desired frequency? (e.g., real-time or scheduled)
• What triggers the workflow?
• Is there a user action or system event that should trigger the workflow to run? (e.g., on form submission, or when record status set to “closed”)
• Or should this workflow be scheduled at a specific day/time? (e.g., every day at 12:00)
• Does the workflow requires a one-way or two-way data flow?
• E.g., if the workflow is sending one record from System A to System B, does the data need to flow only one way? Or once the data is synced to System B, should something be sent back to System A for a bi-directional data flow?
• What are the expected data volumes? (e.g., 100 referrals every month, 12k forms every year)

Workflow Requirements Gathering

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

The answers to these questions will help you draft a workflow or business process diagram.

→ Consider using BPMN to leverage standardized notation.

Technical Feasibility Assessment

Questions to determine the technical feasibility & integration approach…

• How many instances of the target systems exist? (I.e., Are you connecting to 1 or 2 DB instances?)
• Are the target systems built? Is any configuration expected to change?
• If config is still in progress, then consider revisiting this project when the systems are stable.
• Is there an available REST API?
• If yes, please provide the documentation.
• If not yet, then consider revisiting this project after this API has been built and tested.
• If no, then what are other available methods for data import/export?
• Is it possible to secure a direct database connection?
• Or is there a webhook or method for forwarding data to an external system?
• Or a way to export/import data using file exports? What data formats are available?
• Where are the target systems hosted? Any known security requirements or authentication considerations? (e.g., firewalls, VPN requirements, IP whitelist requirements)

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

Technical Feasibility Assessment

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

The answers to these questions will help you draft a solution diagram to document specifically which instances will be connected & which integration interfaces to use.

Capacity Assessment

Questions to determine the capacity levels of implementing partners…

• Does each target system have a full-time system administrator?
• Are the administrators available to support with integration setup & testing?
• Will the administrators be able to provide a test/developer environment for testing?
• Who will learn how to administer OpenFn?
• What are their technical backgrounds?
• What are other resources available to provide ongoing support?
• Does anyone in the organization have experience with Javascript or JSON?
• Is there a desire to learn how to manage the OpenFn implementation independently?
• Who at the organization will be responsible for ongoing governance of the solution and overseeing change management? Are resources available to meet regular to review change requests?

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

Capacity Assessment

` Open Function Group Version 2.0

The answers to these questions will help you to identify project roles for the implementation design & delivery, as well as a plan for training, rollout, ongoing administration, and support.

Quick refresher: �

What is workflow automation?

What is “workflow”?

The algorithms (or set of instructions) that determine how to solve a problem or accomplish a task. They are often broken down into smaller, independent tasks.

What is “workflow automation”?

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The use of software to perform these algorithms independently and repeatedly, in accordance with predefined business rules, and without the need for human input.

We can achieve workflow automation by integrating applications, typically via APIs.

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Spotting opportunities for automation

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What criteria make a workflow a good candidate for automation?

• Clear, defined business rules
• Repeatable tasks (esp. administrative or data clerk tasks)
• Does not require human input
• Cuts across multiple digital systems
• Secure, accurate, fast completion of the workflow provides real value to the customer (automation costs money, so there must be ROI)

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Keep staff focused on people ❤️, not pushing paper or doing rote calculations.

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