Digital transformation consulting

Business digitalization: from need to project

We turn a need or an idea into a defined project: what to integrate, what to customize, and what to develop as custom software, with the scope and cost of each phase.

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Digitalizing a company does not mean buying software

The goal is for information to move from one area to another without being typed in again

Repetitive tasks should be automated so that each person has the data they need. Sometimes this is achieved by integrating the software already in use; other times, by customizing a platform or developing a custom tool.

This service is the step before development: turning a need, or an idea that is still taking shape, into a defined project, with the scope, the technical solution, and the cost clear before starting.

We do not sell office software licenses or hardware, nor do we take a commission from any vendor: our work is to integrate, customize, and develop.

Integrate, customize, or develop custom software

Each need is met in one of these ways, or by combining several.

Integrate the current software

When the programs work but do not communicate: the ERP, the CRM, the online store, and the accounting software share data, and each piece of data is entered only once. This is the work of system integration.

Customize a platform

When a platform covers most of the need and the rest is adapted: a CRM, a PIM with Pimcore, business intelligence dashboards, or an online store with WooCommerce or PrestaShop.

Develop custom software

When no platform fits the way the company works, or when the tool is the core of the business: web applications and apps developed for the company and integrated with the rest of its software.

Automate and apply artificial intelligence

Repetitive tasks between programs are automated, with custom development or with tools such as n8n. Where something has to be read, classified, or decided, artificial intelligence is added.

The choice between the options is made with criteria written down before prices are discussed: compatibility with the current software, maintenance cost over three years, and what happens to the data if the solution is changed one day. Improving the configuration of the current software is always one of the options.

What is analyzed to define the project

Working sessions with the company's teams, not a questionnaire by email.

The starting need or idea

What is to be achieved, who will use it, and how to tell whether it works. An idea without these three answers is not yet a project.

Current software and processes

Which programs each area uses, how people work with them, and what each one allows. Also the spreadsheets that support critical processes without appearing in any inventory.

Manual tasks

The steps where data is copied from one program to another, checked, rewritten, or printed out to be typed in again. This is the time that is easiest to recover.

Where information gets lost

The handoffs between areas and between programs: from sales to production, or from the workshop to administration. This is where data gets retyped, duplicated, or lost.

Data quality

Whether the information is organized enough to build on. If it is not, the first step is data governance.

People and tool adoption

Who uses each tool, who resists using it, and why. Resistance is rarely arbitrary: it often points to something the tool does worse than the previous method.

Each area of the company is at a different stage of digitalization

Administration, usually the most digitalized

Accounting, invoicing, and payroll have run on specialized software for decades. The room for improvement lies in connecting those programs, not in replacing them.

Operations, usually the least digitalized

Production, the workshop, the warehouse, or customer-facing service are the areas where most processes are still on paper or in spreadsheets, and where the most time can be recovered.

The bridge area, the best starting point

The one that receives information from all the others and has to piece it back together by hand. If there is one, it is the best starting point: improving it has an effect on the whole chain.

A phased plan, area by area

Requiring the same level from every area at once overwhelms some and falls short in others. The plan goes in phases, and each area joins the phase that suits it.

What is delivered when defining a digitalization project

Functional definition

What the solution does, who uses it, and with which workflows. When it helps the decision, with a mockup of the main screens.

Integration map

Which programs are connected, what data passes from one to another, and in which direction.

Solution and cost of each part

What is integrated, what is customized, and what is custom-developed, with the development and maintenance cost of each part.

Phased plan

What goes into the first phase and what is left for the following ones. If the project is large, it is planned as phased development, with a fixed price for each phase.

Discarded or postponed actions

Which ideas are best discarded, which postponed, and which areas are better left unchanged this year. If the analysis points to an artificial intelligence project, this is also stated.

From the first conversation to the defined project, in four steps

A first conversation

What needs to be solved or what idea is behind it, and what has already been tried. This conversation shows whether a full analysis is needed or whether the project is already clear enough to be quoted.

Sessions with each area

With the people who do the work. This shows what really happens, which does not always match the written procedure.

Project definition

The solution for each need, the integration map, and the phased plan with its cost. It is presented to and discussed with the company: a plan that has not been discussed is unlikely to be carried out.

Development, optional

The project can be developed with us, with the in-house team, or with another provider. A plan that only works if we develop it is poorly conceived.

Frequently asked questions about business digitalization

Is digitalization for large or small companies?

For both, and for startups too, but the work is not the same. In a large company with its own IT department, it mainly serves to bring into agreement areas that do not coordinate with each other and to take an outside look at processes that have not changed in years. In a company of twenty or a hundred people, these decisions fall to someone who already has many other responsibilities, and that is why they get postponed. In a startup, the work is shorter: there is less software, and the question is what to implement now so that it does not have to be redone as the company grows.

How long does it take to define a digitalization project?

For a medium-sized company, between two and four weeks from the first session to the presentation. It depends mainly on the number of areas and on the availability of the people involved.

How much does it cost to define a digitalization project?

It is quoted before starting, and the price depends mainly on the number of areas and the sessions needed with each one. The first conversation makes it possible to estimate the scope and, sometimes, to see that a full analysis is not needed.

Do you sell software licenses or hardware?

No. We do not resell licenses or hardware, nor do we take a commission from any vendor: our work is to integrate, customize, and develop. When the right choice is another vendor's product, the plan names it and gives its three-year cost, just like any other option.

What if I already have a clear idea?

Then the work is shorter: the requirements, scope, and cost are defined, and the project moves on to development. The full analysis is for when there are several needs at once and the order is not clear.

Can the defined project be used to apply for a grant?

The project definition and the phased plan are the basis of any application, and they are delivered in a format that can be reused. The grants available depend on each call for applications and are reviewed separately.

What need or idea do you want to turn into a project?

A first conversation, which is free, is enough to know whether a full analysis is needed or whether the project can already be defined and quoted.

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