Post Go-Live SPM Services Blueprint
OVERVIEW
Are you planning to implement an SPM application within your organization? If you are, have you considered all the necessary services you need to enable to properly and efficiently support that implementation once you are live?
This article provides a recommended inventory of the services you should consider including in your post go-live setting.
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
An SPM application requires a variety of recurring processes to continuously provide accurate and timely results. How do you plan to accommodate these needs?
- Data Management – this area of ad-hoc, daily, weekly, and/or monthly support includes validating the presence of data files on the sFTP site, renaming and archiving data files, manually and/or batch loading data files into the SPM application, addressing errors if/when they occur, notifying appropriate personnel of successes and failures, maintaining logs, and identifying outliers
- Environment Monitoring – services included within this concept include monitoring for server and/or application outages, ensuring web accessibility for field users, notifying appropriate personnel of outages and issues, and providing liaison support with the SPM vendor when appropriate
- Process Monitoring – this encompasses services within the SPM application, such as monitoring automated, scheduled jobs, ensuring proper generation of reports, monitoring approval workflows, and accommodating ad-hoc manual processes when necessary
COMPENSATION ADMINISTRATION
In addition to the Operational Support activities listed above, SPM applications require several compensation administration functions. What is your plan to ensure that these functions are properly accounted for?
- Business Process Documentation – creation and maintenance of the SPM application user’s guide for how to do various required activities within the software in support of your company’s business processes
- Compensation Processing and Validation – this aspect includes data related changes (ensuring updated data is loaded into the SPM application) as well as commissions related processing and validation
- Compensation Reports and Dashboards – Comp Admins need to verify that commissions reports and dashboards are updated and available for viewing by salespeople and sales management
- Approvals – facilitation of the approval processes for payments, adjustments, and overrides
- Exceptions – support for any approved exceptions which need to be handled by the SPM application, including data entry, processing, and validation of results
- Inquiries and Disputes – research inquiries and disputes and respond and resolve in kind
MANAGED SERVICES
How do you plan to support this SPM application from a technical perspective?
- SPM Functionality, Reports, and Workflow – research and resolve identified defects in these areas within the SPM application
- Modification of existing objects within the SPM application – as required, modification of compensation plans, rules, components, tables, columns, data feeds, reports, dashboards and workflows
- Enhancements – addition of new functionality related to the same objects listed above
- Documentation – creation and maintenance of the SPM Application Solutions Guide
- Migrations – movement of tested and approved changes within the SPM server environment up to and including PROD
- Long Term Support Needs – process of planning for and implementing necessary changes and updates over time, including implementation of software version updates, calendar locking, end of year activities, disaster recovery, backup/restoration processes and data imports from/data exports to other company IT applications which may require commissions related data
CONCLUSION
When reviewing who should be responsible for each of these services, it is expected that the final responsible parties will be a blend of providers and corporate entities. By reviewing these lists before your SPM application implementation is complete, you can ensure that adequate budget, staffing, skills, training, and preparation is in place to successfully support your SPM application for years to come.
Article written by: Robert Jellison
