Sure Step vs Success by Design - The Evolution of Microsoft's Delivery Methodology for Dynamics Applications

What is the best method for delivering Microsoft Dynamics applications? How do we manage the various stages to ensure the successful delivery of complex business application solutions? Over the years, Microsoft has worked with partners to build a unified approach to delivering Dynamics applications; first, it was Sure Step, which has been replaced by Success by Design. In this blog, we will compare these two methodologies and explain why following them can help deliver Microsoft Dynamics applications.

Overview of Sure Step

Microsoft Sure Step is a structured, phase-based implementation framework designed to guide the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics solutions. The goal of this framework is to produce predictable outcomes, minimise risks, and provide clear direction throughout the project lifecycle. Sure Step is divided into six phases, each following the previous one. While Sure Step is primarily waterfall-based, it does allow some flexibility; for example, it prescribes iterative prototyping in the Development phase. Let's examine each phase one by one.

1. Diagnostic

During this phase, pre-sales consultants identify high-level business requirements, define project scope, and assess whether Dynamics applications can address the organisation's needs. Key stakeholders such as the client's key decision makers, subject matter experts, and consultants participate in initial workshops to clarify objectives and constraints and estimate costs and duration of the project.

The outcome of this phase can be a simple estimate and a high-level project plan for small projects or a more complex set of documents, including strategy documents for environment management and security. Microsoft partners who work with medium- to large enterprises typically create detailed work orders or a Statement of Work document at the end of this phase, which defines the work required in the following phases.

2. Analysis

This phase involves gathering detailed requirements and performing a fit-gap analysis. Functional consultants spend more time during this phase working with the organisation's business analysts and subject matter experts. The goal of the analysis is to document processes and identify gaps between current operations and the scope of the applications.

The Analysis phase involves gathering detailed requirements and creating key documents, like the Functional Requirements Document (FRD) and strategies for data migration, environment, and security, to define the project's scope and solutions. This phase includes the analysis and strategy workshops, which are led by functional consultants and include key users, line managers, or subject matter experts.

To learn more about fit-gap vs business process change, check my other post here: https://www.d365training.com/post/fit-to-standard-vs-business-process-reengineering-in-dynamics-365-which-path-leads-to-success.

3. Design

The design phase focuses on translating business requirements into detailed specifications, listing the modules and configuration details for requirements that are a fit, and customising the gaps.

At the end of this phase, functional consultants produce a Solution Design Document (SDD) that includes the configuration of the various applications in scope. Multiple Functional Design Documents (FDD) will also be created, sometimes by a technical architect or the solution architect, for each customisation agreed upon during the analysis phase. Other documents produced during the design phase are the Technical Design Document (TDD) written by the technical architect or a senior developer, which includes the technical specs of customisations, and an Interface Design Document, also written by a technical architect, if an interface with a 3rd party application is required.

During this phase, there are no workshops with the client team, but frequent meetings and calls between the solution architect, consultants and the dev team are often required.

4. Development

In this phase, the delivery team puts together the actual system. Consultants complete the configuration, customisations, and integrations and conduct rigorous tests to ensure that all the different parts of the solution work together. Developers, consultants, and project managers ensure that the solution aligns with design specifications.

In a typical waterfall approach, the development phase starts with deploying the client's environments, procuring licences and starting the configuration in a sandbox. However, in some cases, a test environment and limited licences are provided before this phase to help the client's IT team and key users familiarise themselves with the new applications.

The client's team is rarely involved in this phase, except for their IT team, which supports licensing and user access management.

5. Deployment

This phase is the last set of tasks before going live. Key activities are data migration, key user training, User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and potentially change management. In Sure Step, the client's first experience using the system happens in this phase, even though some partners, as I mentioned before, allow their clients to use a demo sandbox of the apps in scope so they can familiarise themselves with the new system.

This phase requires the client's mobilisation of the entire team, not just IT and subject matter experts.

The deployment phase is Sure Step's riskiest phase. The leading cause of the risks that could emerge is that most of the work to configure, deploy, and extend the system is done before the client's team can even see the new applications. As a result, missing or conflicting requirements, design errors, and misunderstandings about expectations can cause misalignment, friction, and scope creep.

6. Operation

The operation phase includes the effort to go live with the new applications. It starts with cutover, when the client's team and the delivery team plan to phase out the legacy applications and go live with the new ones.

Activities include posting opening balances, post-implementation support (commonly known as hypercare), performance monitoring, and fine-tuning of the solutions before the client can move to business as usual.

The arrangement of the various phases and the linear approach of Sure Step have worked exceptionally well for on-premise applications. Furthermore, this framework's typical waterfall approach allows Microsoft partners and clients to work together using well-known project management tools. Sure Step is similar to other waterfall methodologies used in different industries; this similarity with methods used in other sectors, such as construction or public services, allowed Microsoft partners to find and hire project managers who could deliver Microsoft applications even if they only had experience in other industries.

Why the introduction of Cloud applications made the case for a new framework

Cloud applications have created the need for a more dependable and safe deployment process that considers the ecosystem of all integrated applications and business areas. Dynamics 365 applications also require operating within a coherent feature release schedule that considers release plans and anticipates deprecated features.

The deployment type is not the only reason Success by Design was created. Sure Step is a tool to roll out new business applications, but it does not help Microsoft partners design and build solutions that transform business operations.

The two pillars of Success by Design are guidance on the implementation process and a focus on transforming business operations. While cloud applications and Microsoft's FastTrack program influenced the shift to Success by Design, Sure Step is still used by partners in some on-premises or hybrid scenarios. However, it's less common for cloud deployments.

Introduction to Success by Design

Microsoft describes Success by Design as a "prescriptive guidance for successfully architecting, building, and deploying solutions for Dynamics 365 cloud implementations." While the description might sound overly formal and complicated, this framework is an intuitive and comprehensive tool designed to complement various project management methodologies, such as Waterfall, Agile, or a partner-specific way to manage projects.

Success by Design follows a structured approach divided into a preliminary phase, typically completed by pre-sales and project management teams, followed by four phases for the delivery team. The structure is almost the same as Sure Step, though the approach is different.

1. Strategise

Similar to Sure Step's diagnostic phase, it includes elements of the analysis phase regarding the environment, data migration, integration, and security strategy. Success by Design emphasises making strategic decisions before the project begins. Environment strategy, data migration, and security drive the Initiate phase instead of being addressed as individual requirements in Sure Step's analysis phase.

2. Initiate

Equivalent to the analysis and design phases, the Initiate phase starts by defining the solution architecture's pillars before delving deeper into the functional specifications.

During this phase, the project team works on the solution strategy: a comprehensive view and approach that defines the overall solution. The lead consultant or the solution architect also creates a solution blueprint document, which is often reviewed by the team during the project to minimise scope creep. In the Success by Design framework, this document is essential for the project's success, as it provides a view of the overall solution architecture and the technologies in scope.

3. Implement

This phase is equivalent to the deployment phase. Here, the client's team and the partner's delivery team work closely together to build, extend, and test the solution. A crucial element of this phase relates to the approach to testing.

Success by Design goes beyond traditional UAT and includes more testing scenarios, such as End-to-End testing, Process Tests, and Regression Tests. Sure Step's Deployment phase primarily focuses on User Acceptance Testing (UAT) but can involve end-to-end and regression testing, depending on the partner's implementation. The difference lies in Success by Design's emphasis on structured, proactive testing earlier in the process.

4. Prepare

The prepare phase covers training and cutover, which are under the deployment phase in Sure Step. Under Prepare, the delivery team pays particular attention to the training approach, which is strategised based on the overall solution architecture and business processes. Unlike what happens with Sure Step, where training is more generalised and only applies to the application in scope, training under Success by Design is an ongoing process. The new framework allows the client's team and the Microsoft partner to design a training approach that includes personnel changes and external changes, such as updates. The prepare phase ends with go-live.

5. Operate

This phase is the same as the operation phase under Sure Step, which is often just a formality and is treated as an afterthought. Success by Design includes a strategic approach to post-go-live areas such as monitoring service health, applying updates, and maintaining environments. Often, monitoring tools like Telemetry are considered early in the project to support this phase. Operate under Success by Design also includes recommendations for continuous education to ensure the client's team keeps up to date with the Dynamics 365 lifecycle.

Although the two frameworks share some similarities, the approach and outcome of the various phases are significantly different.

Conclusion

Sure Step focuses on a pragmatic, more operational approach to delivering business applications; in contrast, Success by Design is a framework for delivering business transformation, focusing on evolving business processes and cloud applications. In both cases, Microsoft partners can adopt both frameworks and adapt them to their unique methodology.

In general, small projects that cover only one application, for example, Business Central or D365 for Finance, can still be rolled out using Sure Step and a templated approach. Conversely, complex implementations with many applications and integrations are in scope and benefit from a hybrid approach based on Success by Design. Regardless of the framework, a successful Dynamics 365 implementation starts with the end goal: to deliver long-term client success.