FT Benefit Delivery: Deployment Plan Phase, SOW, Approach

The Deployment Plan Project Phase includes Partner Pre-Sales and Customer CPOR Claiming. The purpose is to provide a collaborative approach between the Microsoft Customer Success Unit, Microsoft Account Team, and FastTrack Ready Partner (FRP) Team to acquire an overview of the customers’ M365 strategy and be able to provide a unified roadmap that enables the envisioned services. This is done by providing an understanding of:

• Where the customer is in the Microsoft Field Engagement, Envisioning, Discovery, and Deployment Planning Phases.
  • Partners are highly encouraged to align with and build sales plays based on the Microsoft Customer Engagement Methodology (MCEM). Resources can be used to build the FastTrack practice and connectivity with the customer.
• How the FastTrack Ready Partner Team can best support the customer’s requirements.
• How the Microsoft Account Team and the FastTrack Partner Team can provide efficient time-to-value for the customer.

The collaborative approach outcome:

• Avoids unnecessary repetition of actions with the customer and saves time and cost.
• Increases efficiency, and the customer identifies the value of their investment.

The FastTrack Partner Team should connect with the Microsoft Account Team (Customer Success Account Manager, Customer Success Manager, Account Executive, and CSU) in order to acquire an overview of the customer’s M365 strategy.

Review The Partner Success Team and Deliverables for more information.

Note: Claiming Partner of Record (CPOR) is the process of the partner claiming the customer in Partner Center. Review Customer Registration and Workload Claiming in the knowledge base for more information.

Envisioning

Partners must align with the Microsoft Account Team to identify Solution Plays (the services) that are positioned with the customer and where there is intent to deploy. The Account Team provides additional customer context, such as their requirements, and any potential challenges or additional opportunities that may arise during the engagement.

The Envisioning Phase provides the opportunity to identify if the customer needs additional support beyond the FastTrack Benefit, such as: technical hands-on resources or a customized partner solution that is based on the M365 service, and the FRPs value-added services.

Discovery

This is the positioning of Solution Plays where the customer has no intent to deploy or there is a blocker that is stopping the customer from deploying the service, where the partner can assist the customer in enabling new workloads, upgrading existing workloads, or upselling.

P2000 Customers

Where the CSU Team is aligned and has planned this, the partner should work with the CSU Team to conduct the positioning together. The goal is to identify what alternative products the customer is currently using and position the value towards change.

The partner can help to resolve if a blocker is a technical resource, knowledge, or the need of a customized solution based on a M365 service.

Statement of Work

The Statement of Work that the FastTrack Ready Partner and customer sign is an agreement on the scope of work that will be completed. The partner must provide details to the customer that which is covered by the FastTrack Benefit and any additional services that the endorsed partner can provide to the customer at a cost (value-added services, such as project management). Review the following resources or more information:

• FastTrack Service Description
• FastTrack Benefit vs Value Added Services
• Business Expectations of FastTrack Ready Partners
• Partner Transformation - Selling Value-Added Services

This is followed by:

• The partner conducting a technical assessment and agreement with the customer on next steps towards onboarding the envisioned services.
• The partner and customer define the governance of the Core/Service onboarding project.

Sow Template

A Statement of Work is a detailed agreement between the partner and customer that defines the individual customer needs that the endorsed partner can meet. This template is available for partners to use as a starting point with the customer. Note: that customer needs vary considerably, and the template does not encompass all customer scenarios. The SOW template is based on the standard FastTrack method, which may vary from methodology that partners use.

The template includes areas where optional services can be included

The Statement of Work (SOW) must include the following components:

• Description of the required FastTrack Benefits and value-added services
• Partner and customer roles and responsibilities
• Timeline based on customer intent and resource plan
• Key project service deliverables
• Areas out of scope (value-added services)
• Service deliverable acceptance process
• Project governance

Prior to signing a service contract that references this SOW, the partner should strongly recommend that the customer review the Microsoft 365 Service Description. The customer should acknowledge to the partner that the service description meets or exceeds their minimum requirements for the selected services. There must be absolute clarity between the partner and the customer regarding which deliverables/services in the engagement are at no cost via the FastTrack Benefit, versus those that partner can provide as value added services for an associated and agreed upon cost.

General Customer Responsibilities

• Customer has dedicated resources to run the Advanced Deployment Guides.
• In instances where the partner value-added services include enablement on site, please refer to the Statement of Work for additional customer responsibilities.
• Throughout the project the partner will submit requests for decisions or feedback for the customer to complete. Decisions are assigned due dates, and it is assumed that the customer will provide the required feedback or make decisions on either the due date agreed upon or within three business days of submittal. If a decision or feedback is not provided by the due date or within three business days, it will be addressed as a potential change of scope pursuant to the change management process outlined in this SOW.

Deployment Planning

It is strongly recommended that a draft of the deployment sequence and timeline, that the envisioned services will be delivered on, is provided to the customer. This should include the governance and acceptance criteria.

Outcome

Going through the different phases allows the Partner to claim the envisioned workloads with the customer using a Statement of Work (SOW) or Proof of Execution (POE).

P2000 customers only

The alignment with the CSU team and FastTrack Architect (FTA) is a clear deployment plan of who is providing what and a clear timeline for the deployment. The collaboration approach maximizes the budget and (if needed) optional funding that allows a faster return on investment for the customer.

Four Phase Deployment Plan Project Structured Approach