What to prepare for when requesting new integrations/development work

There is a lot of work that goes into creating new integrations or special development projects. This article will help prepare you for what is to come so that we can gather all the details and ensure that the process is as smooth as possible.

What to Expect

We want to make sure everyone is coming into this project with the right mindset and proper expectations. When integrating with a new feature, or changing anything to the core code of WSM, we need to be as precise as possible, so please be ready to answer specific questions, and be as detailed oriented as possible. 

Along with coming prepared to answer detailed questions, we also want to be transparent in our partnership with our clients. Large projects like these will go through a unique quoting process. 

1. We will start with a discovery call. In this call, we will go through a list of probing questions to make sure WSM has a full understanding of the request. Some questions we will be asking to prepare yourself would be:
   1. How do things work today?
   2. How would you like things to work?
   3. What is the difference between how it is now and how you would like it to be?
   4. What is this feature worth to you and your company?
   5. What pains does this solve?
   6. What benefits would this new feature bring? More revenue? More automation? 
2. After we have gathered all the information, a WSM team member will pass the request to our Business Analysts. Our Business analysts will review and return us a SWAG quote or an estimate. This is not the final quote, this will be a price range of the cost of a project.
   
   If you approve the SWAG quote or estimate, the team will start detailed requirements gathering and planning, so we can fine-tune the amount of time it will take to complete the work. The discovery work involved in this phase is billable on a time and materials basis.
   
   
3. The Client Success Manager will provide you with the refined estimate for approval. If you approve,  the Business Analyst will create an internal ticket with the implementation date. The Dev team will start the work based on the internal ticket. Once the work is done, the Client Success Manager will let you know and ask for confirmation if the integration works as expected:
   
   a. If you approve, the project will be considered completed and the ticket will be closed.
   
   b. If the feature/integration does not meet your expected result, the Client Success Manager will provide your feedback to the Development Team and they will review & rework on the integration.

The overall flowchart of your Integration Request

(1) A member of the Web Shop Manager team will ask for your approval that the request will have to be reviewed and quoted by the Developer Team
(2) The Client Success Manager will provide the estimate to you
(3) The Client Success Manager will get approval from you if the integration is working as expected