Turning a Strategy Methodology into a SaaS Product
with Dynamics People and Microsoft Azure
The Challenge
Our Client is a management consulting firm with a structured methodology for strategic planning and execution.
Over years of advisory work, it had developed techniques and tools for defining objectives and tracking the
initiatives
intended to deliver them, including the Hoshin Kanri X matrix and A3 project reporting.
Like much consulting intellectual property, those tools initially lived in spreadsheets, individual files, and
facilitated workshops. The Client wanted to turn its methodology into a multi-company software product that
client
organizations could use directly, without losing the rigor of the underlying approach.
The challenge was to create a genuine SaaS platform: secure enough to isolate every group, company, and
business unit;
precise enough to give steering members, project managers, team members, and administrators the right
functionality; and
extensible enough to support additional modules and methodologies over time.
The Solution Microsoft Azure
Dynamics People designed and built a cloud SaaS platform on Microsoft Azure. The
architecture provides multi-company data separation, role-based access, and a modular foundation for new
releases.
Azure Application Insights adds monitoring of errors and anomalies, user adoption, performance, and operating
cost from the first release.
The initial scope addressed the two central processes in the Client's method: defining strategic objectives
through
the Hoshin Kanri X matrix and controlling the projects that deliver them. The platform combines A3 reports,
dashboards, KPI tracking, deliverable and task management, workload planning, notifications, document
attachments, and
administration functions.
The Role of Dynamics People
A strategy matrix or A3 report is not simply a visual layout. It encodes
relationships
between long-term goals, annual objectives, projects, responsibilities, and KPIs. If that logic is translated
incorrectly, the software may resemble the consulting method without supporting the way it is meant to work.
Dynamics People translated the methodology into a working product model and designed the role-based,
multi-tenant
architecture required to license it to multiple client organizations. Solution architecture and project
governance
were combined with a stable nearshore development team and specialist skills brought in when required,
creating a
delivery model suited to a product expected to evolve release after release.
Microsoft Azure provides the cloud foundation. Dynamics People turns the Client's consulting methodology into a product that can be licensed and used directly instead of delivered one workshop at a time.
A Strategy Tool Built around the Method
The X matrix allows steering users to define long-term and annual objectives, map
the
relationships between them, and connect the projects, KPIs, leaders, and teams responsible for delivery.
Rather than
presenting a generic project list, the platform preserves the structure of the Client's strategic execution
approach.
The same information can be managed through a familiar spreadsheet-like grid or a structured form view. This
gives
organizations different ways to work with one consistent underlying data model.
One Role One View
Steering users and project managers open an interactive top-down dashboard showing
the
status of every initiative and can drill into an A3 report assembled from the underlying project data. Project
managers can refine and export that report, manage deliverables and tasks through multi-level lists or a
drag-and-drop
Kanban board, and plan team workload to identify bottlenecks.
Team members see only their assigned work, close tasks, attach documents, and receive automatic status
notifications.
Each customer organization administers its own users and roles, while platform administrators manage the
companies
using the service.
Designed to Grow as a SaaS Product
The platform was conceived as a product rather than a one-off internal
application. Its
modular architecture supports new capabilities, additional strategic execution approaches, and releases that
extend
the original scope without redesigning the foundation.
The dedicated delivery model also provides continuity: architecture, project management, development, and
specialist
contributions can be scaled around the product roadmap while retaining knowledge across successive releases.
Key Benefits
• Consulting intellectual property becomes a product — The Client can place its strategic
planning and execution approach directly in users' hands instead of delivering it only through workshops and
templates.
• Methodology translated faithfully — The X matrix and A3 reporting preserve the relationships between
objectives, projects, responsibilities, and KPIs.
• Multi-company security by design — Users see only the appropriate group, company, business unit,
data, and functionality.
• An experience tailored to every role — Steering members, project managers, team members, customer
administrators, and platform administrators receive distinct views and actions.
• Operational visibility from the first release — Application Insights monitors errors, adoption,
performance, and cloud cost.
• A delivery model built for continuous evolution — A stable nearshore team supports an extensible
product roadmap and successive releases.
The Result
The first release established a working foundation for strategic objectives,
projects, A3
reporting, Kanban planning, workload management, and analytical dashboards. That foundation has since
supported a broader strategic execution platform able to accommodate approaches such as Hoshin Kanri,
OKR, and the Balanced Scorecard.
A methodology refined through years of consulting work is no longer confined to workshops or spreadsheets. It
has
become a secure, multi-company SaaS product that the Client can provide directly to its customers and continue
extending as its market and methodology evolve.