How to Make a Great Solution with an Agile Approach

You worked hard to deliver an amazing idea for a complex solution for a client. After spending days (and sometimes nights) on perfecting the proposal, the sales team tells you the project is a no-go.

We all have witnessed a situation like this, projects that have failed because of the high starting price. This discrepancy is the cause of the everlasting disagreement between sales and development. Sometimes it happens due to high evaluation in hours, sometimes because of the initial price per hour. Even if the initial project cost is acceptable, customers want to see results fast to justify the price. Project timeline without any significant demo is hard for customers to perceive. They usually want a great, cheap solution that can be “done yesterday”.

agile approach in customer demands — ^{Photo source: AnswerFirst}

Agile approach – great solutions that deliver results

Since “cheap” is rarely going to be in the same sentence with “great”, we decided to focus on an amazing solution done in time. That’s where agile approach comes in the picture.

In order to understand our customer’s demands and requests, we need to understand the fast-changing markets and the need for fast information flow. And in the field of digital transformation the change is swift.

If we are directly involved in the client’s mission to solve problems, needs, and demands, we can analyze the situation and propose a solution aligned with their company’s goals. We are – what we like to call ourselves- a long-term trusted advisor.

The agile approach – divide and conquer

With an in-depth agile approach, we study problems and offer innovative and tangible solutions to the customer. Projects can be divided into several phases. Even most complex ones can be broken down into functional and meaningful pieces where clients can quickly see the results. That approach allows us to listen to customers’ feedback and deliver solutions based on their needs and wants. Moreover, we help our clients in the initial phases of familiarization with the delivered solution and offer continuous support.

That kind of collaboration with clients, the phase-based approach, therefore makes the final product delivered faster and our customers more satisfied. Results are instant and visible.

Since we wanted to create a great solution, we are working with the M-Files platform.

Why M-Files

We have been working with the M-Files for the last 8 years and there were a few very important reasons why we selected M-Files. M-Files is an enterprise content management platform developed in Finland. It’s true what they say – good things do come from Finland. M-Files fits perfectly with our agile approach to customers and is able to satisfy every need in any business area.

Because it is using a unique approach to document management it is a great solution for any kind of content management system. M-Files focuses on what instead of where something is stored. Objects are described with metadata for easy search and dynamic views and processes can be easily created with workflows.

One solution for a lot of problems

With its great vision, M-Files is growing and expanding horizontally and vertically. It’s one solution for a lot of problems. With horizontal approach they are expanding and growing among customers. That is recognized by Nucleus who put M-Files in the leader’s quadrant seventh year in a row. This is achieved by listening to their customers and partners, as well as with continuous analysis of their weaknesses and bringing new features to solve those weak spots promptly. As a result, Intelligence metadata layer, Image Analysis, Information Extractor are great new features and will lead M-Files to the top of Gartner Leader Quadrant next year.