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Engagement Creation

The initiation phase is the first and most crucial project milestone, which consists of 8 main steps:

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Project Creation

VRS/Cloud Team
Engagement

DSA Assignment

Sales to Services Handover

High Level Project Plan Creation

Internal & External stakeholders Identification

Components

Project Creation

Once the engagement has been created, we can proceed with the practical steps to create the project. Below are the key areas for creating a project that you need to keep in mind.

Project Creation

After review of sales documentation and understanding of the project(s) scope, the PM creates the project(s) in TeamLine using the relevant solution’s template and classification, including tasks and milestones in PPW.

Click here to watch how to create a project in TeamLine

Subscriptions

Cloud Project

Timing

Engagements that are subscription only (VRS/ Training), or VRS Stand-alone with no technical implementation, are managed by the VRS team.

Click here to learn how to link Subscription contracts to projects.

If the solution is cloud-based, in addition to opening the project in TeamLine, the Services PM is also responsible for opening the Cloud Project SR in WISER. 

Click here to create a Cloud project in Wiser

The PM is responsible for creating the project as soon as possible - within 48 hours of the PM assignment to the engagement.

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Components

Sales to Services
Handover completion

Provisioning URL
(SAN) provided

Customer Kickoff
completion

SPC completion

SRT completion

ITP completion

User Testing Completion

Solution Availability

Customer Handover
to Day 2

Go Live date

PM assigned

Project creation

Cloud Project
SR submitted

Implementation started

Project completion

Milestones

Activities

Hide
milestones/Activities

Components

Engagement Creation

Hover the mouse over each step to learn more.

This is the process flow for managing a Pre-PO engagement.

Creating pre-PO engagement

Completion

Engagement Status Change

PO submitting by Sales

Creating a project

If there are multiple sub-organizations under same customer name, the Salesforce Opportunity ID and Customer entity (provided by Sales) must be filled when creating the engagement manually.

Engagement Creation - Pre-PO Engagement

Engagement Creation

There are three types of Services engagements:

The engagement should include the scope of services sold, which can be delivered in one or more projects under the same engagement contract.

Sales Order (SO)

Booked as Fixed Fees (FF)

Time & Material (T&M)

Subscription

Booked as Blanket

Booked as Contract

In the most cases, where the engagement is above $50k  the PO, Quote and Signed SOW should be included.

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Engagement Creation

Let’s understand the standard Engagement creation process flow:

The first phase in a project lifecycle is the Initiation Phase, which begins with an Engagement Creation.

Signing an agreement between the customer and the NICE sales team

Signing a Statement of Work (SOW)

Submitting a purchase order (PO)

The Order Management (OM) team runs the booking process through Oracle, integrated with TeamLine

The Engagement is routed to the relevant Services Director (SD) based on predefined criteria

Services Director assigns the Engagement to the Services PM

Sales Team Responsibilities

The booking process triggers the automatic creation of the engagement in TeamLine

Project Creation

There are two different types of solution deployment. The project differentiation can be driven from the delivery method, or the content of the service delivered.

Defining Project Parameters:

Delivery Method

Selected when solution is deployed on NICE / AWS infrastructure.

Selected when solution is deployed on Customer infrastructure

Cloud

On-Premises

Engagement Creation

Pre-PO engagements can be created by:

The Pre-PO Engagement creation allows the project team to be engaged with a customer prior to actual receiving the signed SOW and/or PO.  The process is intended to be used where there is a great probability of the customer moving forward with the solution purchase and are actively working through the final details of the deal with Sales.
Pre-PO engagement requires VP approval.

Pre-PO Engagement

Services Operations

PMO

Services Director (SD)

Project Creation

To create a project, you must specify various parameters in the appropriate fields and dropdowns, located in different sections of TeamLine. Most of them are self explanatory, but additional questions may arise about some of them. Let’s take a closer look at the most critical project parameters and attributes that need to be specified.

Defining Project Parameters

Project Creation

A free of charge (FOC) project is a project that has no Services Revenue (USD $0).
The FOC requires an NPD Quote, billable with 100% discount approval.

Defining Project Parameters:

Free of Charge

Providing additional support

FOC engagement can be created in the following cases:

Once the project has been defined as free of charge:

Resolving solution issues

Sales activities

The opportunity sold by CXone

Services activities granted FOC with VP approval

Sold effort appears at the Engagement, according to connected Purchase Order number and $0 Quote

Reason for free of charge should be specified by the PM

Project Creation

To specify project complexity level, you need to select one of three complexity categories according to your use case.

Defining Project Parameters:

Project Complexity Level

 - Non-GA solution not otherwise meeting
   Cat2 or Cat3 Guidelines
 - Non-GA Upgrades
 - Non-GA Update Packs
 - Non-GA Database
 - Non-GA MAC
 - Disaster Recovery
 - Session Border Controller
 - Proof Of Concept (POC)
 - Competitive Displacement
 - Multi-Solution Integration
 - Multi-Data Center
 - High visibility/sensitivity

Category 1 Complex
(High Attention)

Category 2 Medium
(GA Solution)

Category 3 Simple
(MAC / misc.)

 - GA>90 days Solution not otherwise
    meeting Cat1 or Cat3 Guidelines
 - GA New Install
 - GA Upgrades
 - GA Update Packs
 - GA Database

 - Complex GA>90 days Moves,
   Additions & Changes not otherwise
   meeting Cat1, Cat2 or Cat3S Guidelines
 - A change that carries more risk than
   a simple MAC and requires careful
   planning and coordination
 - Requires a project plan

Project Scope Review

The purpose of this stage is to make sure the PM has all the relevant documents. If any document is missing, PM needs to contact the Sales team.

Purchase Order (excluding pre-PO engagement)

The main documents required are:

TeamLine is the repository for project documentations.
The PM is responsible to upload the documents to TeamLine.

Quote

Signed SOW (excluding pre-po engagement, Including Risks, Constraints & Assumptions)

SDD

For more info on documents management, follow this link.

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Engaging VRS or Cloud Operations Teams

In a VRS (Value Realization Services) project attached to system delivery projects, the VRS team needs to be engaged before the Sales to Services handover. To identify if VRS service was sold to the customer, you should look at the Engagement PS Subscription Revenue Amount field in TeamLine.

To learn about PM’s responsibilities for VRS projects, refer to a corresponding topic in the R&R section.

If  the Engagement is a subscription only (not attached), it will be routed to the VRS team directly.

Engaging VRS team

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DSA Assignment

The following are the expected deliverables from DSA:

Output

To learn more about DSA R&R, please refer to the corresponding topic in the R&R section.
The SPC/ITP/SRT planning processes will be fully explained in the following sections.

 - 2 days after Sales to Services handover
 - Before Sales to Services handover (if scope is clear)

EEW

Expected SLA

SPC Planning

ITP Planning

SRT Planning

3-5 days after Sales to Services handover
(Available in Services portal)

Following the Site Preparation Checklist 
(3-5 days after Sales to Services handover)

With the Site Preparation Checklist (SPC)
(Available in Services portal)

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Components

Project Creation

As mentioned previously, in addition to the parameters we have already covered, there are additional attributes to be specified in different sections of TeamLine. Here you can find an explanation about attributes, the specification of which may raise additional questions.

Defining Project Parameters:

Additional Attributes

Click on each section to learn more about additional attributes.

General

[Project Name] 


[Planned start] 
[Planned finish]
[Planned hours] 
[Worked Performed For]

Should contain CompanyName_Solution_Activity_(SO number)
Examples: Adobe Engage Expansion (SO123456), Bank of America APA 7.3 - 7.4 Upgrade (SO123456)
Estimated dates 
Estimated dates
Estimated hours (from EEW)
If a business partner is involved, the customer field is the business partner and the Work Performed For is the end customer. This is critical for the auto-creation of the customer case in Wiser (Day2)

Project Survey Information

Budget and Approval Information

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Each participant should explain their involvement and present their experience with the customer.

Introduction

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Sales Managers should kick off with a brief overview of the 
customer & customers business.

Customer Overview

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Sales Manager presents the following topics:
     Specific Requirements/Needs
     Overall Customer expectations
     Pre-defined or expected timelines and the reasons behind that
     Culture; how to work with the customer, what to watch out for
     Who’s Who
     Customer Contact & Site Information
     Quote Overview

Project Overview

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Pre-Sales SE should present the solution designed and scoped, and how it tailors back to support the customer’s requirements
    Highlight any known complexities, customizations required, any
    other NICE entities involved and working to provide support in any
    way (Product Management/R&D).
    Provide hardware specifications and the sizing information
    captured from customer, which was used to determine the final
    architecture, server, and storage requirements.

Solution Design Overview

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

VRS Business Consultant (if applicable) will:
    Provide an overview of their involvement, understandings of the 
    customers’ business challenges and needs, how they plan to leverage the
    system to support process change initiatives, etc. 
    Provide PM and DSA with guidance in areas they should plan to tailor to
    the customer’s specific needs, to ensure the project is planned and
    delivered more closely in line with the customers’ expectations, as 
    discussed and planned with the Business or IA Consultants.

Business Overview

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

At this stage, you should complete exchange of Information.

Exchange of Information Completion

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Review of all available Documentation required for project handover.

Documentation Review

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

DSA presents understanding of customer’s requirements, solution proposed, etc. and needs to validate specific areas that are needed 100% of the time to cover the core functionality (i.e. Recording, Archiving, and Retention).

DSA's presentation

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

If there are open questions that are critical to resolve, then the PM will not accept S2S handover and will request/schedule a follow up meeting. 
If the Pre-Sales team and Services team are unable to comply with the checklist and conclude the S2S Meeting, the issues are escalated to the relevant Services Director and the Pre-Sales Manager for resolution.

Validation of proper project handover (PM and DSA 
need to acknowledge):

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Identify the issue owner, action plan and timeframe for resolution. 
All issues should be cleared and validated prior to team engaging for the formal Project Kickoff with the customer.

Issues Discussion

Project Creation

As mentioned previously, in addition to the parameters we have already covered, there are additional attributes to be specified in different sections of TeamLine. Here you can find an explanation about attributes, the specification of which may raise additional questions.

Defining Project Parameters:

Additional Attributes

Click on each section to learn more about additional attributes.

General

[Survey timing] 


[VRS survey] 
[VRS Survey date]

Choose if to survey upon Solution Availability (SA) date or project closing.
Most Technical Implementations will be on SA Date.
If VRS services are included
If different from project closing

Project Survey Information

Budget and Approval Information

Project Creation

As mentioned previously, in addition to the parameters we have already covered, there are additional attributes to be specified in different sections of TeamLine. Here you can find an explanation about attributes, the specification of which may raise additional questions.

Defining Project Parameters:

Additional Attributes

Click on each section to learn more about additional attributes.

General

[EAC Revenue]

Indicator to predict project closure and revenue recognition within a given quarter. As the project progresses, PM should continue to update this field.

Project Survey Information

Budget and Approval Information

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Engaging VRS or Cloud Operations Teams

Depending on the project type defined, you may need to involve additional players in the project management process -  VRS and/or Cloud team.

In this section, we will learn when and how these teams should be involved, as well as what the PM’s responsibilities are for these project types.

To learn more about VRS or Cloud Ops R&R, please refer to the corresponding topics in the R&R section.

Introduction

Below is a recommended agenda for the S2S handover meeting to help you cover all relevant issues without missing out important details.

Click on each step to jump to corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway

Customer
Overview

Business
Overview

Solution Design Overview

Project
Overview

DSA's presentation

Documentation Review

Exchange
of Information
Completion

Sales to Services Handover

Recommended agenda

Validation

Issues
Discussion

Conclusions

Conclusion of handover Meeting & Next Steps (if applicable).

Conclusions

DSA Assignment

Once the project has been created, you need to request a Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) to provide a scoping review, Effort Estimation (EEW) and technical documentation. The DSA is also required to participate in the Sales to Services handover and support the project from start to finish.

In APAC, the assigned DSA is usually the sub-regional DSA. In other cases, the DSA lead will assign the DSA.

For more info on documents management, follow this link.

To request a DSA resource, you need follow the Resource Request (RRQ) process in TeamLine. To learn about the process, please refer to Resource Management section.

DSA will require documentation (Sales Milestone Kit SMK) to provide technical specs and effort estimations (EEW). As already mentioned, all these documents should be uploaded to TeamLine.

To reduce pushback by the DSA, it is important to verify that the Solution Design Document (SDD/SoD) is finalized and there are no sections that have not yet agreed with the customer. You should briefly review the document and validate there are no parts where a decision is still marked as Y/N.

Sales to Services Handover

Upon acceptance of Sales to Services handover, the PM needs to reach out to the customer for first introduction via call or email. The communication should take place within one week of the engagement assignment.

PM should be introduced to the customer -  introduction email template

Here are the required activities after the S2S handover meeting:

Project documentation should be uploaded to TeamLine

The Sales to Services handover completion date milestone should be updated in TeamLine.

Handover completion

Engaging VRS or Cloud Operations Teams

Cloud identification can be performed by looking into the Engagement Non-PS Subscription Revenue Amount field in TeamLine. 
The Cloud Ops team, responsible for creating and  setting up the environment, should be engaged when the project is created. The Cloud Ops PM is essentially the owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team; therefore, the Services PM’s main role in such a project is to constantly interact with Cloud Ops PM to track and monitor the process.

To learn more about engaging Cloud Ops team, refer to a corresponding topic in the R&R section.

The Cloud Ops PM is engaged by creating the Cloud Project SR in Wiser.

Engaging Cloud Operations team

Click here to create a Cloud project in Wiser

Sales to Services Handover

To conduct the handover efficiently and as quickly as possible, the following conditions need to be met.

The PM and DSA should review the project documentation prior to the Sales to Services handover meeting and prepare questions.

The PM need to contact sales within 48 business hours of Engagement assignment.

Sales team should send the relevant documents at least a week prior to the meeting.

Timing

The PM need to request the S2S documents and the checklist template and 
schedule the S2S handover call with the appropriate participants.

High-Level Project Plan Creation

During this stage, you need to create the project plan (Gantt) using MS projects. Gantt is essentially the high-level plan containing estimated duration based on MPP templates and project inputs.

MPP templates per solution and classification can be found at this link.

Sales to Services Handover

The Sales to Services (S2S) handover process is an important milestone of the project. 
Essentially, this is the handover of the ownership from Sales to the project team. 
The process is conducted through a formal meeting with Sales, pre-Sales and the project team, 
the scheduling of which is your responsibility. 
The objective of the meeting is to ensure information about the customer, solution, any delivery
timing discussed pre-sale, and implementation expectations, are transitioned clearly, efficiently, 
and effectively to the Services PM and Delivery Solution Architect (DSA). 

Click here to download the handover template.

Project Creation

Each customer’s purchase is individual and may include different types of solutions, which can be implemented in different ways and in various locations. The following guidelines will help you to determine whether to create a single project or multiple projects under the same engagement.

Multiple solutions under the same engagement are managed in multiple projects (a project for each solution).

A VRS project (attached / Subscription or stand-alone) is managed as a separate project - different projects from the technical delivery project.

Multiple environments (production, lab, QA, others) 
are managed in a single project.

Multiple customer sites will be managed under a single project unless there are sites that have 
a different solution set or customer line of business 
where it makes sense to manage separate projects. 
(for example, different timelines and project plan)

Guidelines

Sales to Services Handover

To successfully conduct Sales to Services Handover meeting, all of the following tasks must be completed.

Performing a consistency check between Pre-Sale and Post-Sale.

Identifying and resolving any gaps before the project is kicked off with the customer.

Ensuring all available information and knowledge is passed on to the Project Team.

Ensuring the Customer's requirements are well-understood, and the business value of the NICE offering is articulated.

Clearly defining the NICE software and services solution, to be aligned to the Customer's requirements up-front.

Driving Customer and Employee satisfaction by delivering a well understood, designed, planned, and executed project.

The Purpose of the Sales to Services Handover meeting

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Internal & External Stakeholders Identification

The following are Internal and External (customer) stakeholders:

When reviewing the project Statement of Work (SOW), you need to identify the involved stakeholders so you know who you will be cooperating with at all stages of the project.
All the stakeholders should be listed in the Project Workbook.

Internal Stakeholders

Management level
Project Team
Escalation matrix
Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) per solution
Professional Services Engineer per solution
VRS team (if needed)
Cloud ops team (if needed)

External Stakeholders

Customer PM
Executive Sponsors/ Stakeholders
Technical implementation team

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Installation of new solution at a new or existing customer
Installation of the same solution at additional site / LOB for an existing customer

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Migration from On-prem to Cloud solution

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

הגדרות רקע

סוג רקע

גודל רקע

שנה רקע

Hex

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Installation of Pilot projects. Pilots require integration with customer environment, low scale compared to full deployment. May be sold with a Full Deployment that immediately follows.

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Installation projects. POC’s are usually short-duration projects used to demonstrate capabilities, usually not integrated with the customer environment.

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

VRS business consultants' services non-attached / renewals (without a project template)

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

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Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Managed application services performed by MAS group (without a project template)

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Customizations and development services performed by AS group (without a project template)

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

Project Creation

Click on each classification to learn in which cases it should be selected.

Choosing the right classification is a crucial step that impacts the project workflows and automation, required information and data collected for analysis.

ENT – New System Deployment

ENT – System Upgrade

ENT – System Migration to Cloud

ENT – Pilot

ENT – POC

ENT – Consulting Attached

ENT – Consulting Stand-alone

ENT – Training only

ENT – Managed Application Services

ENT – Advanced Services

ENT – MAC / misc.

Not falling under one of the above classifications
Combining simple MAC (move, add, change), complex MAC, and miscellaneous PS project classifications
Non-structured project template, record tasks completion for hours reporting and revenue recognition.
Change to an existing system which includes system move or adding a new feature (non-attached to system installation), additional licenses.

Defining Project Parameters - Project Classification

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Sales to Services Handover

Now let's find out which attendees are required in the S2S handover meeting.

Project Manager (PM)

Sales Manager (SM)

Delivery Solution Architect (DSA)

Meeting Attendees

Sales Engineer (SE)

If the project is simple and straightforward, and the DSA has no technical questions, the SE may be excused from the meeting, based on the decision of DSA and PM and communicated to the SE.

Sales Solutions Architect (SSA)

Cloud Ops PM

VRS Business Consultant

Others:

               Sales VP, Services VP, RD’s, Consulting & Training Management, etc.

For APA, the Solution Consultant / Engineer is required

This is the final phase of the project, during which the successfully implemented project is transitioned to Day 2 for ongoing support and the project is administratively completed.

Day 1 Day 2 Handover

Invoicing

 Project Closure

Lesson Learned

The following activities are part of the Closure Phase:

FINALIZING

all activities related to all deliverables to formally close the project.

DISCUSSING

the overall project experience and lessons learned with the project team.

Administratively                   the project.

The phase consists of 4 steps. Click on each step to jump to the corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway.

CLOSING

During the Monitor and Control phase, all work is observed by Project Manager (PM). Monitoring includes measuring ongoing project activities, such as progress in relation to the plan, and project variables, such as cost, time and effort, against project plans. Controlling includes identifying corrective actions to address deviations from plan and to properly address issues and risks.
Since you’re responsible for the overall project activity progress, you need to track and monitor the progress of the activities performed by the DSA/ PSEs, as well as carry out weekly monitoring activities.

Click on each monitoring part to jump to the corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway.

Weekly Monitoring Activities

Monitor Resources Activities

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For fixed fees services items, the Project Manager links the Fixed Fees contained in the Engagement to the associated project. 
Once the Fixed Fee deliverables are achieved, the Project Manager will "Complete" the line in the PPW and a draft invoice is generated for Project Manager approval.
On approval, the invoice is sent to the customer through Oracle.

For T&M Engagements, the Project Manager is responsible for ensuring all resource hours are submitted/approved prior to invoice generation and approve or reject the hours to be invoiced to the customer.

For VRS Subscription Engagements, the invoicing process is automated and does not require action by the Project Manager.
However, the Project Manager is expected to link the VRS Project to the Subscription in the Magic Screen.
This enables the VRS Subscription Amount to populate in the VRS Project for proper accounting.

Invoicing terms are based on Statement of Work (SOW), quote or Purchase Order.

Invoicing

Fixed Fees Services

Subscription

Time & Material (T&M) Engagements

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Monitor Resources Activities

The progress of the activities being performed by project resources, can be tracked via:

Data available in the Service Portal

For the monitoring to be effective, you should:

Daily Status Report (DSR) provided by the PSE

Weekly status reports for VRS projects provided by BC

              the activities according to plan and adjust as necessary to manage delays.

                the progress of the activities, any risks identified and the potential impact on the project. Risks should be registered in the Risk section in TeamLine.

1.

3.

2.

4.

Weekly status reports for Cloud project application provisioning status provided by Cloud Ops PM

REVIEW

TRACK

Components

Day 1 to Day 2 Handover

Day 1 to Day 2 handover is the process of transitioning a customer account from the Services Delivery Team (Day 1), to Customer Support / App Ops (Day 2) for ongoing maintenance and support. 
A formal process benefits the customer by providing a smooth transition from the Day 1 team, who they have depended on until now, to a knowledgeable Day 2 team that is familiar with their instance and can help them going forward. 
A successful transition of the project is one that comes without critical issues preventing users from using the system, and includes all the reference documentation required to ensure high quality customer support.

The Project Manager must create a WISER ticket for Day1/Day2 two weeks prior to customer go live date. 
It includes uploading solution-specific documentation to WISER, providing a baseline for Day 2 to assume support responsibility.

In Cloud solutions AppOps owns the product support. Before handover to support, AppOps need to verify the following activities completed: remove maintenance window, update monitoring, remove services access. 
* In WFM multi-tenants solutions, the Services PM needs to Open Cloud Project SR-MT Cutover in Wiser (in addition to D1/D2 request). Any change/ delay on planned go live needs to be communicated to Cloud PM and get re-approved.

If necessary, you can schedule a call with the customer and the support team.

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Weekly Monitoring Activities

Weekly monitoring activities include the following:

Project Schedule

Project Cost

Revenue Forecast

Project Risk

Change Request (CR)

If there is a deviation from the original scope of the project, the Project Manager should work with the team to evaluate the change and cost information. A Change Request (CR) would be processed and accepted by the customer.

Project Closure

TeamLine Project Completion is accomplished through the completion/approval of all the workflow steps of the project.
For VRS projects, the duration is usually 12 months, so you need to remember to complete the project following the end of the subscription terms.

Project Closure Information

You’re requested to provide feedback on what went well and what did not go well. Elaborating on the reasons will enable us to learn and improve, and will reduce the need to contact you directly for information.

Project Closure Waiver

Project closure waiver is used to gain Customer Acceptance to invoice against the Project Acceptance Terms or if the SOW indicates that the customer has Written Acceptance. You can use the waiver template.

Lesson Learned

Lesson Learned is the knowledge gained during a project that shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future for the purpose of improving future performance.

Projects with CSAT below 3 (overall satisfaction)

Executive Escalation upon closure of the red phase status

Ad hoc by region’s decision (based on KPI result, project size, project that went well and should be learned from) 

Technical Complexity

Management Request

The following are criteria for Lesson Learned:

This process enables us to 
and which will be easily accessible in one global knowledge base.

apply the knowledge gained from previous projects to new initiatives,

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Lesson Learned

The following diagram shows the process flow for creating a

The project was selected for lesson learned

Action items captured by PM and shared through the Lesson Learned Action Items section

    Action item listing and follow
    up on progress with PMO

    Global template is available

PM sets the lesson learned sessions with all project team members and direct management 

Optional: VPs and Service Ops - for America, PMO will schedule the session

PM uses the attached template to manage lesson learned session

Note, the template contains also examples for your use to easily prepared the meeting

Lesson Learned:

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Customer Kick-Off

The Planning phase is an important phase, during which the project’s objectives are verified and developed into a specific and workable plan ready to be carried out. This includes the following:

CONDUCTING

Business Kick-off Meeting

Risk Management

Procurement Plan for Business Partners (APAC)

Resource Management

Budget & Schedule Baseline

Web SPC Setup

Detailed Project Schedule (Gantt)

VALIDATING

AGREEING

DEVELOPING

The phase consists of 8 main steps. Click on each step to jump to the corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway.

a formal kick-off meeting with the customer

the project scope with the customer team and agreeingupon the project approach

the details of the project schedule

on the schedule for the various tasks and ESTIMATING the necessary resources

Customer Kick-Off

The objectives of this meeting are to define the R&R in the project, present high-level project milestones, and have a solid understanding of the following:
 - Customer business needs and expectations
 - The value that NICE Solution will provide to the customer 
 - The solution proposed and functionality expected
 - The customer environment
 - The scope of the project and any assumptions, risks, or dependencies

Completion of the Customer Kick-Off is essential for project success and is mandatory for all products and complexities.  MAC and short duration (one week effort projects)  should have an abbreviated kick-off to align with the customer.

The meeting should take place 1-2 weeks after the Sales to Service Handover meeting. 
Following the Sales to Service Handover, the DSA will validate licensing in the ESD, prepare the Effort Estimation Worksheet (EEW) in TeamLine, and establish the Web Site Preparation Checklist (Web-SPC) in Services Portal.

Customer Kick-Off

For the formal Customer Kick-Off meeting to be conducted properly,  Internal Preparation must be completed. The objective is to discuss various aspects of the project with the NICE Internal project team.

Internal Preparation for Customer Kick-off

Project scope and implementation plan

The following are important items to be reviewed and discussed:

Note that this activity can take place for projects with Medium Complexity, and must take place for High Complexity projects.

Customer integrations

Project timelines and resources required

Dependencies (training, consulting, HW, equipment, etc.)

Potential project risks based on the complexity of the solution, implementation, or specific customer requirement as stated on the SOW

Communication plan

SPC Completion

The Execution phase comprises the solution implementation process, in which we take the practical steps to deliver the planned solution to our customer.

The following activities are part of the Execution Phase:

SRT Completion

Steering Committee

Weekly Project Status Updates

DSA to PSE Handover

Solution Availability

ITP Completion

Escalation Management

DISTRIBUTING

information based on the Communications Plan

Project Survey

COORDINATING

project work, people, and resources, and RESOLVING conflicts and issues

The phase consists of 9 steps. Click on each step to jump to the corresponding topic or click NEXT to follow a learning pathway.

PRODUCING

the project deliverables in accordance with the project delivery plan

HANDING OVER

the deliverables as outlined in the Statement of Work

Customer Kick-Off

After completing the internal preparation, the NICE Project Manager arranges a meeting with the customer, prepared with the following:

Formal meeting with the Customer:

Customer Kick-off Presentation finalization

To fully cover all relevant aspects, the following (external & internal) PARTICIPANTS are required:

(CKOM template)

High-level project plan

High-level risks plan

Services PM

Internal

Additional Attributes

External

Participants

Participants

Customer PM

Cloud Ops PM (in cloud projects)

DSA

Sales engineer

Business consulting/ Trainer (if applicable)

Technical team

Business users/ Sponsor

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SPC Completion

As you already know, the Web SPC setup is an important activity required to check readiness of the customer’s environment. This makes the completion of the SPC a crucial milestone for starting the solution implementation. Your task, as PM, is to ensure that the SPC is completed successfully and that we can move on to the next step.

SPC completion DATE is a project milestone (in Execution phase).
To keep the project on schedule, it is important that the Web SPC is completed according to the AGREED Upon TIME with the customer. Delays in Site Preparation will cause delays in delivery and potentially lead to additional costs.

NOTE: SPC is only relevant for some of the solutions.

SRT Completion

SRT completion date is a project milestone that indicates the verification of customer site readiness to aid in reducing potential delays due to environmental factors and ensure the implementation is executed in a professional and timely manner.

SRT is only relevant for some of the solutions
Other solutions use the Pre-Install Verification (PIV) step instead of the SRT process

The Site Readiness Tool is a standalone, easy to use tool that automatically verifies the prerequisites required for the NICE installation. Using the SRT Tool ensures, to a great degree, the success of the site readiness and of NICE installation.
The SRT Tool provides checks of Hardware/Software Requirements, Network Connectivity Requirements, Partitioning Requirements, CTI Readiness Requirements & Security Requirements.

Without a successful "pass" result on the SRT Tool Report, the installation cannot begin.

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After completing the Customer Kick-Off meeting, you must perform the following activities:

Deliverables

Upload kick-off deck in TeamLine

Customer Kick-Off

Establish the Weekly Status Call

Distribute the Customer Kick-off Meeting minutes, including the deck presentation, any action items, and next steps

Address any items or issues exposed during the Customer Kick-off Meeting

Update project risks in TeamLine, if applicable

Update milestone completion date of customer kick-off in TeamLine

Update the high-level Project plan with agreed upon targets

Business Kick off meeting

The project success criteria

In addition to the Customer Kick-off meeting, the VRS business consultant will lead the Business Kick-off meeting.
In this meeting, the VRS BC presents:

NOTE: Scheduling this meeting is not your responsibility, but participation is necessary to be familiar with the business objectives.

NOTE: The PM is responsible to get the customer sign-off on the project success criteria.

The consulting project plan

Upcoming activities

Resource Management

Resource Management is the planning of all the relevant resources for the project and ensuring  staffing levels are sufficient for successful execution.

Professional Services Engineer (PSE)

Project Resources may include the following roles:

Please note, during the project execution you will be able to request additional resources or extend existing RRQs as needed.

Delivery Solution Architect (DSA)

Business Analyst

VRS Business Consultant

Trainers

Cloud Ops Team

DSA to PSE handover

When the PSE is assigned, the DSA is responsible for a handover session with the PSE. The session covers the technical elements of the project, but it is important that the PSE has access to the project details that are available in the Project Workbook and TeamLine (contacts, project information, risks, and other relevant project data assembled). 

The purpose of the DSA to PSE handover is to handover the project to the PSE(s) and to make sure they understand the project scope and details. It is important to ensure that the handover is completed properly, so there are no risks to the implementation activities and timelines. Therefore, it is highly recommended for the PM to join the DSA to PSE handover. 

The Project Manager should ask questions and anticipate the potential risks or roadblocks associated with the delivery, enabling the Project Team to delivery efficiently. 

To learn more about the role and responsibilities of PSE, please refer to the corresponding topic in the R&R section.

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Procurement Plan for Business Partners

In the APAC region, there are many cases where a lack of internal resources requires the use of Business Partners. As the PM, you are requested to prepare the plan for Business Partner activities including effort estimation.

Please note, there are cases where the Business Partner is not listed and an onboarding process needs to be initiated.

First, the PM should try to utilize NICE resources

For Consulting and Training:
VRS team

For Technical:
Shared Services and Domain Services via the RMO

In the event no internal resources are available or suitable for the project need, the PM will consult with the Services Director to determine the need for Business Partner involvement

If so, the PM should create a BizDoc and route it via the approval cycle

DSA to PSE handover

The handover takes place in an ad-hoc meeting that must be scheduled by the PM.
This meeting serves the following purposes:
    To introduce a new project to the PSE. In some cases, the PM leads off by providing the background,
    followed by technical details by DSA. In other cases, the DSA introduces both (depending on the project). 
    The Project Workbook is an excellent resource for this meeting.
    To give the PSE a chance to ask questions about the integration, configuration, etc.
    To give the DSA a chance to reinforce important concepts relevant to the installation.

Before the meeting, the following activities should happen:

PSE

DSA

    Provided all relevant project files to the PSE
    Sent an email describing the scope of work

The DSA has completed the following:

    Reviewed the project-related emails from the DSA, PM. 
    Reviewed the project-related documents provided by the DSA, PM.
    Prepared a list of questions for the call

PSE is expected to have completed the following:

Risk Management

Type of the risk:
     -  Internal risk - to be shared with NICE project team only 
     -  External risk - to be shared with the customer

Following the Customer Kick-off meeting, the PM should list the project risks, understand the potential impact on project planning and prepare a mitigation plan where possible. 
Project Risk Management includes the following information:

The PM will REGISTER all project-related risks in TeamLine, SHARE them with the relevant forum and MANAGE the mitigation plan.

Risk category and description

Owner

Risk tracking: risk due date, strategy of mitigation, status

Impact and probability – to calculate the risk rating

Detailed Project Schedule (Gantt)

At this point, the PM should have gathered all the information needed to create a detailed project schedule (Gantt).
The Gantt must include all milestones based on the relevant solution and project classification template.

Please note, in short MAC projects, detailed project schedule is not required.

Activities that will trigger an invoice must be created in the TeamLine PPW. These activities need to be linked to the relevant Fixed Fees (based on SO lines from the TeamLine Engagement).

Important:

(MPP templates)

Subscription items shown in the TeamLine Magic Screen need to be assigned to the relevant project ID in TeamLine.

Project Weekly Status Update

During the project execution, you must update the project status on a weekly basis. 
The project status consists of two main parameters:

Project Health and Executive Summary.

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Project Weekly Status Update

The project health is maintained in the TeamLine Project Status section, and is depicted through a Green, Yellow, Red designation

Project Health

Project is progressing according to schedule with no immediate risk of delay or budgetary deviances that will result in Change Request Management

Green

Yellow

Red

Project has encountered risks or issues that may result in delivery delays and/or CR’s if measures are not taken to mitigate the risk(s)

Project has encountered risks or issues that will result in delivery delays and/or CR’s

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Project Weekly Status Update

Updating Executive Summary parameters is completed to provide an overview of the progress of the project, update on significant activity internally or externally, and provide the rationale for the Red, Yellow and Green status and trend. Maintaining the Executive Summary on a weekly basis helps managers and other departmental stakeholders to determine the project activity and reduce the number of questions directed to the PM.

All relevant information is captured on the status commentary in TeamLine.

Executive Summary

Components

Formal meeting with the Customer:

The following contains the standard flow of the Customer Kick-off Meeting to assist the NICE Project Manager in ensuring all major areas are identified for discussion with the customer.

Customer Kick-Off

Agenda

Introduce and agree upon the communication and change management plan, weekly status meetings, steering committee needs, training plan including:
Stakeholder communication requirements
* Frequency of the communication
* Glossary of common terminology
* Description of information: content and format

Introduce VRS - If VRS was not sold as part of the project, this is a good opportunity 
to introduce the customer to this service

Introduce the project survey for customer awareness and early engagement

Review project risks and agree on the mitigation plan

Introduce the Web SPC

Review High-level milestones showing Critical Path tasks and high-level durations

Solution Design Review

Review the Project Scope - a bulleted list, not a review of the SOW

Establish Project Success Criteria or Critical Success Factors

NICE and Customer project team engagement and introduction

Web SPC Setup

The Web SPC (Web-based Site Preparation Checklist) is a module created by the DSA (located in Services Portal) that details the site requirements for a customer solution, including highly detailed server specs and environment requirements.  It is used by the customer to ensure, line by line, that every readiness detail is accounted for with a column indicating current progress and owner for a given task.  The PM will need to grant access to the customer project team.  Note that the Preparation tasks are assigned and updated by the assignee.

Use of Web SPC depends on the solution sold

Following are the key activities for checking readiness of your customer environment:

Setup

Identification of responsible persons

Authorization & Assignment

Progress Tracker

NICE DSA sets up the Web SPC according to the unique requirements of the customer

Each area (network, server, security, etc…) will need to have the person responsible identified – NICE PM adds the customer name and e-mail address in the Web SPC

NICE PM will authorize the assignee, who receives an email invitation. 
Multiple levels of authentication are in place to maintain access control.

As Tasks are updated, the tool shows a % Progress indicator.

Budget & Schedule Baseline

This is the final stage of the planning phase.  When planning is complete, the schedule is established, the Fixed Fees are linked in the TeamLine PPW, and resources and resources hours are in the PPW (utilize generic resources, .GR, if actual assignment is not completed), the PM creates the initial Project Baseline and Budget. This allows for the Baseline and Actuals to be reflected in the KPI's for tracking throughout the project.

Budget & Schedule Baseline

There is a Project Schedule that has been agreed upon with the customer

Before defining a baseline, the following prerequisites must be met:

Once the prerequisites are met, you need to enter the appropriate information into the budget and freeze it as the initial baseline.

All associated Fixed Fees have been linked to the PPW activities with the expected revenue date.
Note: $0 Fixed Fee Items must be linked as well.

Associated subscriptions have been linked to the project with their activation terms and expected date

Future activities with planned dates should be assigned with a generic resource (GR) assigned or actual resource assignments if known

As work progresses and objectives change, PM can revise the baseline information only if a Change Request has been added to the project. PM cannot edit frozen baseline but can enter and save the revised information in subsequent versions of the baseline (Budget & Schedule re-baseline).

Budget & Schedule Baseline

The BUDGET gives the PM the ability to plan a baseline for labor costs and fixed fee revenue amount, while the INITIAL BUDGET is an estimation of future costs and revenue amounts. 
Do not confuse the “Revenue” and “Budget” terms: Revenue captures the financial aspects of the plan, while Budget captures the time and effort aspects of the same plan.

Note that the initial Schedule baseline needs to be submitted together with the Budget baseline in TeamLine.
Review how to create the project budget.

SCHEDULE BASELINE represents a snapshot of the plan that will be employed to complete delivery of the project. It provides visibility into the requirements, assets, schedule, and impact to the business.

Note that all projects, including free of charge, need budgets in TeamLine.

Resource Management

The following diagram demonstrates the Resource Management process flow from the request creation to its assignment.

Follow this link to watch how to create RRQ in TeamLine

PM creates new task, saves it and closes the PPW

PM creates new RRQ, assigned to the relevant task, and fills the required fields

Resource Manager (RM) reviews RRQ and assigns the resource

PM approves RRQ assignment

The resource is automatically assigned to the task created in Step 1

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Project Weekly Status Update

Once the relevant project parameters have been updated, you should communicate the project status internally and externally to the customer. The status report can be generated from Services Portal, or by using this Email Template.

Status Report

Project details and health

The status report will include:

Executive summary (Status supporting health)

Activities underway or upcoming

Risks and Issues

Milestones

Escalation and cases in high / critical status (internal only)

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Steering Committee

Part of a program

The primary goal of the Steering Committee is to provide project oversight and guidance to the project team. These meetings provide an ongoing forum for high-level discussions with Project Sponsors and Stakeholders.  The intent is to inform on status, report on risks, and seek counsel for direction where needed.

Based on the complexity level and the size of the project

Strategic account

Projects at Risk

Per customer request

The following are the criteria for assembling a Steering Committee:

Hello and welcome aboard – you are now a member of the Project Management team!
BEING A PROJECT MANAGER AT NICE is not a simple task, but it is an interesting and challenging one. As you may know, the role involves full ownership of the project management and the successful delivery of the business value and solution implementation. This is achieved by performing a wide range of tasks and processes throughout the entire life cycle of a project. Fulfilling these tasks requires a variety of management skills, as well as professional business knowledge and understanding of project-associated processes. To help you take your first Activities as a Project Manager, as well as to make your day-to-day work easier, we have created this digital handbook.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS HANDBOOK is to orient, define, and support you in your daily activities, providing background information on project management methodology, as well as specific definitions of roles and responsibilities between you and your counterparts. Here you can find a complete description of the end-to-end process for the Project Manager’s role within the Services organization. This process refers to full deployment, from project initiation and planning, through execution and project closure.

SO, HOW SHOULD YOU USE THIS DIGITAL HANDBOOK? The Handbook is designed in the most convenient way, allowing you to either go through the entire learning pathway to fully familiarize yourself with the Project Manager’s role, or to navigate to any specific point to recall or clarify some of the project management related aspects. Thus, the Handbook can be used as a learning book or as working tool and job aid.
We wish you lots of success and a wonderful learning experience.

Note that this digital Handbook does not cover all the technical aspects of the actual implementation or the TeamLine PSA Tool, but documentation and e-learning are available on Dojo.

Steering Committee

The benefits of conducting a Steering Committee meeting can be divided into three categories, shown below.

Present success factor achievement and business value
Support VRS activities and progress
Helps to build the relationship with the VRS team and maximize their involvement (internal)

Creates a forum for direct communication with executives
Builds the customer relationship
Aids in understanding the customer business and environmental variables that influence decisions
Present to executives with Services VP and Director, adds visibility and communication channels (internal)
Forum to communicate issues & wins

Business Value

Customer Executive Relationship

Governance & Changes

Ensure customer executives are aware of unfiltered status, risks, and issues that they may not otherwise be privy to
Align on project governance
Meeting cadence
Escalation process
Support Change Management
Strategic decision making, project changes, escalations / resources / issue resolution

To plan and schedule the meeting, use steering committee TEMPLATE

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Components

Steering Committee

The frequency of the steering committee meeting depends on the project complexity and how it is progressing:

To touch upon all raised issues and cover all relevant aspects of the project, the following PARTICIPANTS are required:

PM
DSA
Sales Account Manager
PSE Lead or Manager
Sales Solutions Architect 
(if engaged)

Owner: PM/ Services Director

VRS focal point (if engaged)
Cloud Ops PM (if engaged)
Services Director 
Executive Management (if needed)
Customer PM and Executives

Cadence & Audience

If everything is going smoothly and executive oversight is not urgent, the meeting may be held QUARTERLY.
If the project or customer is high risk or high visibility, the meeting should be held MONTHLY.

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DSA

Delivery Solution Architect

The DSA is the technical leader of the project. This includes leading the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, being the PM’s technical advisor, and the point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

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Escalation Management

In major escalation cases that require wider company involvement, the Day 1 Executive Escalations process is used to manage unsatisfied or high focus customers. The process escalates issues to VP Level Management, providing visibility and tracking of issues requiring executive level assistance.

The escalation is managed in WISER.

This process should only be utilized after all other measures have been exhausted with your Services Manager or Regional Services Director.

The Project Manager should open an Executive Escalation, only if agreed upon with the Regional Services Director or a Services VP.

Click here to create an escalation case in Wiser.

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Process flow

Escalation Management

The diagram below represents the Escalation Management process flow.

Initiation

Executive Escalation Entry Decision

Weekly Review Process

ITP Completion

The Installation Test Plan (ITP) completion date is an important milestone that indicates project readiness for customer testing or production use. The PSE completes the ITP, and its progress is available in the Daily Status Report from the PSE and can be viewed in Services Portal.

Some implementations require the customer to sign off on the ITP (Written Acceptance). This condition is included in the Statement of Work.

Upon ITP completion, the Project Manager sends a notification to the customer indicating ITP completion.

Project Survey

Upon the completion of the Solution Availability Date in the PPW, the customer is added to the Voice of the Customer queue to receive a CSAT Survey call in 4 weeks. You should alert the CSAT Survey Contact that they will receive a survey call and request their participation.

Important:

Do not forget to mention to the customer that the answers are reviewed by Services Management and comments are addressed for the aim of continuous improvement. 
In addition, you should clarify that if they are dissatisfied at any stage of the project, they should bring it to your attention, so you are able to take corrective action.

The survey is short
We value their honest feedback
Specify that the feedback is for a specific project

Let the survey contact know that:

Click here to learn more about the project survey process.

Required format for DSA

Project Phase

Document

Repository

Initiation

Closure

Planning

Execution

TL

Design requirements (SDD)

SOW (for engagement > $50k)

Sales to Services handover

Quote

Customer Kickoff

Pre-sale mode SRT, xml session

Project plan/workbook

SRT

Business needs assessment

Business processes & functional design document

ITP

Training documents

Findings and recommendations

Acceptance confirmation/Waiver

PO

TL

SP

SP

SP

SP

SP

SP

TL

TL

TL

TL

TL

TL

TL

Capacity planner

Original quote in XLS format (including line items)

Original Word document (Usually, part of SOW)

PDF format

OM

Order Manager

The Order Management Group is responsible for booking the Sales Orders through SalesForce.com.  They ensure that the proper documentation associated with the deal is complete and all discount approvals have been obtained.

PMO

Project Management Office

NICE has a Global PMO that supports the PM Community world-wide. The PMO is responsible for the enablement of PM excellence through the delivery of education, training, and guidance on process and implementation methodology.

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Services PM

Professional Services Project Manager

The PM manages all elements associated with Solution Delivery to the client including, but not limited to, resourcing, governance, financials, CSAT, and communication.

SA

Services Administration

This group is responsible for Engagements after they have been booked by Order Management.  The group processes Change Requests and addresses changes and invoicing of the lines in the TeamLine Engagement.

PSE

Professional Services Engineer

The Professional Services Engineer (PSE) is the technical resource responsible for working with the customer on site readiness and preparation, installation and configuration of the solution software, testing and troubleshooting.  The PSE also provides Go-Live support and takes part in the handover to Day 2 (Support).

SD/RD

Services Director/Regional Director

The SD/RD has management responsibility for the project portfolio within a specific region.  The Project Managers report directly to the SD or RD.

ADG

Agent Data Group

A set of data on WFM that defines data types - for instance sites

CT

Contact Type

WFM entity that defines the contact center information – such as whether it is for billing inquiries, technical support etc.

ITP

Installation Test Plan

A document created by the DSA, used by the AppOps, PSE and trainer to test and confirm, from a user experience point of view, that the newly installed system is functioning as expected by the customer. The ITP can be adapted (usually by the DSA) to accommodate for changes. It contains a list of tests for each feature of the solution. It has a PASS/FAIL indicator for each test and a confirmation page for the customer to sign.

PO

Purchase Order

A formal, legal document issued by the customer’s Accounts Payable department to NICE, indicating the customer has authorized the purchase of a NICE solution and expects NICE to deploy that solution in a reasonable timeframe. It is the receipt of a PO that initiates project creation in TeamLine

Quote

Generated by the Solution Engineer, the customer quote is a line-by-line breakdown of the solution with Product, Services, and Support options and prices offered to the customer during the Sales cycle. It is critical for the Services team to be given the most accurate, up-to-date quote available just prior to the Sales to Services transition.

SAN

Solution Availability Notification

Solution Availability Notification is sent from Wiser by the Cloud PM, upon Provisioning completion, and is required for revenue recognition and contract activation (per the agreement with the customer).

SOD

Solution Overview Document

An abbreviated Solution Design (SDD) for smaller projects under $50k in net professional services.

SDD

Solution Design Document

An often lengthy and detailed document specifying the technical design offered to the customer during the Sales cycle. It is created by the technical Sales team (usually the SA) and often goes through several revisions before being finalized and delivered to the Services team.

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Site Doc

A document that is automatically generated by the Site Doc Collector tool. It captures the key WFM system information and is the input for the CIF gen tool. It should be collected by the PSE or a trainer.
It is a crucial deliverable to the CSC once the project has completed.

SOW

Statement of Work

A legal document generated by the NICE Operations team indicating the Terms & Conditions, responsibilities of both parties (NICE and customer), and expectations of each. It must be signed and adhered to by both parties and is usually delivered to the Services team at handover.

SPC

Site Preparation Checklist

An auto-generated web portal form divided by different sections. It details the site requirements for a customer’s solution, including highly detailed server specs and environmental requirements. It is used by the customer, PSEs and AppOps to ensure, line-by-line, that every readiness detail is accounted for – with a column indicating current progress and owner for a given task

Services Ops

Services Ops supports the PMs in the forecasting, invoicing and revenue recognition activities. Provides guidance and professional assistance on operational KPIs related questions to ensure adherence.
In addition, the Services Ops supports the PMs with internal and external tools and processes to enhance the day-to-day work of the PM.

TeamLine

NICE Project Management PSA platform which provides Project Managers with the tools to plan tasks, manage resources, manage financials & invoicing, as well as maintain control of the project schedule and cost by leveraging standard project team templates and NICE best practices.

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CKOM

Customer Kick Off Meeting

A meeting (or series of meetings) hosted by the NICE PM with the customer and members of the NICE Services team to review the project scope, expectations, timelines, and usage of the SPC. The KOM is described in Section 3 of this Handbook.

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Case

An entity in the WISER system used by the Customer Support and Services teams to track the progress and resolution of an incident, question, or problem reported within a NICE solution. Colloquially referred to as a "case" or a "ticket", a case may be opened by the customer, a PSE, PM/TPM, DSA, or others. Once the problem is resolved by the CSC, IHD, ASG, or others, it is then closed in WISER.
In EEM, the cases are used to manage the Cloud activities.
Also known as SR- Service Request

User Testing

User Test

A step taken by the customer to ensure functionality and design of the system. 
Described in section 4 in this handbook.

DSA to PSE handover

Note that in some cases, the project may be transitioned between PSE's. For example, it may start with Shared Services PSE and later be transferred to Domain Services PSE. 
Also, the PSE assignment may change through the project delivery.

Such changes are potential risks so the PM must ensure that PSE TO PSE HANDOVER is completed properly.

PSE to PSE handover

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This section provides a detailed definition of roles and responsibilities of all teams and individuals who may be involved in the project management process, as well as instructions for collaborating with them.

Services Project Manager

Business Consultant

Delivery Solution Architect

Professional Services Engineer

Cloud Operations Team

CXone PM

Click on each role to learn more.

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As the Project Manager (PM), you’re responsible for planning and overseeing the project from its initial ideation through completion. 
This is a complex role that includes many duties and responsibilities.

Services Project Manager

Services Project Manager

Full accountability and control of the Project

Project coordination (internal, external and with business partners)

Communications (internal and external)

Risk management

Overall planning (scope, schedule etc.)

Reporting (internal and external)

Meeting KPIs targets and defined timelines

Prioritizing Tasks and Resources

Trigger invoicing

Engagements can include CXone solutions where the WCX Services PM works with CXone team on the delivery of the project.
These deals are called HYBRID DEALS and have 2 main scenarios:

CXone PM

WCX Services PM

If assigned, in charge of the entire program (CXone + WCX solutions)

CXone selling WCX hosted solutions with CXone ACD
WCX selling WCX hosted solutions with CXone ACD

CXone engagements can include hosted WCX solutions. In this case, a WCX PM is assigned to the engagement and is responsible for the delivery of the WCX solution, for example, a deal that includes CXone solution and EEM solution.
This is relevant for the following solutions: NIA, QC, QCI, EEM, PBR, NPX.

When an engagement includes CXone solution, the following ROLES ARE INVOLVED

1

2

CXone PM

WCX Cloud Operations PM

WCX Services Program Manager

CXone Program Manager

In charge of the CXone solution project

Will be assigned to the cloud project SR. This will follow the guidelines for process and responsibility as defined in the R&R Cloud Ops team

In charge of the WCX solution project

If assigned, in charge of the entire program (CXone + WCX solutions)

Cloud Operations Team

Expected timelines:

Frequent Issues and Questions

Make sure that the booking is completed with the relevant SaaS product items, search the correct end customer name and contact the Cloud Ops PM.

Missing instance in Wiser

There will be no instance in Pre-PO engagement. 
Contact the Cloud Ops team to manually create an instance.

Creating Cloud Project for Pre-PO engagement

The application provisioning process should take about 2 weeks. 
This will start once a Cloud Project is created and the Sales to Services handover meeting is completed.

CXone PM

In the table below, the program or projects main lead and customer focal point per business scenario are listed.

CXone Program Manager
CXone Program Manager
WCX Program Manager
WCX PM with CXone TAM

Business Scenario

CXone with WCX solutions
WCX solutions with CXone ACD (ACD installed first)
WCX solutions with CXone ACD (3rd party ACD replaced last)
WCX solutions with existing CXone ACD

Program / Projects Lead

Projects Leadership

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The diagram below demonstrates the projects flow and the handshakes with CXone team.

CXone PM

$0 Booking

Wiser instance 
auto-creation

CXone PM

Order Management Processing

Oracle booking 
with $0

PgM & PM Assignment

WCX

TeamLine Engagement 
auto-creation

PM Assignment

Project Closure

Create TeamLine Project

Create Cloud Project
in Wiser

SAN
(App Provisioning)

Implementation

Customer Kickoff Meeting

WCX D1/D2 
HO initiation

WCX
Go Live

Project Closure

Implementation

Status Update

Sales to
Service HO

Invoice per customer agreement

The Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) is the technical leader of the project and leads the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, is the PM’s technical advisor and point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

Delivery Solution Architect

Click on each phase to see the activities that require DSA involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Sales to Services handover

Services PM creates an RRQ requesting DSA assignment.
*In APAC, the assigned DSA is usually the sub-regional DSA. In other cases, the DSA lead assigns the DSA.

Provided by DSA, 3-5 days after S2S (available in Services portal)

Provided by DSA, 2 days after S2S or before S2S if scope is clear

Services PM should coordinate and include the DSA in the S2S handover meeting.

DSA requires Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents (SOW, SDD or SOD, PO and Quote) to provide technical specs and effort estimations (EEW) inputs. The documents should be in a work format (specific details provided in the related section).

Provided by DSA, following the SPC (3-5 days after S2S)

Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents review

DSA assignment

EEW (Effort Estimation Worksheet)

SPC and ITP planning

SRT planning

The Professional Services Engineer (PSE) is the technical resource responsible for working with the customer on site readiness and preparation, installation and configuration of the solution software, and testing and troubleshooting.  The PSE also provides Go-Live support and takes part in the handover to Day 2 (Support).

Professional Services Engineer

Click on each phase to see the activities that require PSE involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

PM creates RRQs requesting PSE resource for the tasks according to the project plan and EEW provided by the DSA.

Resource request

* The task is also relevant for the Execution Phase.

The Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) is the technical leader of the project and leads the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, is the PM’s technical advisor and point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

Delivery Solution Architect

Click on each phase to see the activities that require DSA involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

The Professional Services Engineer (PSE) is the technical resource responsible for working with the customer on site readiness and preparation, installation and configuration of the solution software, and testing and troubleshooting.  The PSE also provides Go-Live support and takes part in the handover to Day 2 (Support).

Professional Services Engineer

Click on each phase to see the activities that require PSE involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Status Updates

On assignment of PSE, DSA is responsible for handover session. The session covers the technical elements of the project. PM ensures the handover is completed properly to make sure there are no risks on implementation activities and timelines. It is highly recommended for the project PM to join the DSA/PSE handover (review handover details in the related section).

PSE completes installation and configurations activities.

PSE leads the Site Readiness Testing (SRT) activities (for relevant solutions only).

PSE provides daily status updates (DSR) to the PM and customer.

PSE leads the ITP activities. Upon ITP completion, the PM sends a notification to the customer indicating ITP completion.

DSA / PSE handover

Site Readiness Testing

Installation and Configurations

Installation Test Plan (ITP)

The Professional Services Engineer (PSE) is the technical resource responsible for working with the customer on site readiness and preparation, installation and configuration of the solution software, and testing and troubleshooting.  The PSE also provides Go-Live support and takes part in the handover to Day 2 (Support).

Professional Services Engineer

Click on each phase to see the activities that require PSE involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

PSE completes project work before the handover. PSE provides the required documents for handover.

Handover to Day 2 (support)

Components

The Professional Services Engineer (PSE) is the technical resource responsible for working with the customer on site readiness and preparation, installation and configuration of the solution software, and testing and troubleshooting.  The PSE also provides Go-Live support and takes part in the handover to Day 2 (Support).

Professional Services Engineer

Click on each phase to see the activities that require PSE involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

Components

The VRS (Value Realization Service) Business Consultant (BC) is the subject matter expert of the project and helps the customer develop solution best practices and industry best practices to achieve quick adoption and ROI. The BC proactively supports the customer before, during and after implementation and proactively manages the operational implementation of solutions.

VRS Business Consultant

Click on each phase to see the activities that require BC involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

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The Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) is the technical leader of the project and leads the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, is the PM’s technical advisor and point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

Delivery Solution Architect

Click on each phase to see the activities that require DSA involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Sales to Services handover

Services PM creates an RRQ requesting DSA assignment.
*In APAC, the assigned DSA is usually the sub-regional DSA. In other cases, the DSA lead assigns the DSA.

Provided by DSA, 3-5 days after S2S (available in Services portal)

Provided by DSA, 2 days after S2S or before S2S if scope is clear

Services PM should coordinate and include the DSA in the S2S handover meeting.

DSA requires Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents (SOW, SDD or SOD, PO and Quote) to provide technical specs and effort estimations (EEW) inputs. The documents should be in a work format (specific details provided in the related section).

Provided by DSA, following the SPC (3-5 days after S2S)

Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents review

DSA assignment

EEW (Effort Estimation Worksheet)

SPC and ITP planning

SRT planning

The Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) is the technical leader of the project and leads the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, is the PM’s technical advisor and point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

Delivery Solution Architect

Click on each phase to see the activities that require DSA involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Web SPC setup (for relevant products)

Work closely with DSA to prepare for the customer kick-off meeting
(review meeting agenda in the related section).

DSA sets up the WebSPC according to the unique requirements of the customer.
Each area (network, server, security, etc.) must have the person responsible identified
(the PM will provide a Name and email address).

Services PM coordinates and includes the DSA in the customer kickoff meeting.

Customer kickoff

Preparation for customer kickoff

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The Delivery Solution Architect (DSA) is the technical leader of the project and leads the technical transition of projects from Sales to Services, is the PM’s technical advisor and point of contact for technical queries from the services and customers.

Delivery Solution Architect

Click on each phase to see the activities that require DSA involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

On assignment of PSE, DSA is responsible for handover session. The session covers the technical elements of the project. PM ensures the handover is completed properly to make sure there are no risks on implementation activities and timelines. It is highly recommended for the project PM to join the DSA/PSE handover (review handover details in the related section).

DSA / PSE handover

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In the table below, the activities that are required in the WCX hybrid (cloud) project are listed.  This follows the Cloud project management methodology.

CXone PM

Click on each phase to learn more

In the table below, the activities that are required in the WCX hybrid (cloud) project are listed.  This follows the Cloud project management methodology.

CXone PM

Click on each phase to learn more

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

TeamLine project creation

Engagement is created in TeamLine with $0 revenue, include generic product items and flagged as ‘Hybrid Deal’ (in the first scenario where CXone sold the deal).

WCX Services PM coordinates with CXone PM / PgM and include the WCX Cloud Ops PM in the S2S handover meeting.

Services PM should create ‘Cloud Project’ SR in Wiser to avoid project delays.

As the engagement does not include services revenue, the project should be flagged as Free of Charge. 
FOC reason should be listed as ‘Services sold by CXone’ (in the first scenario where CXone sold the deal).

Identify and contact CXone PM / PgM to gather project documentation.

WCX Services PM coordinates with CXone PM / PgM the customer kickoff meeting. There should be a CKOM for the entire program and additional CKOMs for each project

Contact CXone PM / PgM

Engagement creation

Cloud project creation

Sales to Services handover

Customer Kickoff meeting

In the table below, the activities that are required in the WCX hybrid (cloud) project are listed.  This follows the Cloud project management methodology.

CXone PM

Click on each phase to learn more

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Milestones Completion

Ensure the SAN is also sent to CXone PM / PgM

TeamLine does not trigger invoicing as CXone owns the revenue. Ensure the CXone PM / PgM will trigger the invoicing on WCX behalf.

WCX PM provides status update to CXone PM on completed milestones.

After application provisioning is completed, the WCX PM owns the execution of the project.
WCX PM provides status update to CXone PM on completed activities.

WCX Services implementation activities

Application provisioning & SAN (Solution Availability Notification)

Invoicing

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In the table below, the activities that are required in the WCX hybrid (cloud) project are listed.  This follows the Cloud project management methodology.

CXone PM

Click on each phase to learn more

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

WCX PM initiates the handover to WCX support for WCX solution via D1/D2 SR in Wiser.

Day1 / Day2 handover

For a cloud-hosted solution, the environment is created by the Cloud team. 
The Services PM works with the Cloud Operations Project Manager for provisioning and all cloud related activities and changes.
Contacts: Services PM – Owner of the project; Cloud Operations PM – Owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team. Will be assigned to the Cloud project SR.

Cloud Operations Team

Click on each phase to see the activities required in a Cloud project. There may be differences from On-Premise project.

The VRS (Value Realization Service) Business Consultant (BC) is the subject matter expert of the project and helps the customer develop solution best practices and industry best practices to achieve quick adoption and ROI. The BC proactively supports the customer before, during and after implementation and proactively manages the operational implementation of solutions.

VRS Business Consultant

Click on each phase to see the activities that require BC involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents review

Services PM creates a separate project for the VRS Subscription using relevant template.

Services PM coordinates and includes the BC in the S2S handover meeting.

BC requires Sales Milestone Kit (SMK) documents to understand the customer business requirements.

Services PM submits a RRQ requesting BC assignment.

BC assignment

Project creation

Sales to Services handover

For a cloud-hosted solution, the environment is created by the Cloud team. 
The Services PM works with the Cloud Operations Project Manager for provisioning and all cloud related activities and changes.
Contacts: Services PM – Owner of the project; Cloud Operations PM – Owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team. Will be assigned to the Cloud project SR.

Cloud Operations Team

Click on each phase to see the activities required in a Cloud project. There may be differences from On-Premise project.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Services PM creates a ‘Cloud Project’ SR in Wiser. This should be done right after creating a project in TeamLine to avoid project delays. PM receives an email confirmation with the details of the assigned Cloud Ops PM.
SR is created per customer per solution (multiple solutions require multiple SRs).
1 SR for multiple environments on the same solution.
SR can be created only after the order is booked.
* If the planned go live is changed, the Wiser Cloud project should be updated as well.

Services PM coordinates and includes the Cloud Ops PM in the S2S handover meeting.

Cloud project creation

Sales to Services Handover meeting

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The VRS (Value Realization Service) Business Consultant (BC) is the subject matter expert of the project and helps the customer develop solution best practices and industry best practices to achieve quick adoption and ROI. The BC proactively supports the customer before, during and after implementation and proactively manages the operational implementation of solutions.

VRS Business Consultant

Click on each phase to see the activities that require BC involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Customer success criteria

Work closely with BC to prepare for the customer kick-off meeting (review meeting agenda in the related section).

Work with BC to map VRS project risks. BC reports risks in Services Portal.

Create project plan (based on templates) for VRS attached engagements that include the VRS deliverables and identify any dependencies between the technical delivery and the VRS deliverables.

PM understands and gets the customer sign-off on the project success criteria.

Services PM coordinates and participates in the business kick-off meeting that is led by the BC.

Manage resource assignment in TeamLine PPW with hours provided by the VRS Resource Manager.

Business kickoff

Preparation for customer kickoff

Create project plan

Risk management

Resource management

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For a cloud-hosted solution, the environment is created by the Cloud team. 
The Services PM works with the Cloud Operations Project Manager for provisioning and all cloud related activities and changes.
Contacts: Services PM – Owner of the project; Cloud Operations PM – Owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team. Will be assigned to the Cloud project SR.

Cloud Operations Team

Click on each phase to see the activities required in a Cloud project. There may be differences from On-Premise project.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Cloud to Services handover

During the application provisioning implementation process (customer environment creation), the Cloud Ops PM provides status updates to the Services PM.

After application provisioning is completed, the Services PM owns the execution of the project, including:
Customer specific configuration and integrations
ITP and User Testing
Mark the solution availability as completed in TeamLine

Services PM receives handover documents from Cloud Ops PM.
Services PM confirms the completion of the cloud projects if any unplanned request are needed, Cloud PM/ PSE should approach the Cloud PM via the Cloud Project notes, who will remain open till HO to support completion.

Once the cloud environment is ready, a SAN is automatically sent from Wiser to the customer contacts and the Services PM. Now the environment is ready, and the PS team can continue with the implementation tasks. In most cases (according to the signed contract), the Hosting revenue recognition will start upon SAN.

Application provisioning & SAN (Solution Availability Notification)

Status updates

Services implementation activities

The VRS (Value Realization Service) Business Consultant (BC) is the subject matter expert of the project and helps the customer develop solution best practices and industry best practices to achieve quick adoption and ROI. The BC proactively supports the customer before, during and after implementation and proactively manages the operational implementation of solutions.

VRS Business Consultant

Click on each phase to see the activities that require BC involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

VRS project duration is usually 12 months. 
The PM must remember to complete the project following the end of the subscription terms.

Project completion

For a cloud-hosted solution, the environment is created by the Cloud team. 
The Services PM works with the Cloud Operations Project Manager for provisioning and all cloud related activities and changes.
Contacts: Services PM – Owner of the project; Cloud Operations PM – Owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team. Will be assigned to the Cloud project SR.

Cloud Operations Team

Click on each phase to see the activities required in a Cloud project. There may be differences from On-Premise project.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Cloud support cases

If the PSE requires additional assistance from Cloud team, they can consult with Cloud Ops PM before creating SRs in Wiser.
Cloud Ops PM is available for additional assistance if needed.
Services PM can review the open SRs in Wiser.

For any Cloud-related support cases post Cloud project closure, PM creates:
AppOps SR – for cloud app issues
Cloud SR – for ICO/ Security / DevOPs issues

If there are additional Cloud activities that are planned for a future phase, the Cloud project remains open. The Cloud Ops PM remains the main focal point.

Future planned cloud activities

Requesting additional support from Cloud team

CXone PM

Frequent Issues and Questions

    Integration activities of WCX solutions with CXone solution can only start once CXone solution build is complete. 
    The testing and sign-off of activities can only start once CXone is live and collecting real customer data.

When can the WCX solution installation begin?

    In cases where a WCX solution is sold on top of an existing CXone platform, a CXone PM is not assigned. 
    The WCX PM works with the CXone TAM or Implementation manager. 
    If the assigned CXone TAM contact is not shared, PM should reach out to CXone VP Professional Services.

There is no CXone PM / PgM assigned

For a cloud-hosted solution, the environment is created by the Cloud team. 
The Services PM works with the Cloud Operations Project Manager for provisioning and all cloud related activities and changes.
Contacts: Services PM – Owner of the project; Cloud Operations PM – Owner of the Cloud project and main interface with Cloud team. Will be assigned to the Cloud project SR.

Cloud Operations Team

Click on each phase to see the activities required in a Cloud project. There may be differences from On-Premise project.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

In Cloud solutions, AppOps owns the product support. Before handover to support, AppOps must verify the following activities have been completed; remove maintenance window, update monitoring, remove services access.

In WFM multi-tenant solutions, the Services PM must open a Cloud Project SR-MT Cutover in Wiser
(in addition to D1/D2 request).
Any change/ delay on planned go live needs to be communicated to Cloud PM and get reapproved.

Day1 / Day2 handover

WFM Multi-tenants handover

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The VRS (Value Realization Service) Business Consultant (BC) is the subject matter expert of the project and helps the customer develop solution best practices and industry best practices to achieve quick adoption and ROI. The BC proactively supports the customer before, during and after implementation and proactively manages the operational implementation of solutions.

VRS Business Consultant

Click on each phase to see the activities that require BC involvement and guidelines for their implementation.

For more details on each step, refer to the relevant section in the PM handbook.

Task

Guidelines

Exit point

BC provides status updates to the Services PM and Project Team.
PM manages the status updates to the customer and any escalations.

PM to review success criteria with the business consultant since early stages of the project, make sure they’re defined with the Executive sponsor, receive weekly updates on the progress and mitigate any risks.

PM continues to be involved post go-live during the value checkpoints (30, 60, 90 days).
The PM may cease involvement when the exit point criteria is achieved.

BC manages and completes project milestones (in the Services portal and reflected in TeamLine).

Milestones tracking

Status updates

Value tracking

Components

Show
milestones/Activities

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Lesson Learned

Lesson Learned is the knowledge gained during a project that shows how project events were addressed or should be addressed in the future for the purpose of improving future performance.

Projects with CSAT below 3 (overall satisfaction)

Executive Escalation upon closure of the red phase status

Ad hoc by region’s decision (based on KPI result, project size, project that went well and should be learned from) 

Technical Complexity

Management Request

The following are criteria for Lesson Learned:

This process enables us to 
and which will be easily accessible in one global knowledge base.

apply the knowledge gained from previous projects to new initiatives,

Action items captured by PM and shared through the Lesson Learned Action Items section

    Action item listing and follow
    up on progress with PMO

    Global template is available

PM uses the attached template to manage lesson learned session

Note, the template contains also examples for your use to easily prepared the meeting

PM sets the lesson learned sessions with all project team members and direct management 

Optional: VPs and Service Ops - for America, PMO will schedule the session

The project was selected for lesson learned

The following diagram shows the process flow for creating a

Lesson Learned:

Components

Project Weekly Status Update

The project health is maintained in the TeamLine Project Status section, and is depicted through a Green, Yellow, Red designation

Project is progressing according to schedule with 
no immediate risk of delay 
or budgetary deviances 
that will result in Change Request Management

Green

Yellow

Red

Project has encountered risks or issues that may result in delivery delays and/or CR’s if measures are not taken to mitigate the risk(s)

Project has encountered risks or issues that will result in delivery delays and/or CR’s

During the project execution, you must update the project status on a weekly basis. The project status consists of two main parameters:

Project Health and Executive Summary.

Updating Executive Summary parameters is completed to provide an overview of the progress of the project, update on significant activity internally or externally, and provide the rationale for the Red, Yellow and Green status and trend. Maintaining the Executive Summary on a weekly basis helps managers and other departmental stakeholders to determine the project activity and reduce the number of questions directed to the PM.

All relevant information is captured on the status commentary in TeamLine.

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Formal meeting with the Customer:

The following contains the standard flow of the Customer Kick-off Meeting to assist the NICE Project Manager in ensuring all major areas are identified for discussion with the customer.

Customer Kick-Off

Agenda

Introduce and agree upon the communication and change management plan, weekly status meetings, steering committee needs, training plan including:
Stakeholder communication requirements
* Frequency of the communication
* Glossary of common terminology
* Description of information: content and format

Introduce VRS - If VRS was not sold as part of the project, this is a good opportunity 
to introduce the customer to this service

Introduce the project survey for customer awareness and early engagement

Review project risks and agree on the mitigation plan

Introduce the Web SPC

Review High-level milestones showing Critical Path tasks and high-level durations

Solution Design Review

Review the Project Scope - a bulleted list, not a review of the SOW

Establish Project Success Criteria or Critical Success Factors

NICE and Customer project team engagement and introduction

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PM Enhancement

Project Management Handbook

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Project
Management
Handbook

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PM Enhancement