Digital Value Chains in Business Software Design

Part 2 - Using the Digital Value Chain

In our last post, I introduced the concept of the Digital Value Chain,  proposing a way of designing your software applications in digital business terms, before trying to develop them.  In this follow up piece we explore how useful the digital value chain really is..

Get the Business Idea Right First Time

Anyone looking at the digital value chain will be able to follow its flow, describe how the engine works and should be able to identify problems, bottlenecks or imperfections in the Business Idea.  

Some examples may be key software capabilities being glossed over or impossible to deliver. Or perhaps it may be asking too much of a consumer to perform a complex action or give too much of their time and money without reward or value exchange.

It is so much better to identify and deal with these problems and to improve or pivot the Business Idea at the design stage than after expensive development work has been started.

Shoot for the Stars, One Step at a Time

Too many developers promise the earth, take their customers’ money and deal later with the repercussions of incomplete software, things not quite working and expectations dashed.  While the developer can move on to other projects, this means one whole failed business that we are responsible for.

On the other hand, we sometimes have to curb the enthusiasm of business customers.   “We’ll get there yes” we say “but please…” let us do so in measured steps, proving fundamentals, testing components and following a considered development roadmap, We like roadmaps that gets us to market early, gets us to market often and minimize risk - in a series of “agile sprints”.

The most important examples of this is when we consider the ideas of Proof of Concept (POC) or Minimum Viable Product (MVP). While the POC aims to prove that a critical section of the digital value chain works well, then the MVP checks that version 1.0 of the software works together as an operating business engine.

The digital value chain model helps us to identify these requirements, focus on the essential processes and give us a clear unambiguous set of early goals.

A brief for Developers

A strategic overview of the business engine is also essential for technology leaders and managers. The digital value chain provides an immediate and powerful brief for all professions in the production team.  So many aspects of a software project specification, fall out of the digital value chain:

1. User experience design requirements are read in the workflows of the engine as users work their way through processes meant for them
2. Business processes are the verbs that describe the actions of these nouns.  
3. The database schema is the collection of nouns described in the gears.
4. Object states, very useful to track progress through a sales funnel or sequential process flows.  
5. We can identify software requirements that can easily be acquired from  third parties, be it open source, common web services or bespoke capabilities that must be licensed. 

Framework for Success?

I hope this shows how the process of constructing the digital value chain helps to organise and construct digital business ideas. It forces us to think through the processes that must work for the engine to perform and gives us a methodology to get the design right early on.  

The digital value chain avoids describing software projects as a series of random features leaving way too much to the interpretation. We can now give development professionals a framework to follow and focus them on the critical features.  It gives everyones a set of common goals and a blueprint to follow.

Every project that we apply GEARS to shows us more and more benefits. When done right, we can assure success by bringing projects in on time, developing them on budget and knowing ahead of time how they are meant to perform.

Quite useful. Really.