Such results are not achieved overnight, no matter who may tell you they can be; and they require participation from all parties concerned. If your business process is already well defined, and there are well-defined sets of data and interface points, Perusion can help you integrate Interchange or other tools into that process with relative ease -- and lesser expense. Where the business process is not well defined from an information interface standpoint, Perusion can help you define and tune it, and this will take more effort and result in higher expense.

Sounds nebulous? Perhaps. Long experience has shown us that every company is different.

Perusion focuses on the integrity of the consulting relationship. Unlike some consultants, we will refuse to take on work that we believe is doomed to failure, no matter how lucrative it may seem to us.

Experienced managers know that all information system projects do not succeed equally; and that some don't succeed at all. It is estimated that 70% of CRM implementations do not achieve their initial stated goals, and that up to 40% utterly fail.

All information systems are a team effort, one that requires assistance from your company infrastructure, your information systems team, ISPs, and multiple software providers with their support organizations. If each part of the team does their job well, Perusion's job is made easier and the overall system costs less and works better. If parts of the team struggle filling their roles, the success of the system is endangered.

Perusion will strive to continually provide the best possible environment for project success, with correct selection and execution of project tasks to constantly and incrementally improve overall system quality and usability.

A typical implementation requires an internal "champion" in your company, someone who will take ownership of the system and has the authority to shepherd the project through the integration process. This is key; no system can truly succeed without this project leader. If the project is large and sweeping, you will undoubtedly need one or more full-time people dedicated to the implementation during the first year or more of its life.

To achieve these goals, we have some simple rules we follow.

• We need a project leader within your company to coordinate your internal company effort.
• We require a knowledgeable internal technical contact, someone who will gain specific knowledge on the system so that our help is not required for basic system use and routine problem resolution. This helps build self-sufficiency for your organization.

  This person is often the project leader in a smaller company or project.

• When possible, we select open-source software so that mission-critical systems will not be orphaned by a company's change of focus.
• When developing core software features (as opposed to templates, content, or trivial customizations), we release it as open source or add it into existing open-source projects when possible. We do not charge for the generic documentation, test production, and/or installation scripting involved. The benefit is that custom configuration work is reduced, and future software package updates automatically support your needed feature without expensive and difficult-to-manage patches and configuration control. It also improves the open-source software package so that it will be stronger and more viable in the future.

  If you desire exclusive use of a feature, which we do not recommend, the estimate of time will be typically double that when it is released as open source. This is due to charges for custom documentation, testing, and configuration control that are avoided when the feature is integrated.

• Perusion does not do fixed-price quotes. We provide estimates of time and materials, and strive hard to achieve those estimates. If all parties in the team meet the requirements for data delivery, clarity of specification, and content production, we will almost always deliver at estimate or for less than estimate. We notify you if and when the initial estimate will be deviated from, and state the reason why as well as possible alternatives to achieve cost goals. If we make a mistake, we will typically correct it without charge; however we reserve the right to charge for work as often it is due to unforeseeable system interfacing problems.
• We require an initial retainer to start work or quotes. This ensures you will receive our best effort from the moment we begin.
• We charge for all technical support. We have found that free technical support tends to be worth what you pay for it.