Forward-Deployed Engineering01
Two weeks in your systems,one workflow chosen,priced on one page.
One senior engineer sits with the people who do the work, tests which access is real and reads a sample of your records. The sprint ends with a one-page scope you can put in front of a board or another vendor.
- Workflow
- Invoice-to-ledger matching
- Metric
- Match rate on the golden set
- Owner
- Finance operations lead
- Exit gate
- Cut over on real traffic
- Fee
- Fixed, in writing
- Start
- Monday after sign-off
- Duration
- Two weeks
- Team
- One senior engineer
- Ends with
- A one-page scope
- Fee
- Fixed, agreed before day one
FDE / 01Fit
Who it is for
The sprint is for you when
- You have several candidate workflows and need one chosen on evidence
- A vendor or an internal team has quoted and you want a scope to hold them to
- You are not sure your systems can grant the access a build would need
- Someone senior wants a price before a build, not a roadmap
- You want to know whether it fits before six weeks are committed
It is not when
- The workflow is already chosen, the owner named and access real; the Production Sprint can start
- You want a strategy for the organisation rather than a decision about one workflow
- No one can give the engineer two weeks of interviews and access
- A pilot already exists and has stalled; that is Pilot-to-Production
- You want a slide deck rather than a document a build can begin from
FDE / 02Day by day
D1 – D10
Ten working days.
Two weeks of working days. Each bar ends in something written; the diamonds are the days on which something is decided.
Access is requested on day one. How long it takes to arrive is itself a finding, and it goes in the scope.
FDE / 03What you keep
6 ITEMS
The scope pack.
Six documents, yours whether or not a build follows. Each is written to be read by someone who was not in the room.
- The one-page scope
The workflow, the metric that will judge it, the owner, the exit gate and the fixed price, on one page.
- The workflow map
Every step, system, hand-off and exception as it happens today, written with the people who do the work.
- The success metric
How the system will be judged, how that is measured today, and the cases that will form the golden set.
- The access register
Which systems a build needs, what access was granted in the two weeks and how long each took to arrive.
- The candidates not chosen
The other workflows considered, and the reason each was set aside, so the choice can be revisited.
- The fit decision
Whether a build should follow, in writing. If the answer is no, the reason is written down too.
FDE / 04How scoping is run
Four rules of scoping.
They keep two weeks from turning into a strategy engagement. Each is there because its absence has cost someone a quarter.
One workflow leaves the sprint
Several may be examined. One is chosen, and the rest are written down with the reason they were not. A roadmap of six is not a scope.
The people who do the work are interviewed first
The workflow map is written with the people who run the process today. The steering group is interviewed after, so the map describes what happens rather than what is meant to.
Access is tested, not promised
The engineer requests real access on day one and records what arrives. A scope that assumes access that has not been granted is a scope that will slip.
If it does not fit, the scope says so
The sprint can end with a written no: the workflow is not ready, the metric cannot be measured or the access cannot be granted. That is a cheaper finding on day ten than in week six.
FDE / 05Specified
10 FIELDS
The sprint, specified.
The terms as they stand before the first call.
- Duration
- Two weeks, ten working days, from the first interview
- Start
- A scoping call, then a start date and a list of the people to interview
- Engineer
- One senior engineer who has taken systems into production; the same person can lead the build that follows
- Where
- On site for the interviews, where the people are; the rest in your tools
- Access needed
- Read access to the candidate systems and a sample of real records, requested on day one
- Your time
- The owner of the outcome for an hour a week; each person who does the work for an hour; someone who can grant access
- Ends with
- A signed one-page scope, the scope pack and a fixed price for the build; or a written reason not to build
- Fee
- Fixed, agreed before day one
- What follows
- The Production Sprint, where the scope says so, starting from the signed page
- If it slips
- Access that does not arrive is recorded, not waited for; the sprint ends on day ten either way
FDE / 06Proof
5 ROWS
Case studies
Illustrative engagements written end to end, chapter by chapter.
- 01RestaurantsDemand forecasting, prep sheets and supplier ordersPre-consumer waste 7.9% → 6.1% of food cost; stock-outs halved
- 04ManufacturingSupplier invoices, inbox to posted ledger entry61% of invoices posted with no keying
- 07ManufacturingWeekly production scheduling with a solverPlanner time 14h → 3.5h; on-time-in-full 72% → 84%
- 09DistributionCustomer purchase orders into ERP sales orders54% of email orders released with no re-keying; confirmation 6.4h → 1.2h
- 12Real estateCommercial lease abstraction and obligationsAnalyst time per lease 4.5h → 1.3h; every term cites clause and page
FDE / 07Questions
6 QUESTIONS
Asked about scoping.
Is this an assessment or a scoping exercise?
Both, in one document. The first week reads your systems, your access and a sample of your records; the second turns that into a decision about one workflow. The output is a scope a build can start from, not a report on readiness in general.
Who chooses the workflow?
The owner of the outcome on your side, with the engineer's recommendation in writing. The recommendation rests on what was found: which workflow matters, can be measured and can be given real access quickly.
Do we have to build with you afterwards?
No. The scope pack is written so that another team can build from it. If you take it elsewhere, it still holds: the workflow, the metric and the access register do not change with the builder.
What if the engineer finds the workflow is not ready?
The scope says so, with the reason: the metric cannot be measured, the access cannot be granted, or the process changes too often to automate. You pay for the two weeks, and you have avoided a build that would not have shipped.
What does the fixed price cover?
The build that follows: the Production Sprint against the signed scope, with its exit gate written in. It is agreed before the build starts, and there is no invoice for a gate that was not met.
Can the two weeks be shorter?
No. The interviews take a week to arrange and hold, and access requests need the second week to show whether they arrive. A shorter sprint would report on promises rather than findings.
FDE / ENDStart
Two weeks from the first call,one workflow is scoped in writing.
Book a scoping call; you leave it knowing whether the two weeks are worth running.