" Before commencing with an ALE implementation, certain tasks need to be undertaken, certain deliverables produced and final decisions made... Without the support of senior project management ALE implementation will not succeed..."

A small, full-time, team (1-2 people) needs to be mobilized with the following skills:

• Technical background;
• Detailed ALE knowledge; and
• High level functional understanding.

Working together with this team should be a few applicable, part-time functional experts.
This team needs to assess the business needs to see if ALE is the most feasible solution for the business. They need to conduct the following tasks before commencing with ALE design:

1. Business requirements assessment - Map out what the business needs, both present and future, ito:
• Distributable functions;
• Common master data;
• Technical: Up-time, response time; and
• Audit  & legal requirements.
2. ALE investigation
• Research applicable ALE scenarios; and
• If need be, Configure and Demo prototype.
3. ALE gap analysis
• Map business requirements to standard ALE functionality; and
• Document gaps and highlight implications.
4. Confirm business / ALE scope
• Obtain sign off for the agreed scope of the ALE implementation project.

Deliverables during this stage

• ALE Whitepaper - Business requirements assessment, ALE functionality mapping, impact assessment (functional and technical). Gap analysis.
• ALE Team Approach - Resource & skill requirements, deliverables and deadlines.
• Sign-off of scope - The agreed scope of the ALE Implementation project must be signed-off.