Contents
Overview 1
Lesson: Determining Design Criteria 2
Lesson: Creating a Design Plan 12
Review 21
Lab A: Conducting Project Research 23

Module 2: Conducting
Project Research



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Module 2: Conducting Project Research iii


Instructor Notes
This module introduces students to the business drivers that may move their
organization to a business-to-business (B2B) integration solution. Students will
identify the project vision and scope, team members, and project risks, and then
explore the lab scenario used throughout the course.
After completing this module, students will be able to:
!
Analyze the business drivers that determine their design criteria.
!
Create a project design plan.

To teach this module, you need Microsoft
®
PowerPoint
®

file 2420A_02.ppt.
To prepare for this module:
!
Read all of the materials for this module.
!
Read the Microsoft e-procurement case study.
!
Read all of the Microsoft Supplier Enablement case studies under
Additional Reading on the Web page on the Student Materials compact
disc.
!
Read the white paper, Microsoft Solution for Supplier Enablement
Introduction, under Additional Reading.
!
Watch the online seminar, Building a Business Case for IT Investments
Using REJ, on the Microsoft Seminar Web site,


Presentation:
60 minutes

Lab:
45 minutes
Required materials
Preparation
tasks
iv Module 2: Conducting Project Research


How to Teach This Module

This section contains information that will help you teach this module.
Lesson: Determining Design Criteria
This lesson introduces students to the importance of doing research before they
create a project design. A successful project design requires that students
research their organization’s needs and the potential benefits of B2B
integration. For some students, the information in this module will be review
material. However, the importance of examining business drivers and defining
clear project metrics may be new to students that have a technical background.
Avoid teaching this lesson from a theoretical perspective. The best approach to
teaching this lesson is to provide examples and to draw from your experience
and that of your students.
The following information is specific to individual pages in this lesson.
Although this course provides generic examples on the modules page, this page
presents an excellent opportunity to provide real-world examples from your
own experience or from recent news.
Many of your students must justify the expense of a B2B integration solution.
Emphasize the Microsoft e-procurement case study mentioned on this page and
the additional case studies under Additional Reading.
The real goal of this discussion is to identify how students plan to use the
materials in the subsequent modules. This information will help you tailor the
course to meet the needs of each student. If you teach this course to students
from one company, clarify their specific business drivers and identify any
inconsistencies or missing information. If you teach this course to students from
multiple companies and they are hesitant to discuss details, be prepared to
discuss examples from your own experience.
It may be helpful to write the business drivers that students mention on the
whiteboard and then discuss them in more depth later in the course, when you
cover the design decisions that are related to these business drivers.
Lesson: Creating a Design Plan
This lesson introduces the process of organizing and documenting a B2B design

plan. The design plan includes the vision and scope of the project, the roles of
the planning team, and the risks that are associated with the implementation of
the solution.
The following information is specific to individual pages in this lesson.
This topic may generate interesting discussions about the specific roles of
students in their project planning teams. Emphasize the functional roles rather
than the job titles that are covered in the topic. Discuss the differences between
how students describe their responsibilities.
If this material is new to students, provide another real-world set of risks and
then ask students to calculate the relative exposure to each risk.
What Business
Problems Will Your
Design Solve?
How Buyers Influence
Design Criteria
Practice
What Is the Project
Planning Team?
How to Determine
Project Risks
Module 2: Conducting Project Research v


This page highlights the final deliverable for this course, the B2B design plan.
Modules 3 through 8 describe the individual stages of the design process. You
will complete the B2B design plan in Module 9.
The proposed answer is only one of many possible variations. For example, the
risk document may have different owners. Or, in some projects, the business
architect and the solutions architect may be the same person.
Lab A: Conducting Project Research

In this first of six design labs, students will study the business and technical
requirements of Adventure Works and its main trading partners. The level of
student involvement in this lab sets the tone for the remaining labs. Therefore, it
is essential that students are motivated to participate in the discussion
The design lab is scheduled for 45 minutes. Divide students into pairs or small
teams, and ask them to spend 20 minutes reading and discussing the scenario.
Then, have each pair or team present its answers to the class.
Students will examine Adventure Works’s business drivers and motivations for
engaging in B2B e-commerce and for using a marketplace. Although the lab
scenario provides a clear path to certain design decisions, it contains enough
ambiguity to encourage student discussion and debate. Students may disagree
with the answers that are provided in the Instructor Manual and the Student
Materials compact disc. Disagreement is acceptable if students can provide
adequate business or technical justification. To increase student involvement,
ask a representative of each team to present the team’s answers to the class and
then defend the design.
Customization Information
This section identifies the lab setup requirements for a module and the
configuration changes that occur on student computers during the labs. This
information is provided to assist you in replicating or customizing Microsoft
Official Curriculum (MOC) courseware.
This module contains a single paper-based design lab. There are no hands-on
labs in this module, and as a result, there are no lab setup requirements or
configuration changes that affect replication or customization.

The B2B Design Plan
Practice
Timing
Discussion


Module 2: Conducting Project Research 1


Overview
!
Determining Design Criteria
!
Creating a Design Plan

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To design a business-to-business (B2B) integration solution for your
organization, you must identify, quantify, and document your primary business
drivers. These drivers make up the foundation of your design criteria for a B2B
integration solution.
You develop design criteria that identify the project vision and scope, team
members, and project risks. Your project vision will serve as a guide throughout
the design and implementation of your B2B integration solution.
After completing this module, you will be able to:
!
Analyze the business drivers that determine your design criteria.
!
Create a project design plan.

Introduction
Objectives
2 Module 2: Conducting Project Research



Lesson: Determining Design Criteria
" What Business Problems Will Your Design Solve?
" How Suppliers Determine Design Criteria
" How Buyers Influence Design Criteria
" What Are Project Metrics?
" Guidelines for Defining Project Metrics
" Practice: Using Business Drivers to Determine Design
Criteria

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Implementing B2B e-commerce can open large markets to suppliers of any size.
For that reason, the choice to implement an e-commerce solution may seem
obvious. However, a successful design requires research about your
organization’s needs and the potential benefits of B2B integration. To be
successful, you must identify the business problems that you want to solve, the
business drivers of your organization, and the business drivers of your trading
partners.
Finally, define how you will recognize and measure the success of your project.
Based on the business drivers and project metrics, you can determine the
criteria that you will use to create your B2B integration solution.
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
!
Identify the business problems that your design will solve.
!

Identify the B2B business drivers of your suppliers.
!
Identify the B2B business drivers of your buyers.
!
Describe financial and nonfinancial project metrics.
!
Create project metrics that measure the success of your project.

Introduction
Lesson ob
jective
Module 2: Conducting Project Research 3


What Business Problems Will Your Design Solve?
Your B2B design provides the technical solution to your
organization’s central business problem.
Examples of business problems include:
Examples of business problems include:
Examples of business problems include:
A buyer mandating that you implement e-commerce
A buyer mandating that you implement e-commerce
An upward trend in customer defection
An upward trend in customer defection
The high cost of sales
The high cost of sales
A lack of control over the supply chain
A lack of control over the supply chain

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To make informed design decisions, research the central business problem that
your B2B integration solution will solve. Before you begin your design, the
executive management and business decision makers will identify the central
business problem. As a designer or solutions architect, you are responsible for
delivering the technical solution to this business problem.
The central business problem is the most important design criterion for your
B2B integration solution. A problem statement summarizes the challenge that
the central business problem creates for your organization. A problem statement
is typically included in vision documents and Request For Proposals (RFPs).
For example, the executive management and business decision makers in your
organization have recently concluded that your organization is losing sales
because of trading partner defection, which they assume is a result of your
company not providing B2B e-commerce. Your proposed design must directly
relate to the business problem: stopping trading partner defection. In this
situation, you must work with your organization’s business analysts, decision
makers, and sales team to identify the source of the defections. You can then
develop informed design recommendations for a technical solution.
Examples of common business problems include:
!
A large buyer mandating that you implement B2B e-commerce.
!
An upward trend in trading partner defection.
!
The high cost of sales.
!
A lack of control over the supply chain.


Introduction
Identify business
problems
Examples
4 Module 2: Conducting Project Research


How Suppliers Determine Design Criteria
Business driver
Business driver
Business driver
Design criteria
Design criteria
Design criteria
Create a competitive
advantage over the
Internet
Create a competitive
advantage over the
Internet
" Satisfy existing trading partners
" Gain new trading partners
" Increase sales
" Reduce response time to market demand
" Satisfy existing trading partners
" Gain new trading partners
" Increase sales
" Reduce response time to market demand
Reduce transaction

costs
Reduce transaction
costs
" Reduce the cost of sales
" Reduce the cost of order fulfillment
" Reduce the cost of sales
" Reduce the cost of order fulfillment
Increase order
processing efficiency
Increase order
processing efficiency
" Automate order fulfillment
" Enhance order processing
" Manage the supply chain
" Automate order fulfillment
" Enhance order processing
" Manage the supply chain

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As a designer, you combine your business drivers and those of your trading
partners to determine your high-level design criteria. If, for example, your
organization’s primary business driver is to lower the cost of sales without
reducing trading partner satisfaction, and your largest buyer’s primary business
driver is to cut inventories by streamlining its manufacturing and procurement
cycles, you must build your design criteria around both sets of business drivers.
A common business driver is to gain a competitive advantage over other

suppliers in your industry. By implementing B2B e-commerce, for example,
your organization can offer compelling value by meeting the business needs of
buyers in a way that other suppliers do not. Creating a competitive advantage
could include the following design criteria:
!
Satisfy existing trading partners. For example, your largest buyer recently
added a $100 surcharge to all nonelectronic purchase orders. You must be
able to submit purchase orders electronically if you want to compete
effectively with other suppliers.
!
Gain new trading partners. If, for example, you discover that your
organization is reaching a small portion of its potential trading partners,
your design will include methods for reaching new locations and markets.
!
Increase sales. If your organization sells a product with many accessories,
your design could automatically target buyers of the product to promote
cross-sales opportunities. For example, a supplier of handheld computers
could notify buyers that it also offers cases, cables, and other accessories.
!
Reduce response time to market demand. If you learn that your organization
can gain a key competitive advantage over your competitors by
guaranteeing shipment within 24 hours, your design should include steps
that fulfill this promise.

Introduction
Create a competitive
advanta
ge
Module 2: Conducting Project Research 5



Another business driver may be to reduce the cost of sales so that you increase
profitability. For example, if your organization processes 400,000 orders
annually and reduces its transaction cost by $20 per order, it saves $8 million
annually. Reducing costs could include the following design criteria:
!
Reduce the cost of sales. If, for example, your organization receives orders
by telephone, fax, and e-mail and then enters orders in an order process
system, your design can reduce the cost of sales by automating the reception
and entry of orders.
!
Reduce the cost of order fulfillment. Suppose, for example, that your
organization uses several heterogeneous business systems, including
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Material Resource Planning (MRP),
and an inventory database that is stored on a mainframe. If these systems
require manual entry or human interaction, your design can reduce order
fulfillment costs by automating the workflow between these business
systems.

Increasing order processing efficiency is another potential business driver. If
you increase the efficiency of order processing, your organization can dedicate
more resources to meeting core business objectives. Increasing efficiency could
include the following design criteria:
!
Automate order fulfillment. If your organization enters shipping information
in its ERP system manually, your design could automate manual data
retrieval and entry between heterogeneous business systems.
!
Enhance order processing. Suppose, for example, that your organization
estimates shipping and handling information when the sale occurs and then

issues quarterly variances to your trading partners based on the actual
shipping and handling cost. In this situation, your design can enhance the
order process workflow by including components that compute the shipping
and handling cost automatically.
!
Manage the supply chain. Your organization may depend on downstream
suppliers to manufacture goods. To respond to order requests, your design
must manage your work-in-progress inventories.

Reduce costs
Increase efficienc
y
6 Module 2: Conducting Project Research


How Buyers Influence Design Criteria
Business driver
Business driver
Business driver
Design criteria
Design criteria
Design criteria
Reduce transaction
costs
Reduce transaction
costs
" Reduce the cost of procurement
" Reduce the number of returns
" Reduce the cost of procurement
" Reduce the number of returns

Increase procurement
efficiency
Increase procurement
efficiency
" Automate procurement
" Enhance the procurement process
" Manage the supply chain
" Automate procurement
" Enhance the procurement process
" Manage the supply chain
Reduce manufacturing
lead time
Reduce manufacturing
lead time
" Strengthen inventory controls
" Develop JIT manufacturing schedules
" Strengthen inventory controls
" Develop JIT manufacturing schedules

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The more your B2B integration solution aligns with the business drivers of your
buyers, the more likely it will be successful. Several of your buyers’ drivers
may overlap with your drivers.
The most common business driver for buyers is to reduce the costs of
transactions. Reducing transaction costs could include the following design
criteria:

!
Reduce the cost of procurement. For example, prior to implementing
e-procurement, Microsoft’s average transaction cost for purchases was
about $65. After implementing e-procurement, Microsoft’s transaction cost
decreased to $5-$10 per transaction. The total first-year savings exceeded
$7.3 million.
!
Reduce the number of returns. Providing more accurate and timely product
information to buyers will reduce the number of returns, thereby reducing
the total cost of transactions.


For more information about the Microsoft e-procurement case study, see
the white paper, Microsoft Market Case Study, under Additional Reading on
the Web page on the Student Materials compact disc.

Introduction
Reduce transaction
costs
Note