Related guide · Map the Systems You Already Have
Inventory the systems, data, workflows, integrations, contracts and people already connected to the problem. A new system rarely operates by itself.
The short version
Before adding anything, write down what you already have. Which systems touch this problem, what data each one holds, who administers it, what it already connects to, when its contract renews, and which of those connections somebody built by hand and never documented. Departments regularly discover at this stage that they already own something that does most of the job, or that the real obstacle is a workflow rather than a missing product.
Questions to ask your vendor
- Which systems already hold part of this information?
- Who administers each one, and who else has access?
- What connects to what today, and in which direction?
- Which of those connections are documented?
- When does each contract renew?
- Do we already own something that does most of this?
This is a reading list, not a guide
Everything above was published by someone else, and is here because it is the clearest treatment of the subject we could find and verify. The Hub’s own guide to this topic is still being written. If you know a better source than the ones listed, that is worth telling us before it is.
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