• Perhaps an EPM deployment didn't get off the ground or it was owned by your predecessor and you would like to have an EPM specialist perform a technical and functional audit just to be sure everything is in proper working condition before you pick up and run with it again.

This type of engagement is typically two or three days depending on the extent of use, functionality deployed and amount of customization.

• You are not 100% confident in the people who configured your system so you would like more experienced professionals vet that configuration. Our estimate is that 50% or more EPM deployments are done by technical Microsoft Gold Partners that have little experience with this system. These firms may have great technical expertise but an understanding of what functionally works or how the system should be applied in an organization is often limited.

It is always good to have a second set of eyes look at something you are going to spend a lot of time and money on. We often do this type of audit in four hours in two remote sessions.

• You are having a lot of technical problems and you would like a technical expert to come in and review your system and provide recommendations for performance improvement.

Often a customer may be looking for ways to just solve problems and improve performance. At other times they might be considering rolling out EPM to a larger group of users and they want to be sure this system is really something they can base their reputation on, that their configuration is likely to work in a larger context. 

• You want to more closely tie your business process with this system so that you can maximize value to your stakeholders. Many consulting firms take the perspective that "customization" can address all alignment issues between your process and Microsoft's EPM system.

We do not make this assumption; in fact we think there are serious limitations with this EPM system that no amount of customization can address. Correctly matching EPM with your internal system requires a very honest audit, assessment, and recommendations.