What the heck does R.I.M. stand for?

Well, the drawing explains it all — doesn’t it?

OK, if the drawing doesn’t have enough detail, or in case you didn’t know or recall, “R.I.M. is an old consulting and tech-speak acronym for “Rapid Implementation Methodology”… To clarify and explain in more detail, it means: a consulting/services approach to implementing software (primarily), based on template(s) and “best practice(s)” rather than a completely unique “start from scratch” approach to each project. Savvy?

In the early years of software for business, as people in accounting, distribution, sales, or manufacturing departments implemented one or more ERP, CRM or other business-critical software systems, they had quite mixed results. At first, nobody really had ANY or much experience, so every project was a “start from scratch” effort, with maximum dollars paid out to the consulting and implementation team. The consultants provided full, project-specific, unique-to-your-business analysis, requirements gathering, documentation, consulting, training, and more. And, those early consultants made a killing, because there was little or no precedent, no experience, and few of their clients had any idea how to implement big software – it was the wild west! Unfortunately, some (many?) of those early consultants did not know much more than the clients they served, and most did not have an evolved (if any) software-specific implementation methodology. Thus, the “mixed results” of those early projects, with dissatisfaction driving the development of RIM’s to limit or control scope-creep, lower costs, and improve results.

There are many RIM’s today, mostly tuned to specific types of software, and business models. Most RIM’s out there are based on a few core ideas, and methodologies that were developed over time by companies with deep pockets and lots of consultants. Today, to some degree – because any methodology is only as good (or bad) as the people who use it – there are virtually thousands of RIM’s out there! Every consulting or software company has their own “flavor” or version, and a few still wing it and are surprised at the end of a project when things actually come in on time and under budget! Wait – that NEVER happens!!!!! Seriously, any consulting and implementation services company or team, which has no structured approach, a rapid implementation, and best-practices methodology, will ALWAYS exceed the time limits/deadlines and blow the budget, to say nothing of inevitably introducing rampant scope-creep (i.e.: more cost). So, RIM to the rescue!

So, what inspired the drawing? One day, after explaining the concept of RIM to a yet another client with a glazed look in their eye, I grabbed a red magic marker and a piece of paper to show it in simple, visual form. Voila – le dessin, le schéma (the drawing, the diagram) you see above! The point was to show the range from one extreme to the other; from a 100% template (lower cost, less time) project to a 100% unique (high cost, more time) project. And what better way to measure this range of project types, hours, and costs, than with a specialized meter? Thus the “RIMETER” was born, and will exist forever, immortalized, in red-and-white…

Of course, we have our own RIM, and we call it and tag it as #Random2Results which invokes the “random” part of our company name, and takes it to a higher level! Our approach is largely based on concepts provided by Navision (later Microsoft Dynamics NAV) software around 1995, which was developed and documented by a team including some ex-IBM’ers. Most of our peers in the software consulting and implementation world, especially former, early Navision VAR’s, use the same basic approach.

We evolved and refined our own RIM methodology since then, based on experience with diverse clients and business models, and by incorporating new ideas and technologies that introduced over time. The core is LISTENING, Solution-Selling, and Relationship-Management. Today, everything we do for our clients is infused with a RIM mentality and approach, to maximize project results, and minimize project time/cost.

Here’s how our RIM methodology for projects basically flows: