Define the flow to analyse
A method to decide, intervene, and verify.
We don't sell innovation. We make it work.
On critical systems every intervention needs a clear objective and a verifiable result. We organise the work into milestones and apply our operational model to each one. The information gathered helps decide how to proceed, even when the best choice is to change the plan.
Illustrative milestones
Four moments. One cycle that applies to every milestone.
Measure and evolve
Verified conclusions, limits, a decision, or a request for further checks.
Learn more ↗The cycle does not require passing through each moment only once. A verification may need new information or a different decision.
The roadmap sets direction. Milestones make the work verifiable.
Before moving forward we define what needs to be known or delivered, who must take part, and which evidence will support a decision. The roadmap connects these steps. Each milestone has an objective and a result that can be discussed even independently of later activities.
Roadmap
A sequence of objectives, dependencies, and decisions.
Milestone
A work perimeter with a precise question and an expected result.
Operational Model
The cycle we use to approach and verify the milestone work.
The commercial Replatforming path describes activities that can make up an engagement. The operational model applies inside those activities and is not a second mandatory contractual path.
One milestone, from hypothesis to decision.
Before changing a legacy application, the IT lead must understand what happens to historical data when an already closed practice is updated.
As an IT lead, I want to know the effects of that change on archives and integrations before authorising the intervention.
Objective
Clarify the relevant behaviour and identify which checks are needed to assess the impact of a change.
Work performed
Run the agreed analyses and tests on authorised cases, without assuming a migration.
Result for deciding
The verification may support starting the intervention, narrowing its perimeter, or show that more information is needed. Promising an implementation is not required for the milestone to be valuable.
A milestone can rebuild a rule, verify a dependency, or deliver an agreed intervention. Activities and people change. The method we use to approach the work stays recognisable.
Understand
We focus the question, the system involved, and the available information. We gather evidence, constraints, and criteria for verifying the result.
Analyse code, data structures, documents, and information from the people involved.
Rule perimeter, available sources, and open questions.
Orient
We compare alternatives, set the perimeter, and define what must be verified before committing more resources.
Identify the cases that matter, the dependencies to check, and the allowed verification methods.
Hypotheses, priorities, and verification criteria.
Intervene
We carry out the agreed activity. It may be a technical check, specialist analysis, or a system change, depending on the engagement perimeter.
Run the agreed analyses and tests on authorised cases, without assuming a migration.
Technical findings linked to sources and tests performed.
Measure and evolve
We compare what we obtained with the agreed criteria. We record outcomes and open issues, then decide whether to close the milestone, adjust the plan, or propose another one.
Compare outcomes with the initial criteria and discuss the impact of the change.
Verified conclusions, limits, a decision, or a request for further checks.
A milestone result must be usable.
An analysis may produce a dependency map, a reconstructed rule, or a list of checks still needed. An agreed intervention may produce a modified component and related tests. In both cases we clarify expected results, what must be verified, and who takes part in the next decision.
Not every engagement includes implementation, migration, or ongoing work. Perimeter, deliverables, and acceptance criteria are agreed.
The same method, different engagements.
We can start by reconstructing knowledge of part of the system, help define an intervention, or take part in delivery. Agreed activities can differ in size. The operational model helps make perimeter, checks, and decisions understandable.
The replatforming path DeFacto, the knowledge reconstruction serviceA method that fits into other teams' work.
A modernisation project often involves different skills. We can contribute on a specialist perimeter while keeping clear handoffs with those who know the context, govern the programme, or deliver other components.
Internal teams
Knowledge of the operating context, constraints, and system priorities.
Specialist reconstruction, dependency checks, and defining the evidence needed to decide.
System integrators and software houses
Coordination of programmes, platforms, and application delivery, according to their engagement.
Legacy component analysis, support for technical choices, and scoped interventions to integrate into the shared roadmap.
Consulting firms
Definition of objectives, analysis, intervention scenarios, and stakeholder relationships.
Technical checks on hypotheses, targeted assessments, and delivery contribution when agreed.
Shift42's role is defined together with the other parties involved. We can support a project already underway without replacing whoever holds overall responsibility.
Collaborate with Shift42Questions about how we work
Must every project go through all roadmap phases?
No. The roadmap represents possible objectives and interventions. An engagement may be limited to an assessment or a milestone. Later steps are evaluated and agreed separately.
Does the model apply if the project is already underway?
Yes. When perimeter and responsibilities are clear, we can use the method on a scoped problem, even inside a programme run by the client or a partner.
How do we know a milestone is complete?
We compare deliverables and checks against the criteria agreed at the start. If open points remain, we make them explicit before deciding how to proceed.
Is there a part of the project that needs specialist skills?
Tell us about the system, the planned intervention, and where support is needed. We will start there to understand whether and how we can help.
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