Project Scope of Work (SOW) Development
The initial build and refinement of the SaaS project scope of work (SOW) are paramount for the success of a SaaS business building venture.
A critical insight from The Standish Group’s “Chaos Report 2020” reveals that a mere 31% of software projects were completed on time and within budget, primarily attributing project overruns to inadequately defined project scopes and objectives.
It sets a structured foundation for the project, including defining necessary features, expected outcomes, and specific objectives based on comprehensive market analysis, including buyer surveys and competition analysis. After the validation phase, a thorough revision of the project scope becomes indispensable, integrating insights from price sensitivity assessments, distribution methodologies, and UX design iterations. This iterative approach to scope building and revision is crucial for refining the SaaS product to reflect real-world demands and enhance its market viability.
Why Is Project Scope of Work Revision Important?
The initial plans for a SaaS product often require adjustments based on these insights, leading to adding or removing features to better align with market demands and user needs. Additionally, once the UX or Product Designers begin working on a project, scope can change. These changes often necessitate an revision process.
Therefore, project scope revision ensures that the development efforts are focused on creating a product that addresses real customer requirements efficiently and effectively, potentially simplifying the product to concentrate on its most valuable aspects.
Ongoing Updates to Living Documents During a Project
JHMG approachs the project scope updating and revision process with a methodical and data-driven system split into several stages:
- Initially, we will combine all the B2B SaaS information gathered from various analytical sources, including buyer surveys, competitive intelligence research, and UX design feedback. This comprehensive review will allow us to identify essential features not initially considered while eliminating less critical ones.
- Through this process, we often discover opportunities to simplify the product. We focus on key components that offer significant value with potentially less complexity and cost.
- We then update the scope of work documentation to reflect these insights accurately, ensuring all stakeholders understand the revised product vision.
- This phase also includes an additional strategy meeting to realign the team on the updated scope, discuss the importance of each feature, and decide where to allocate time and resources most effectively for the product’s initial version (MVP) and long-term vision.
Decades of Experience
Developing a clear and thorough project SOW is a vital step in the B2B SaaS development and business building process. Without a clear roadmap, making deadlines and meeting budgets is impossible. The JHMG team has developed thousands of SOWs for SaaS and enterprise software projects over multiple decades.
SaaS Scope of Work (SOW) Deliverables
This foundational deliverable entails building documentation to reflect features and systems to be built. This document becomes the new blueprint of what the B2B SaaS product will include and omit based on the comprehensive analysis and validation processes. Additionally, this document facilitates costing the journey to MVP.
Following the scope revision and strategic realignment, we will also provide updated project timelines and budget estimates. These adjustments account for the changes in the project’s scope, ensuring stakeholders have a clear view of the project’s expected completion date and financial requirements.
After the initial project scope has been thoroughly revisited and adjusted, these deliverables ensure that the B2B SaaS product under development is closely aligned with market needs, user expectations, and business objectives.