Varibill Implementation Plan On-Premise

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1 Varibill Implementation Plan On-Premise Last Modified: 2017/02/09 6:12 AM Version: 27.0 Page 1 of 12

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Purpose System Overview Assumptions and Constraints System Architecture Hardware and Software Requirements... 5 Management Overview Description of Implementation Points-of-Contact Major Tasks Implementation Support Acceptance Criteria Appendix B: References Page 2 of 12

3 1. Introduction 1.1. Purpose This implementation plan outline the strategy and activities required to successfully complete the implementation of Varibill System Overview Varibill is a billing system which is offered as an on-premise or Cloud based Software-as-a-Service solution. Varibill is equipped to cater for both recurring and usage-based billing and integrates with your accounting system for the purpose of invoice processing. Varibill is able to automatically collect data from heterogeneous source systems to bill according to the quantities of products and services consumed by clients. This requires a once-off setup and possible integration into various source systems. Once this initial setup is complete, the integration settings can be managed via Varibill. This provides the client with the flexibility to integrate with as many source systems as required and eliminates any manual intervention during billing processing Assumptions and Constraints Assumptions Constraints Business Processes o An existing invoice process is in place and roles and responsibilities have been defined. o Products and prices have been established and recorded. o Contracts are signed for products and services provided. o Clients information is complete and recorded. Varibill Legal agreements have been signed which provides the client access to a valid license. Support agreements have been signed by the client. Source Systems provision products and/or services and may record usage. Implementation may be affected by employees normal work load which may prevent them from completing the initial setup, training with and using the new application. The implementation may be affected due to duplication of effort when performing a parallel run with the existing invoicing process. Page 3 of 12

4 System Architecture Please note, The pre-production environment is optional. Page 4 of 12

5 Hardware and Software Requirements 1. Varibill is based on the Microsoft technology stack, which includes Microsoft Internet Information Services 8.5 or higher, Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard or higher and the Microsoft.Net Framework 4.5 or higher. The actual hardware and software requirements will depend on the size and scale of the requirements. The above components should be segregated in at least a database server and an application server (physical / virtual) or be scaled out into multiple clusters and farms, depending on the business requirements. The design decision regarding hardware and software falls outside of the scope of this implementation, but needs to conform to the best practices as defined by Microsoft, to ensure the optimal performance, availability and redundancy as required by the client. 2. All third party software, except where specifically noted, must be installed, configured and maintained by the client and falls outside of the scope of this implementation. 3. The client will be responsible for licencing of all 3 rd party software required. 4. All third party software must be on a version supported by the vendor. 5. All third party software with which Varibill must integrate must have a vendor provided API available. 6. The client is also responsible for the license, setup and monitoring of business continuity and disaster recovery. 7. The client is responsible for the licensing, setup and monitoring of SSL certificates. 8. Varibill requires SMTP functionality, and as such will implement an SMTP server for the delivery of . The client can elect to have the Varibill SMTP server directly deliver the to the destinations, with consideration given to SPF, DKIM and the requisite firewall policies to ensure the proper flow of s. The client can also elect to have the Varibill SMTP server relay the s to a smart host, over an unauthenticated, port 25 connection. In this case the client is responsible to ensure that the proper IP filtering, relay permissions and firewall rules are implemented for the smart host relaying to work properly. Varibill prefers to directly deliver s, for simplicity. Management Overview 1.3. Description of Implementation Project Scope 1. Training, 2. Varibill Database setup and testing, 3. Varibill Web Service implementation and testing, 4. Varibill Web application deployment and testing, 5. Accounting connector implementation and testing, Page 5 of 12

6 6. Implementation support. Approach Varibill follows an instant-on implementation methodology. Once project scope items 2 5 have been completed Varibill is available for setup and configuration. It is up to the client to decide whether the existing billing software will be used in parallel or a direct cut-over approach will be followed. Page 6 of 12

7 1.4. Points-of-Contact Role Name Contact Number Address Varibill Implementation Consultant Varibill Technical Support Client Business Sponsor Project Manager Client Technical Support Client Implementation Representative Page 7 of 12

8 1.5. Major Tasks Task Provision Servers Install Server Software (as per 1.2.3) Source, procure and setup servers. Description Microsoft Windows Server Provide Remote Access Microsoft SQL Server Install Varibill Create DNS entries Provide URL Firewalling Outbound Traffic Inbound Traffic SMTP A web server infrastructure (Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or later). Provide the Varibill technical team with remote access in order to complete required setup. Microsoft SQL Server 2012 R2 or later (minimum standard edition) media must be made available to Varibill. Create a maintenance plan in SQL server. Install Varibill software. Create the agreed DNS entries for production and pre-production. A the API and application URL s to Varibill For a best practice implementations Varibill requires an IP address for the application URL and a separate IP address for the API URL. Varibill requires port 443 access to the API URL. Varibill requires port 443 access to both the API and the application URL s. This requirement assumes direct access to the web servers, and may change if a load balancer is implemented. Varibill requires relay permission via an SMTP server. Configure your SMTP settings to allow system notifications to be sent from Varibill. This SMTP server should allow anonymous connections on port 25 and should not require SSL or TLS. The SMTP server should allow message relay from the Varibill host server. The required allowances should be made for SPF, DKIM and other protection mechanisms. service to be installed on Varibill server, under program files/varibill. Windows task scheduler task to be created for service. Page 8 of 12

9 Task Configure Source Collector Notification Service Implement Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Implement SSL Certificate Introduction to Varibill Business Analysis Invoice Master Configure Varibill Tenant Details Template Invoice Template Description (Optional) Install backup software, if required. Configure backups. Purchase and implement an SSL certificate for the Varibill online portal. The Application server should have a valid, trusted certificate installed. See Review existing invoice master to determine how Varibill will be setup i.t.o. product master, products, selling prices, clients and contracts Setup company information and Varibill related configuration. Create an template for invoice ing purposes. Create an invoice template. (Logo, Icons, Colours, etc.) Security Roles and Permissions Users Product Masters Products Prices (Pricelists, Selling & Cost) Sales Team Clients Setup roles and assign permissions. Create users and assign roles. Create product groupings to which products can be allocated. Create products / services. Setup pricelists, selling prices and cost prices for products. Create a sales team. Create clients. Contracts Page 9 of 12

10 Task Description Create Contracts Terms Create Contracts Create Contract Prices Create Contract Services Import Billing Data Create Client Identifiers Pre-Production Accounting System Integration Dry run Production Accounting System Integration Capture contract terms on Varibill. Capture contracts on Varibill. Capture contract prices on Varibill. Capture fixed recurring quantities on Varibill. Import variable billing data. Link billing data to contracts. Optional: Integrate with a pre-production accounting system for invoice processing. Provide the necessary license information as well as accounting system version information to the Varibill team. Ensure an activated version of Windows is installed and updated. Confirm Varibill setup correctness and integration with the pre-production accounting system. Integrate with production accounting system for actual invoice processing. Provide the necessary license information as well as accounting system version information to the Varibill team. Ensure an activated version of Windows is installed and updated. Go-Live Page 10 of 12

11 2. Implementation Support Varibill has user guides that the implementation team can make use of. Alternatively, the implementation team can contact the appropriate person as listed in 1.4 (points-of-contact). 3. Acceptance Criteria A successful implementation can be seen as one where: 1. Varibill has been configured and can be accessed at the designated URL. 2. Authorised users can setup: a. Product Masters b. Products c. Pricelists d. Selling & Cost Prices e. Sales Persons f. Clients g. Contract Terms h. Contracts i. Contract Prices j. Contract Services k. Client Identifiers 3. Authorised users can import billing data. 4. Authorised users can maintain billing data. 5. Authorised users can process billing to preview invoices, including error resolution where applicable. 6. Authorised users can run the accounting connector to import invoices into the accounting system, including error resolution, where applicable. 7. Invoices are updated with accounting system generated invoice numbers. 8. The accounting system invoice and Varibill invoice totals match. 9. Invoices can be viewed online, downloaded in PDF format, ed to clients via Varibill. Page 11 of 12

12 4. Appendix B: References Document Name Product Master Template Product Template Sales Person Template Client Template Contract Template Contract Price Template Contract Service Template Billing Data Template Client Identifier Template Implementation Project Plan Varibill Setup Process Technical Information Used to bulk import Product Masters. Description Used to bulk import products, including selling prices and contract prices. Used to bulk import sales persons. Used to import clients. Used to import contracts for clients. Used to import contract prices of contracts created in Varibill. Used to import contract service (Fixed recurring quantities) of contracts created in Varibill. Used to import the data for which invoices must be generated. Used to import client IDs linked to contracts. Describes the implementation project, resources required, duration and start date. To describe the various entities to be created and the order in which it should be done. To be used to provide technical information required by Varibill to perform installation and configuration requirements. Page 12 of 12