If you build it, they will come…..this famous line has many origins - Field of Dreams movie, possible Teddy Roosevelt quote, thought to be a Jewish proverb.  This line is also a gateway into our industry.  When we build it, the transactions will come. 

So we think about building it, but what happens after the build process?  On a baseball field, the grass needs to be mowed, infield raked, grounds maintained, to name a few..  In the world of electronic transactions, translation failures need resolution, map changes are made, questions are fielded; in both cases, it is known as post production support.

Post production support is an animal of its own.  Does one build to limit the amount of post production support?  Does one build with no vision of post production support that may be needed?  Does post production support just do what the build team asks them to do?

Best in class examines post production support on an ongoing basis and questions the work contained.  In today’s world, I don’t believe any organization has unlimited budgets to obtain unlimited resources for post production.  So, what does one examine to improve the support processes?

• Review the errors flowing through the support team. 
  Are there repeatable errors?
  Are there questions asked on an ongoing basis?
  Should these errors have been prevented while in the mapping process?
• How can the repeatable errors be eliminated from manual intervention? 
  Can a map modification be made?
  Can an automated process be developed?
  Does one need to talk to the partner to improve the transaction data?
  Is more internal education needed within the organization?

• How strong is your post production team?
  Do they have a “work yourself out of a job” mentality?
  Do they have the analytical skills necessary to identify waste in the work effort and question it?
  Do they proactively make recommendations to reduce the error rate?
  Are their processes effective and efficient?

In ending, how was your field of dreams built and what are you doing about the maintenance today?  Just something to think about. 

Here’s hoping your field leaves its players capable of a home run every time.