The Engagement
From FiberBooks to live system to long-term support.
Six phases, one team, one direct line — through implementation, integration, go-live, and the years after. Here's how a FiberBooks engagement actually runs.
At a Glance
Six phases. Same team end to end.
Already running NetSuite? We start with a quick audit of your existing setup before Step 1.
Typical engagement runs 4 to 8 months from kickoff to go-live, depending on complexity. Smallest scope: about 4 months. Multi-entity, integration-heavy operators: 6 to 8 months. Sustain is open-ended — operators stay with us for years.
That range is for a full FiberBooks build. If FiberBooks WMS is all you need because you're already on NetSuite, expect weeks — not months — and none of these six phases touch your existing chart of accounts.
Phase by Phase
What actually happens, in order.
Phase 01 · In-Depth Review
Start from FiberBooks, not a blank page.
Most ERP projects open with a months-long discovery phase to figure out what to build. Yours opens with a complete, opinionated design already in place. We scope to your specific situation — your subsidiaries, your federal funding obligations, your BSS/OSS or FSM stack, the state of your current books — and confirm what fits as-is, what gets adapted, and what's genuinely net-new for you. The output is a clear statement of work, a timeline, and a fixed picture of who owns what.
- Discovery against FiberBooks
- Scope, timeline, and pricing confirmed
- Stakeholder map: ours, yours, and the integration points between
Phase 02 · Deploy — ~80%
The 80% stands up in sandbox first.
The pre-built 80% — capitalization rules, Part 32 accounts, CPE lifecycle, grant compliance, cost routing — deploys and configures into a sandbox environment, not production. In parallel, we connect and test the BSS/OSS/FSM integration end-to-end against your real platform. You get a working, testable system in days, not months into a design process.
- The pre-built 80% deployed and configured in sandbox
- BSS/OSS/FSM integration connected and tested
- Data migration prepared, dry-run tested
Phase 03 · Train
Train in the sandbox, not on slides.
Your team trains hands-on in the configured sandbox, working real scenarios — not a generic NetSuite demo, not a slide deck. Testing happens here too, before anything touches production. Weekly working sessions, not a big-bang reveal at the end.
- Hands-on training and testing in the sandbox
- Early access for your team — weekly reviews, not big-bang reveals
Phase 04 · Customize — ~20%
Now tailor the last 20%.
With the 80% already deployed in sandbox and your team trained on it, we map what's genuinely specific to you — entity structure, chart of accounts, project model — and scope the real customization. Anchored to the 80/20 approach: fewer decisions, and the ones that are left are the ones that actually matter.
- Process-to-FiberBooks mapping documented
- Customizations identified and scoped (or deliberately deferred)
- Chart of accounts, entity structure, and project model finalized
Phase 05 · Go
Cutover. Hypercare. Direct line.
The sandbox build gets one last check — running in parallel with what you use today, on real data — before it cuts over to production. Cutover is planned to the day with a defined rollback path. The first 30–60 days are hypercare — daily check-ins, fast issue triage, and direct access to the people who built your system. No handoff to a separate support team you've never met. Your first month-end close and first regulatory filing are partner-supported by design — not extras you have to negotiate.
- Parallel run period and go/no-go decision
- Planned cutover with rollback path
- 30–60 days of hypercare with daily check-ins
- First month-end close and first regulatory filing, supported
Phase 06 · Sustain
Stay supported. Stay current.
Ongoing support is part of the relationship, not an upsell. The same people who built your system maintain it — handling NetSuite version upgrades, integration drift when your BSS/OSS platform updates, regulatory changes (FCC, state programs, evolving BEAD reporting), and the small enhancements your team uncovers as they get further into the data. We're how you stay current without staffing a NetSuite team internally.
- NetSuite version upgrade management
- Integration drift monitoring and remediation
- Regulatory and grant-program change handling
- Quarterly optimization reviews
- Continuous FiberBooks updates as the product evolves
How We Work
Three principles that shape every engagement.
No handoffs.
The team that scopes the engagement is the team that builds it. The team that builds it is the team that supports it. You don't get passed from sales to delivery to support — you get the same direct line throughout.
80% built. You customize the 20%.
FiberBooks starts pre-configured — capitalization, Part 32, CPE lifecycle, grant compliance, cost routing — with the fat already cut. Your engagement scopes the real 20%: entity structure, BSS/OSS, subsidiaries, and the decisions that are genuinely yours to make.
Predictable cost.
Flat monthly fees for ongoing support. No surprise hourly billing when something needs attention. You know what you're paying and what you're getting.
Engagement Models
Two ways to engage. One way to deliver.
Structured
Fixed-scope implementation with defined deliverables and timeline. Best for operators with clear requirements who want cost certainty and a defined go-live date. Pricing locks at the end of Phase 01.
Flexible
Engagement model that adapts to your organization's pace and priorities. Best for operators with complex requirements, ongoing optimization needs, or who are still working through their process design.
Aaron LeBato
Let's talk about your engagement.
Whether you're scoping a fresh implementation or course-correcting one that isn't working, I'd like to hear where you are. We respond within one business day.