Use this article to work out what moves your Ingrid go-live date, and where your Ingrid implementation sits on each factor, so you can plan around the slowest piece early.
This article is for retailers planning an Ingrid implementation, especially project leads and sponsors. There is no standard Ingrid implementation duration, and a number quoted without your specifics would mislead you. What Ingrid can do is show you exactly what moves the go-live date.
Three kinds of work set your Ingrid go-live date
Three kinds of work set the date of an Ingrid implementation:
Configuration (joint): delivery rules, carriers and product settings. You bring your delivery logic; Ingrid configures it with you and coaches your team to run it themselves afterward. For most Ingrid implementations, configuration is the bulk of the work: most of go-live is configuration, not code.
Build (you lead): on a standard platform such as Shopify or Centra, Ingrid plugins mean build work is often minimal or none. Real engineering appears in three situations: a custom or headless storefront, a carrier that is not yet in the Ingrid carrier library, or changes to your wider tech stack. You build against the Ingrid APIs (application programming interfaces), and Ingrid scopes the build work with you during the planning workshop.
Testing (you lead): across three layers: system integration, carrier logic, and end to end. You lead testing because you know your delivery logic, your downstream systems and your edge cases. Ingrid supports and helps resolve what you find. Nothing goes live until it passes testing.
For the technical detail behind the build work, see the Ingrid developer documentation. For which carriers are already integrated, see the Ingrid carrier library.
Where does your Ingrid implementation sit?
Work through each factor in the table below. Any single factor can set your go-live date, because the plan follows the slowest piece, so the earlier Ingrid knows, the better Ingrid can plan around it. The table below shows, for each factor, when your Ingrid implementation is straightforward and when there is more to plan for:
Factor | Straightforward if… | More to plan for if… |
Platform | A standard platform such as Shopify or Centra, where the Ingrid plugin fits | Custom, headless or mid-replatform: Ingrid plans the integration with your developers |
Carriers | Already in the Ingrid carrier library | New to the Ingrid carrier library: Ingrid builds the carrier integration ahead of go-live, or phases it in after |
Carrier credentials (the most common critical path) | Held by you, released early | Held by your 3PL (third-party logistics provider): securing their release is your first action |
Wider tech stack | Staying as it is | Your ERP (enterprise resource planning), WMS (warehouse management system) or OMS (order management system) is changing: Ingrid adds a test pass |
Your team | Named and available weekly | Shared across other work: you and Ingrid agree decision rights up front |
Markets and rollout | Few and similar markets | Many or divergent markets: Ingrid phases the rollout |
Testing | Resourced from the start | Still to be resourced: Ingrid scopes testing early |
Nothing in the "More to plan for" column is a problem. Each factor is something Ingrid plans around, and the cost of a "More to plan for" answer is far lower when Ingrid knows about it in week one than when it surfaces in week nine.
The pattern worth knowing about Ingrid implementation timelines
Look down the "More to plan for" column and notice what most of it has in common: it is not technical difficulty. It is who owns a thing, and when they can act.
Carrier credentials held by a third party. A team shared with other work. Testing not yet resourced. Decision rights not yet agreed. These are the delays that actually happen in Ingrid implementations, and every one of them is settled by a conversation rather than by engineering.
If you want more than the standard Ingrid implementation
The Ingrid Professional Services team can run onsite sessions with your team, or extend hypercare beyond go-live. Raise it during scoping if you think you will want Professional Services, since it affects planning.
Related
Implementation: the five phases of an Ingrid implementation