Meet Team Dicom Grid.

West Monroe Partners worked with a healthcare technology services company for more than two years to design a ground-breaking new system that will change the way medical professionals distribute and manage radiological images.

The players:

Tom: project manager. Years of experience: 7. Years at West Monroe Partners: 4.

Erik: applications architect and chief of humor. Years of experience: 7. Years at West Monroe Partners: 4.

Evan: applications architect. Years of experience: 7. Years at West Monroe Partners: 4.

Angela: senior applications specialist. Years of experience: 6. Years at West Monroe Partners: 1.

Troy: senior data specialist and chief candy officer. Years of experience: 8. Years at West Monroe Partners: 2.

Erasmo: application specialist. Years of experience: 8. Years at West Monroe Partners: 1.

John: application specialist. Years of experience: just getting started.

Our biggest strength:

Our team had to develop and deliver a very large and complex system within a tight timeframe. The key to doing this successfully was developing a deep understanding of the overall project requirements and timeline in order to manage both variables. By the time we moved into testing, there were very few elements of the system that were not aligned and ready to work holistically.  In addition, another key strength was our strong team dynamic that centered on having fun. With any large development effort, things can get stressful -- balancing that with ways to come together as a team was essential.

The one thing that contributed most to our success:

The size and complexity of this system required that any defect or issue be identified immediately in order for development to continue on schedule. Working in an iterative fashion and always having a working system on hand ensured that we could identify and address issues quickly.

What we learned from this project:

Establishing a true partnership with our client was vital to our success -- the project team's success and our client's. With our interests aligned, we found it easier to tackle difficult technical and project issues when they arose.

Our experience will change the way we approach our next assignment:

We wouldn't change much -- the project management and software development methodologies we used have become some of West Monroe Partners' best practices. We will strive to obtain feedback earlier in the process, and through more creative channels, particularly when the physical separation made it challenging to distribute our software early on.

Our biggest challenge:

Helping our client move this project forward without disrupting their "day jobs" -- patient care.

The most rewarding part of this project:

Two things, really. One is being part of something that will change the way medicine is practiced. The other is seeing a team come together and perform at a level that is above the sum of its parts.

If we had to do one thing differently:

We would establish code reviews on a more frequent basis to ensure that all the user story elements were implemented consistently across the development team. Working in a larger team environment, developers often face the challenge of consistency across layers, which is why we often leveraged Pair Programming to counteract this effect.

Where we did our work:

We released the Beta software version with our client in Phoenix, Arizona to participating hospitals and physicians, but we performed the development effort at the West Monroe Partners office in Chicago.

The best project quote:

"How do you do a '5'? -- heard from Evan the day after he had his wisdom teeth pulled.