The Ontology Methodology
How to Implement New Technology in Your Business
By Scott E. Hagberg
Why this book
Most technology projects fail for reasons that have nothing to do with technology. Organizations chase the newest tool, tear out systems that were working, follow one methodology too rigidly, or automate a broken process and lock the problem in place.
The Ontology Methodology offers a different path. Before you implement anything, understand your organization as a system: the entities that exist in it, the relationships that connect them, and the properties that define them. Then apply the right mix of process improvement, project management, and Agile delivery to evolve what already works instead of replacing it.
What you will learn
- How to map any business as entities, relationships, and properties so business and technical teams share one language
- Why “evolution, not revolution” beats wholesale overhauls, and how to build on the systems and people you already have
- How to combine process improvement, project management, and Agile delivery instead of picking one
- A five-milestone delivery model, from first conversation to go-live and beyond
- How to build high-performing teams and lead people through change
- How AI agents can serve as assistants, subject matter experts, and the long-term memory of a delivery team
The five milestones
- Discovery and Ideation: A focused listening session that uncovers the real problem and ends with a clear go or no-go decision.
- Mission Control Assessment: A working session that produces an agreed project charter.
- Launch Preparation: A living project plan, the right partners, and signed commitments.
- Mission Execution: Disciplined, adaptive delivery with leadership protecting the team’s focus.
- Landing and Recovery: Go-live with a quick reaction team, then lessons learned, handoff, and celebration.
Who it is for
Technology leaders, project and program managers, process improvement and Agile practitioners, consultants, and business leaders responsible for bringing new technology into their organizations, especially in small and mid-sized companies where people wear many hats.
About the author
Scott E. Hagberg has spent more than 30 years in technology, from his first programming and project management role in 1992 through robotic process automation to agentic AI. He is the founder of ONSCG. He holds an MS in Computer Information Systems from Boston University and a BS in Management of Information Systems from Upper Iowa University, and is adjunct professor emeritus at Upper Iowa University and Hawkeye Community College.
More about Scott
Book Scott to speak
Book details
- Title: The Ontology Methodology: How to Implement New Technology in Your Business
- Author: Scott E. Hagberg
- Publisher: ONS Consulting Group, LLC
- Published: February 2025
- Series: Technology Handbook Series, Book 1
- Pages: 179
- ISBN: 979-8-9926740-2-6