Most businesses operations are run on software today. Even small businesses that try to operate without it suffer because they continue to run operations without all of the tools that they really need.
One of the common problems that I see is companies that only use software when they have to. For example, they create spreadsheets or use Word to create quotes or proposals, and don’t record transactions until they have to produce an invoice. Everything required to manage the orders is done manually.
Then they speak to another business person or a software supplier who tells them all of the good things they can get if they install a new software product. The software becomes the silver bullet.
Often new software is not needed … yet. If the business tried to really use what they have, they would accomplish two things:
- They would get more use of current software without spending more capital dollars.
- They would change their business operations and learn how to manage a business better, based on better information.
- They would learn what it really takes to get value from software, so that when they do buy new software, they would ensure that it was driven from a business change perspective and not an IT perspective.
This article discusses some of the warning bells that organizations should watch for on their IT(?) projects.
All businesses should recognize that no matter how simple it seems, installing software is a business change project, not an IT project. Business results should be delivered as early as possible, not at the end of the technology implementations, if you want to deliver success.
