Important problems they do not always comprehend:

1) Impact on employees if forced to use a new system.

2) Impact on process if new steps are introduced.

3) Impact on data when collecting procedures are based on prior applications or systems.

Your business may have problems like this: 

Does your business have various databases in different environments?

Does your business have a strong email and calendaring system to keep employees and managers on the same page?

Does your business use different systems for different reports?

Does your business rely on human data entry for all of its reporting?

What kind of system protects your network?

What kind of security protects your company’s business assets?

Do your employees hate your system?

Do you have software or systems that “break” a lot?

Who manages the website?

Do your salespeople feel the company’s systems help them or hinder them? Why?

Now what?

As it should be, a good IT manager will refer their executive management to a software consultant to dive into the company culture and provide an unbiased assessment of the situation. While some view consultants as a waste of money, the majority of those who have contracted with consultants are very happy they did so.

The business that invests in a software consultant before a major integration has the benefit of foresight during the entire integration process. Independent consultants are not married to a single software vendor. Some opponents will argue that consultants get paid referrals fees for recommending specific products and that is partially true. The reality is that they receive referral fees from nearly every vendor they recommend, so they are not forced to promote a single product in order to be compensated. Lost in this as well is the idea that consultants would seek to stick clients with inferior products. If this were the case, how many referrals and recommendations would they get? Their business would crash without this pipeline of new business.

The consultant will start with a Business Needs Analysis. This is the process of listening to executive level managers, middle managers, and employees about various technical issues in the business. During this discussion phase communications and process problems surface. Discussions with managers often reveal inadequate reporting procedures, and surprisingly, most managers have no idea of what systems some employees are using to stay organized.

Software designers go through many exercises such as this prior to building their next product. The key is learning how businesses need software to handle various tasks that, as a general matter, all businesses need to deal with. The BNA will reveal disconnections between what people THINK is happening and what is ACTUALLY happening.

Goal orientation is an equally important part of the BNA. It is important to align employee goals with company goals. It is extremely important to provide some system to measure these goals. The new technology initiative will be useless without a way to measure its success.

Most businesses find that choosing software can be a more straightforward matter once they understand their real needs and problems, not their perceptions of same. Many are relieved to learn that building a complete system customized to their business is not necessary, but rather a small selection of off-the-shelf applications designed to work together will do the trick. Generally the consultant can set up the integration and training of employees and managers to build the culture around acceptance of the new systems.

It makes sense to incorporate a technology review into your business at least once a year, particulary for companies with more than 100 employees. Do not rely on IT to make something known to you before you take stock in what your company uses. Most of all if you don’t feel that you have a strong touch with the pulse of your company, maybe it’s time to look at why you are disconnected and how technology can help.

 Keep rising to the challenge. ~ Ken