By: Margaret Livermore, Content Marketing Manager
Technology has evolved and continues to change the way we do business. More and more, choosing the right technology is key to ensuring your business stays competitive for years to come. Software that can be adjusted to accommodate new business needs as you grow and new products that can be implemented with minimal fuss save both time and money. But where do you start? This three-part blog series will offer a few tips to help you navigate the entire process:
1: Create a project team and outline key problems
2: Choose a software vendor
3: Best practices to make the implementation as smooth as possible
1: Create a project team and outline key problems
The groundwork you do before moving forward with purchasing and implementing new technology can make or break your end results. Here are a few action items to consider before diving in:
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Re-evaluate your business and business processes.
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Define your objectives for the organization and decide on your project team. Helpful tip: bring in representatives from each business unit, including end-users of the product. Having stakeholder buy-in from the start will increase your chances of success at the end.
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Clearly express your expectations in the first meeting and document the main challenges during this and each subsequent meeting.
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Drill down into the most important issues and have frank discussions with your stakeholders to gain a clear understanding of the issues you face and opportunities you have.
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Ask for suggestions from the group about how to improve current processes to get invaluable insights.
Asking for feedback from end-users can make your users feel like an important part of the decision-making process. This can lead to valuable insights and increase employee buy-in and user adoption. Your goal here is to have enough information to educate the vendor so they can come up with accurate pricing and time commitments for the quote.
It is also a good idea to remember that different business users have different needs and each will think theirs is the most important, but many companies have traveled this road before and software vendors will be able to offer insights and advice on the best way to move forward to get the best outcome.
Now that you’ve gathered the right team and solicited their input, you’re ready to start shopping for a vendor. Look for Part 2 of this series, “Choosing a software vendor” to read our take on how to go about the process.