Software Selection and Implementation
Posted by Bill on July 4, 2010
At Salentica, we are a software company that builds solutions that we sell and support. After over 25 years in the software business, we see some pretty consistent reasons why solutions work or don’t work. I hope as part of this blog to share some insights to save others wasted effort and costs. Similar to the wealth management services our clients provide, there are some basic rules to follow to lower project risk. Below are a couple of to consider
1. Do you know what you want? We see companies implementing a software solution, without a clear understanding of what they need to meet the business needs. In many cases, these firms are looking for the technology to fix their business processes, rather than the technology supporting their business process. If a business process is flawed before a technology solution is introduced, the technology will just enable the firm to do it more consistently
2. What do you expect from your provider and can they deliver? We see companies so focused on features they forget that it is only one piece. Just like a wealth management firm does more than pick stocks, a software supplier should be able to provide advice on best practices based on domain knowledge and a set of support services, unless of course the company has decided they want to self support.
A good indicator of the skills a software vendor will bring to a solution is to look at the focus, or lack of focus on their web site. If the site promotes expertise in many different areas, they are probably “jack of all trades and masters of none”, but happy to learn your business at your cost!
We’ll add more ideas on best practices and I hope they can help firms get better value from their software solutions.