Enterprises often seek counsel from consultants when shopping for new software. Consultants provide a unique outside perspective in selecting the best software to improve efficiency or optimize a process since they have visibility into dozens of organizations.
I have personally worked on several software selection projects, which normally involve creating requirements, short-listing vendors, and evaluating finalists. Almost every software selection project requires more resources than originally allocated. Organizations rarely plan for all the dimensions that must work in concert with software. Enterprises should think of the software as the last step of a change. More often than not, efficiency gains can occur without upgrading software.
Below is a model that can be used to evaluate changes needed when considering a system upgrade or implementation. The three dimensions to consider are Process, Organization, and System. The model can be used to interactively workshop additional considerations prior to the start of a systems project.
Process
- Evaluating current processes to see what is working and what is not working
- Updating handoffs between departments
- Streamlining processes
- Organization wide involvement in any updates to process to ensure all parties are on board
- Training of any process changes to the organization in a timely manner
Organization
- Creating a new team to handle a specific process
- Updating the reporting structure of a team to match the process and executive/manager responsible for a process
- Ensuring the right skills are leveraged for a particular process
System
- Involvement of all impacted parties in the requirements creation and software selection process
- Timely and extensive training of the new system well before launch
- Educating users on what the system will and will NOT do
In the next installment of the Shopping for Software series, we will discuss some concepts often overlooked when evaluating and selecting software.
