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Advanced
How To Guide
Choosing eBusiness vendors and software
3 . Selecting eBusiness Software
Much of what has been described previously with respect
to selection of an eBusiness vendor also applies when
choosing eBusiness software, since in this case there
is also a vendor. However, selection of software adds
some extra factors, which need to be taken into account.
When
choosing eBusiness software, many companies fall into
one of two camps. The Procrastinator camp spends inordinate
amounts of time looking at options and soul searching,
fearful of making the wrong decision. The Reactionary
camp on the other hand, tends to spend a minimal amount
of time assessing what's available, and jumps into implementation
as soon as possible. Not surprisingly, the same company
can be in both camps simultaneously, with a definite
tendency to procrastinate, the higher the projected
capital outlay.
There
are dangers in both approaches. The Procrastinators
often spend so much time deciding what to do, that significant
improvement opportunities are lost (presumably the driving
force behind the decision to buy in the first place),
not to mention the management time lost in the selection
process itself. The Reactionaries run a significant
risk of ending up with a software application that does
not adequately meet all of their needs, resulting in
user dissatisfaction, lost productivity and in some
cases, costly modifications.
There
are five simple steps to follow, which should ensure
that the best elements of both approaches are brought
to bear.
| 1.
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Clearly
define the expected improvements that will result
from implementation of the software. It may seem
an obvious point to make, but sooner or later
in the selection process a company is going to
have to spend money. The amount that can be afforded
should be determined by the return on investment
that is expected from the new software. Hard questions
should be asked about this as early as possible
in the selection process. Sometimes improvements
are difficult to measure in direct financial terms
(e.g. improved customer service), but all improvements
can be quantified in some way (to use the same
example of customer service, the measures might
be orders delivered on time and in full, or response
time to customer queries, etc.) Once measurable
improvement objectives have been defined, these
should be discussed by the management team and
a budget agreed for the proposed new investment.
Many companies waste a lot of time by postponing
discussions on this aspect of the process until
they have looked at software, only to find that
they can't afford the applications they have reviewed,
or that there is disagreement within the management
team as to the need for the software in the first
place. |
| 2. |
Write
down the requirements before looking at any prospective
software application. Astonishingly, many companies
buy software without ever establishing in detail
what it is they want the application to do. It
is not enough to say, for example, that a system
must generate a sales forecast. Extending the
same example, you must be clear where the data
will come from to generate the forecast, what
format it will be in, the level of detail at which
it must be generated, trends which might adversely
effect it, who will be involved in generating
it, where it will go, in what format it must be
sent, etc. It is the lack of features at this
level that will cause a system to be difficult
to use in practice. Writing down requirements
takes time at the beginning but will save much
time later in the process. |
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