The business software market continues to mature - so much so that the reasons and drivers for change sometimes don’t outweigh the fears of failure or limits of prescribed benefit.
Having worked in this industry for over a decade, I'm aware of how complex all software has become. In most sales situations a company is often buying an upgrade to their existing solution on ‘gut feel’ or the confidence the sales person is radiating, rather than a documented process of real benefits.
For a successful system implementation, these three factors are important…
1. The sales person must communicate to you that they understand who you are, what you do and where you are going, listing the immediate and future requirements of your business. Without this information documented, the chances of a working solution that does what it says on the tin is minimal.
2. The product provider must demonstrate a solution to fulfil your entire requirement. The promise of the next version or sexy feature should not influence you decision.
3. You must insist that the provider documents sales and project requirements which deliver on promise. With modern integrated software solutions that fulfil your whole requirement the sales-to-installation process can be lengthy, documented promises cannot be forgotten.
If you follow these guidelines and insist on quality documentation and project planning you are less likely to replace one system with all its problems for another system with a different set of issues. At Access Accounting we, and our Access Specialist Centres, are more interested in understanding your business and how you want to work, before considering which software and features are appropriate.
This is a proven formula for success for the customer and software provider alike. Long term relationships are created and referrals are a natural bi-product - and that’s exactly how it should be.
Steve Ashman
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