As the President and CEO of a successful web-based software company, my eyes have been opened to the challenges our customers face when implementing our software.
The Back Story
A decision was made over a year ago to create a software solution that would completely run the internal processes of our company. Looking back on the fits and starts that we experienced, it is clear to me why some customers have long implementations with plenty of re-work to finally get it right in the end.
Originally we used Quickbooks to do our financials and a variety of other 3rd party companies for the other processes we wanted to automate. We used our accounting firm to do the back end bookkeeping using QB to be the collector of the data.
However, after many disappointing customer service experiences we decided mid-year to transfer the data collection to our own internal system. The user interface was more user-friendly and changes could be made by our development team. It was the right decision, but needed a more defined timeline and processes.
Eating Our Own Dog Food
When the decision was made for us to “eat our own dog food” we started out on a path to get it done. However, as typically happens, the team that was responsible for helping to get this implemented (including me) already had their “day jobs” and things fell by the wayside.
Question: How can you prepare yourself for the disruption and drain on resources that is about to happen and that will temporarily change how you work, feel and behave over the next few weeks or months?
Answer: You follow a well-though-out plan. Today, we use a variety of plans to help clients implement their software. Each plan is a little different and allows our team to match a series of processes that may best fit into a client's plan. The key here is to be thinking about a plan - way before you ever start implementing your software. Your plan must cover people, process and product. Your plan must take "disruption" into account. You also need to include a strong communication plan to explain things to your team(s) along the way. You need to know that things will not be ideal for a little while... and that's OK.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
We finally had a compelling event to finalize this project and I must say it’s been a big time drain, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our new system will be end to end for our company. From serving as our CRM when a prospect first comes into our view to creating a quote - this system tracks all communications. The contract creation will track all the line items tied to invoicing, project management, time tracking and billable hours will be included. Then the billable hours tied to line items will automatically feed into our invoicing system. We then will be able to track receivables and when payments are received they will automatically feed into the main system.
Simply put, one system, one interface and everything I need, and my team needs to make good decisions... will be at our fingertips.
Remember to Push Through the Pain
So although an implementation of this nature can cause disruption, drain resources and seem never-ending... sometimes, these are necessary evils on the road to success. if you did your due diligence and created an implementation plan to help manage the change and the many moving parts - remember to push through the pain. Clearly there will be some pain during the implementation. However, it is equally clear - this pain will be well worth it in the end.
