© Copyright Nostre Net
How do you choose the right technology partner for your organization? How do you sort through the marketing and sales hype? And how can you tell which vendor will be with you for the long haul and which will disappear after the sale? These are just some of the questions CIOs and IT executives face when evaluating technology solutions to business problems.
Broken promises and technology that does not live up to the marketing hype are just two results of poorly chosen technology. These common pitfalls make choosing the best technology more challenging than ever, with a seemingly endless selection of software tools that are available, along with well-funded Cloud phone system marketing that seems to say all the right things. The wrong decision can lead to a low adoption rate, frustration and a big capital loss. Even worse is being stuck on a long-term contract for software that no one uses.
Most companies do not have the luxury of an in-house advisory committee and usually have to work things out on their own.
Your goal when investing in technology is to have return of 5X. When someone in the company proposes a new tech purchase, they must think through a case as to how the company will benefit to make a 5X return on the investment. Once you have decided there is a significant value add in a purchase, here are the five-step approach to make the best decision.
Know what you want first. Develop a list of requirements that can fulfill your business strategy, link them with objectives. Outlining critical processes for your organization will help to eliminate systems that lack the functionality, as well as the ones with unnecessary tools. ideally separated into a must-have list and a nice-to-have list, it will be much easier to figure out if any given solution fits your business--and to resist 'shiny' things.
Decision makers should ask about and understand the level of customization and scalability a software solution offers. The last thing CIOs and other technology decision-makers want to be faced with is the need to re-evaluate and invest in a new solution two or three years down the road, when the existing system can't handle the company's emerging needs
If you do not have tech experts to evaluate and run software, your choice will most likely be a SaaS solution or a managed service provider. Once you are sure the solution meets your business needs, the next critical step is to verify it is secure. Ask your provider for any trusted third-party validation of their processes. Certifications such as SOC type 1 and 2 or ISO 27001 can be a good indicator.
Make sure you understand the costs. Many software providers offer a smaller subscription or purchase price but make up for it by charging excessively for implementation, training, configuration and other “add-on” services that are necessary for a successful implementation. Always keep an eye out for hidden expenses, especially “premium” support services.
Particularly organizations without access to in-house IT staff need to remember that while some solutions boast excellent feature sets, the success or failure of technology projects often comes down to the users. Is deployment easy? Is the UX simple enough for our staff to use day-to-day? Is the vendor transparent with the long-term costs? Are you able to talk to a current customer?
Not sure where to start? Talk to us today
At NativUC , We help organisations with the sourcing, provisioning and implementation of unified communication, contact centre applications and business continuity solutions.
By using NativUC you can have the confidence to get it right. You will be dealing with an expert that is not trying to ‘sell’ you anything and you get the technical knowledge, resource and experience of proven specialists.
Our Risk Free Consultation services includes: