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Painful Technology Implementation


As the options increase with AI, cloud storage, and now the metaverse, companies are now seeking digital transformation as a way to increase revenue, opportunities and talent. 

Yet, technology implementations are no easy feat. They require transferring often sensitive data, extra time, and an abundance of communication. Our clients can attest, often technology implementations are painful.

Between the cost and the learning curves of implementing a new technology software, and the additional stresses of supply chain disruption, technology implementations can cause loss of revenue at worst and a frustrated team at best.

Many executives don’t realize that tech implementations don’t have to be painful. With the right implementation team, support and resources- a tech transformation should be a welcomed change management process in your business.

The problems  

With thousands of SaaS apps on the market, it can be incredibly difficult to assess which options are the best fit for your business. Without the right software, repeating the painful implementation process is a dreaded consequence. And at the same time, the right software will not solve every single problem perfectly. This often leads businesses to choose a software to answer the most immediate questions forgoing the additional research to see if it will answer questions that might arise later on in the company’s maturity. While spending more time vetting a vendor for their technology and implementation is a solution, it doesn’t answer the other underlying issues at play when it comes to poor and painful implementations. 

In our experience working with diverse companies in a multitude of industries and maturity levels, we have identified three areas as potential challenges for companies looking to undergo a digital transformation:

  • A company without a long term vision is only solving the problems at hand today. While this may ease tensions for the interim, growth can propel other challenges in processes that result in a poor software fit.
  • Leaders who have painful implementations often stretch their strongest team members and reduce capacity for team members to focus on the software implementation. 
  • Executives who don’t see Culture as an integral part of any change management process often experience more push back from their team members in adoption of new technology. 

3 Tips for a Successfully Smooth Implementation 

The problems we mention above are only a few hurdles we see leaders encounter when they describe painful technology implementations. There are more complex and nuanced challenges a team can go through. Despite the x factors, we have narrowed our tips for successful implementation down to three core drivers. 

  1. Give your team a guiding “north star”
  • Create a long term vision for the business that can be feasible 5-10 years out.
  • The vision should propel your processes and your people.
  • Set expectations on what platforms potentiality and usability are today as well as how the platforms are anticipated to perform in the future. Don’t overpromise! 
  1. Manage Resources and hire if need be
  • Leaders who are willing to see they need more personnel save themselves money. Adding additional staff in the long run allows the right people to get trained for the right positions. 
  • Investing in your strongest team players also allows your team to adapt and innovate more effectively and efficiently; when they feel supported they will go above and beyond.
  1. Your people matter as much as your processes 
  • Leaders who understand that being “agile” is not just a framework, and that culture is extremely important for long term success will find implementations smoother. The culture of your team will reflect in engagement time implementing. More time spent solving people’s problems means more delay solving for technical issues. 
  • Those who acknowledge the technology they implement is not only aiding the revenue but helping ease everyone’s daily job tasks as well receive more effective adoption. 

As the options increase on the market, it’s important to have the right resources and teams supporting your organization. That is why we are here to help! Get trained up, navigate potential future roadblocks, and find the right solution today with our team of experienced implementation experts. Not every inventory management vendor provides in depth support around your people, process, and technology so make sure to vet them closely and carefully. Remember, technology implementations don’t have to be painful.