As the world becomes more technologically advanced we are besieged more and more with buzzwords in IT. You've heard them all, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise project management (EPM), SQL, Office Server and SharePoint. More than likely you've heard them from your risk auditors, or perhaps even from your board members, who heard them bandied about on the golf course with other execs.
Perhaps even more likely, you've heard them from that slick and cool looking sales guy who did a demo to you last week. Either way, there is a perceived pressure to get with it (buy some buzzword software) or get left behind.
Now consider the current economic markets, and the effect it has had on pricing and IT budgets. Consider the complexity of IT today. Now is not the time to make hasty decisions. You really need to consider whether the product you are looking at can truly deliver what your organisation needs, and improve your environment.
Implementing solutions for the sake of implementing solutions leave companies with a distinct lack of faith in IT and administrators. I've seen so many companies where the solution could not deliver what they had in mind because the decision to purchase was based on a buzzword without detailed information of the impact and actual capability of the product; without a clear answer to the question: “Does the product support the business needs of the company?”
Many of these companies end up spending so much money on these products and projects that seem to carry on into infinity that they reached a point where they “settled for less” just to end the pain and expense.
Microsoft has released a vast number of products in the last two years. The core thread that seems to run through all of it is SQL server and SharePoint interaction capabilities. This does not mean you should run out and buy SharePoint right now. Rather call in the experts and get a very clear understanding of what the product can and cannot do; find out which product (if any) can do what you require. Business should not align with IT systems, but rather IT systems should align with business. Involve your IT administrator and make the decision-makers part of the discovery process.
Your network administrator is one of your most valued assets when it comes to understanding your environment and how a solution might fit or fail to fit into you environment. Involve them at every level of the decision-making process. You may well buy the right product but the wrong version!
Clearly specify exactly what it is you are looking for; what you want the system to do and achieve. Without very clear guidelines, there are too many systems that can roughly do what you want without any one of them doing exactly what you have in mind.
The saying luck favours the prepared is always true. The better you plan, the higher your success rate. Remember budgets are tight and you need to absolutely maximise them.
Auditors always want what they want, even though their requirements might not suit your organisation. Make your decisions based on facts and really expert information, and then align them with what auditors want if it suits your business model. Board members may have the best interest of your organisation at heart, but they're often and rightly removed from the day to day business of your business. Take their suggestions with a pinch of salt and follow it with a giant scoop of expert advice. As for the cool-looking sales dude; remember the current economic market, and how tight money is? He's feeling it too and he's prepared to tell you that CRM will make you coffee and send your wife roses on her birthday just to get that commission.
During the present economic climate it really is important that IT professionals plan clearly for what they require so that real value is added to the organisation. Certainly our IT proposals must be submitted with a huge dose of business benefits so that all stakeholders are quickly able to see the technological as well as financial advantages found within.
Written by Joe Pieterse, technical manager at Praxis Computing.
Telephone: 011 45400900
http://www.praxis.co.za
Share
Editorial contacts