Business Information Systems Dilemma - System Selection, Implementation and Optimization

INTRODUCTION

Think of business software as your company’s infrastructure – the “information highway” for your daily operations. Just like a network of intertwining roads, business applications need to be designed properly with the right access, interchanges and routine maintenance or there will be poor performance, lost information, backlogs, unreliable reports and costly crashes.

Every function of your business could have its own software. How many applications are currently in use within your organization – three, four, five? If these systems are not sharing information, how can you really know the health of your organization and make well-informed decisions?

For various reasons (which we’ll outline later), companies often attempt to get by with an outdated or mismatched information system even though that hampers their operations. The money they believe they are saving with “getting by” is insignificant compared to the money they are losing in inefficiencies spread throughout their daily operations.

In this series, we will help you navigate the gridlock and explain the best method to evaluate, select and implement a business application that will fuel your company’s growth. Selecting the right software starts with the right questions...

Question #1: How effectively is your business running?

Seems like a simple straightforward question, but it’s one that causes many decision makers to pause. How does the business actually run on a day-to-day basis? What are the processes and workflows? Who is responsible for them? Is it documented?

Rest assured, everyone knows how their piece of the ‘system’ works. But do they fully understand how their work interfaces with the rest of the system or are they working in a virtual silo? The end result is often multiple, stand-alone systems, like Excel and Access, running parallel to each other with no effective means to communicate or share information.

Companies need documented processes in place or they may find that “tribal knowledge” is running some of their most important business functions. When only one or two individuals know the entire system architecture and how it ‘really’ works, it puts the company at risk. Without an effective system and supporting documentation, getting quality data becomes a significant obstacle in assessing the true health of the business.

Next Week - Question #2: Do you need a new system?