Our Formula for success: (SS + A + IT)p
Given the decision to incorporate business management software or a new solution for specific areas of business, a series of questions arise:
Do I really know what I want / need? Where and how do I find it? Will it be a system that adapts to me or will it be a made-to-measure corset? Will my staff perceive it as a help or as an inconvenience? ?, Who implements it has sufficient experience to do it well? Can it provide additional value in this process?
From our experience we expose some of the keys that can ensure success.
The information systems must have a high percentage of the functionality required by the company, and in addition, they must be adaptable to change with it.
The adaptations to the specific needs of each company respond, generally, to the differentiating elements with the competition. Starting from a standard solution, it must enable the agile implementation of the requirements that are not initially supported.
Obviate the differentiating elements by the implementation of a standard system, trying to force the company to the system, is one of the serious errors in the implementation of a business management solution. Equally erroneous is to focus on the exceptions, making them the essence of the system: it would involve particularizing processes that are not so relevant that they should be reviewed for alternatives that are included in the regular management procedures.
Recall that information systems are tools, by themselves do not manage companies. Yes, they will give us the opportunity to examine the business processes to improve them.
After these considerations, the first two variables of the formula will be:
SS: Standard solution that functionally covers a high percentage.
A: Adaptation capacity of the solution for specific areas.
Next, we frequently observe that there are business activities for which those responsible require specialized solutions (or already have them): Production, CRM, Maintenance, etc …
In these cases, the most interesting option is to integrate the systems: controlled communication between different company activities leads to an efficient use of information.
Thus, the third variable of our formula will be:
IT: Integration tools to incorporate applications (own or third-party) that cover specialized activities.
Finally, the formula would not be complete without considering the most important factor in the entire management process: people (variable P).
Those that ultimately determine the success or failure of any implementation are the work teams, internal and external, that address each project.
The same tool, implemented by different companies (people), achieves different results; A team that does not drive change can lead to the failure of the project.
With the ordered combination of these factors, we ensure success in the implementation of a management solution in the company.
