What do weight loss solutions and third party applications have in common? More than you think. The other day I was listening to the radio and I heard an ad for a weight loss product that promised to help you lose weight. It promised to do this without the need for you to change your dietary and exercise habits. I began to reflect on the same promises I have heard from third party IT application vendors. I’ve heard promises stating that their products can help improve their operations, profitability, efficiency, and so on. But again, what is conveniently absent is the need to change your processes and/or business habits and putting some effort into its implementation and administration.
I bring this up because recently in a class I’m taking, we were talking about the processes that organizations should follow when they adopt a new technology and implement it. Factors that organizations like to discuss are what is the cost benefit, how more efficient we could work, or how new and cool these applications are. So without much thinking, the organization spends millions on an application, without giving much thought to a specific question. What are the risks of implementing this solution? You might be saying, that’s obvious…..right? Well, try Googling “Failed Technology Projects”, and see what comes up.
Millions of dollars are spent each year on technology projects that fail. Do you think that the employees at these organizations one day got out of bed and said, “Boy, I can’t wait to attempt to implement a hopeless million dollar boondoggle?” Of course not. But, what they probably did was enthusiastically embraced a brilliant and noble notion of improving the organization and figured that proceeding to purchase a readymade third party solution based on a presentation and a short demo will be the answer to their problems. There are steps that should be taken before you hand over a signed check to an IT vendor. You should be excited to improve your organization. But at the same time, you need to take a step back, wait, and analyze the situation. Like in weight loss products claims, the claims of organization improvements through technology solutions may prove to be deficient. In future blog posts I’ll address what can be done to improve your chances of implementing a technology that will be successful.
About Me
- David Siddall
- Minnesota, United States
- I have 18 years of business and technical experience in local and global companies. My industry experience has been with the following information technology systems and processes: retail marketing, transportation, distribution, insurance, warehouse tracking, publishing marketing, healthcare medical reporting, healthcare billing, healthcare medical records, medical devices, accounting, and procurement, point of sale, financial banking, regulatory tracking, and several other business systems. I’ve completed various technical certifications. I’m currently attending the University of St. Thomas. I’m pursuing a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Software Management.
Just as we overweight people can be mesmerized by the promise of easy weight loss (no need to exercise!) so too can an organization be sucked in to the idea that technology by itself solves problems without effort on the part of the organization. But losing weight takes effort, and it's the same kind organizations need to implement technology: steady, constant effort and the understanding that to make it work, you have to stay in for the long run.
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