- Andrew Eagan
4 Fears You Can Put to Rest When Implementing a New Business Application
While the benefits of technological change are often very easy to conceptualize, the barriers to implementing them frequently daunt even the most forward-thinking businesses. The prospect of undergoing all the alleged headaches that software improvements can bring makes staying in the comfortable "business-as-usual" mode a more appealing option, at least for the present. But companies cannot afford to be in this mode for too long (and hope to survive) and will eventually have to grit their teeth and initiate the necessary technological change to keep their business relevant. Fortunately, many of the common fears associated with instituting new business applications needn't be fears at all, especially when you partner with a VAR that specializes in application development. Here are four fears that we hope to put rest for you:
1. We will need to sink substantial development resource to ensure the application integrates with our existing system.
This is probably the most common fear we encounter, but also the easiest one to dispel: when you partner with a VAR that specializes in application development, like Wireless Network Solutions, you get the benefit of a consulting company that has experience in both the hardware and software components of a new business application. For our own application, Inspector+, we utilize our Android development experience to ensure that our system seamlessly integrates with our client’s existing framework before we do anything else. No development resource, in terms of time and human labor, is ever needed on our client’s part: we take care of it all.
2. Our employees won't utilize the application.
Anyone who has been in charge of implementing change knows that getting employee buy-in is crucial to the success of the initiative. New technology can often be ignored if it is too complicated to learn, or if the “old-way” is too ingrained in the company culture. However, if the application eliminates one of your employee’s age-old headaches (e.g. Inspector+ eliminates pencil and paper reporting) the buy-in comes a lot easier. For managers struggling with getting employees to accept new technology, we recommend you check out the book Leading Change by John Kotter, a resource we have found invaluable here at WNS.
3. The default application won’t match our unique operation.
Not every developer creates an application that can be tailored for unique businesses, but we believe that providing custom development is a crucial component of providing a total solution in this day and age. For example, our Inspector+ application contains custom forms that are completely unique to each business that utilizes the application. Your business needs are unique: search for companies that offer custom development alongside their application to ensure that those unique needs are met.
4. We won't get the support attention we need for the application.
This is a problem we've all encountered with (predominately) larger corporations; sometimes, they are just too big to give you the time of day. For business critical applications, this simply cannot be the case: things don’t often go wrong, but when they do, you need the assurance that you can get your application running without having to waste time with redirected phone calls and/or automated messaging . This is where smaller ISV’s excel; they are the right size to give their customers immediate attention to any problem they are experiencing with their application. Find a medium/small-sized ISV (they are many out there!) that you can trust to give you the support you need when looking to implement a new application.
We hope these points help you as you search for new ways to improve or differentiate your business. Implementing new technology isn’t always easy, but if the technology is sound, it is always worth it. Don’t let these common fears bog you down anymore; if you need help implementing technological change, you can contact us here at WNS for a free consultation.
If you would like more information about our unique Android application, Inspector+, click the button below!
