This article, provides a list of what to avoid at the different business stages while deploying technology. 

1) Not aligning technology with business 

We focus a lot on the business vision and objectives in our articles. We believe these should be the driver and lighthouse for anything you do within your enterprise. Everything should be aligned with the business strategy, including the technology strategy. You may have two businesses that are in the same industry and seemingly doing the same activities but they wouldn’t necessarily have the same vision and objectives. One business might focus on customer service, another might focus on fast delivery, a third might focus on the quality of products and services. Therefore, a technology strategy would be tailored to each business accordingly.

2) Not establishing processes around the deployed systems 

While it is important to select the right technology and applications to fulfill your business needs, it is equally important to establish processes and procedures around them. You do not want to leave it to the employee to figure out the format of that mandatory data field. For example, the quotation number in some accounting systems is a mandatory data field and without the proper instructions that define the required format of that field, employees might end up entering quotation numbers that are not consistent with what their colleagues are entering. We have also seen some POS systems that allow the duplication of records for the same client and the ability to put different formats in a data field for different records. When instructions (such as how to load data) are vague or non-existent, then it is not possible to generate the necessary reports needed to support the business decisions.

3) Lack of senior management support 

For far too long, IT teams have been considered support units with minimal weight and importance in an enterprise. We believe that enterprises that recognize the strategic role that IT can play would achieve better and faster business outcomes. When senior management support the teams implementing IT solutions, the probability that employees commit to the utilization of these systems substantially increases. The last thing business owners want is to spend their money on a system that sits idle without any use in the enterprise.

4) Lack of training 

Employees need training especially when a new strategy or process is introduced. Training is also a good opportunity to remind them of the business vision and how the new systems and processes are linked to it.

5) Lack of monitoring and follow up 

Along with the technology implementation comes the need for establishing metrics that enable management to follow up the performance of systems and associated processes. Most business owners monitor their business performance and have corresponding KPIs but we don’t see many monitoring how their systems and processes perform. This monitoring is vital to ensure that systems are available when needed, that employees are utilizing the systems correctly and that the data quality in these systems is to the level required to generate accurate reports.

6) Reviews and audits are not performed 

There is always room for improvement especially as the business evolves and grows. It is recommended to have frequent audits on the enterprise’s systems and data. This allows the enterprise to identify and bridge gaps early and fast. Audits are also an opportunity to identify opportunities that could improve the business. Beyond the frequent audits, enterprises would need additional audits when the business plans to introduce new products/services or when it pivots to a different industry or when it expands to new markets. Continuous improvement is vital and you will see the effects of this work in your customers’ satisfaction.