Replacing an aging software system? Here’s how to increase your top and bottom lines.

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Every company eventually gets to the point where they need to replace an aging software system. The old system is showing it’s age due to lack of vendor support, lack of functionality, angry users, etc. For whatever reason, it’s time to shed the old and go shopping.
Before you even research your first vendor, you should validate your business processes. Start at the root level of the value of the business, and validate how value is translated to the customer. (The immediate customer can be internal or external, but should always be linked back to satisfaction of an external customer.) For example, do you really still need to submit information to three different groups for data entry? Are there manual processes that make sense to automate? Get back to the basics of the business and don’t just look for a new system to replace exisitng functionality that may be outdated.
Look to the future. How is this part of the business changing in the face of current and strategic initiatives? Have you thought about what the business might need in terms of systems capabilities? Can you shift some of the internal workload to your customers through cloud services? (Allowing customers to have direct control in many cases can be advantageous to all parties.)
Do you plan to get back to business basics when replacing an aged system? Call me to set up a time to discuss.

© Mark Travis – All Rights Reserved

www.travis-company.com

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