Every business will at some time in its life ask the question, “do we continue to use this business system, or should we replace it”?
Many organisations reach a point in their life where replacing a key business system becomes essential. Most often this occurs as the incumbent system is no longer supported or simply so old that it is an impediment to the organisation’s progress.
Unfortunately, many organisations do not recognise the opportunity that this situation presents and hurriedly commence the process of finding a replacement without stopping and asking themselves the question:
"How can we improve what we’re doing to generate efficiencies, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs and improve profitability?
The replacement of a core business system offers the opportunity to completely review and re-evaluate all existing business processes and the fundamental values and beliefs that have evolved in the business over the years. It’s an opportunity for revitalisation, but all too often organisations simply replace what they had with a new one and don’t take the opportunity to make the evolutionary change that the opportunity presents.
The Classic Mistake in Replacing a Business System.
The classic mistake in deciding to replace a business system is not fully understanding the capabilities of the system that you intend to replace. Too often the incumbent business application is discarded without the organisation fully understanding the capabilities of the most recent release of the system and it’s fit with the ongoing business requirements. It’s essential to evaluate the incumbent system on an equal basis as the alternatives, as upgrading a system that you already own is usually the cheapest option. This assumes that other factors such as vendor support for the system is satisfactory.
If you and contemplating reviewing or replacing a business system or have need of one of the services that we offer, please contact: Don Glenn at don.glenn@zephyrit.co.nz or +64 21 522 362
Comments