The Myth of Technology as the Panacea

A bright and shiny new accounting system or database or ERP and it is going to solve all our problems! Not so fast!

We have all been there. We have secured a new system and we are certain it is going to solve all of our woes. Six months and thousands of consulting dollars later, we are disillusioned. Why? We did our due diligence! We laid out what we needed to the account rep.

Most organizations are looking to solve problems with the best tools and technology that fits into their budgets, but are often disappointed that those tools are not the panacea that they had hoped for. What goes wrong often comes down to having a favorite ingredient in the due diligence process - the throughput - the bright and shiny new system. However, we have found that if we spend more time on the other two ingredients - the output and the inputs - we have far more success.

The Output

The output is simply what we want the system to do. It is critical to ensure that time is really invested with key stakeholders (who include folks that may not seem obvious at the start) to ensure there is a solid understanding forged through rigorous discussion about every expectation and idealized outputs of a new system will be.

Very often, there are critical stakeholders missing from the table. For example, a mid-sized organization is looking to replace its accounting system. It seems natural to have representatives from the accounting team and perhaps the HR team to caucus and discuss the outputs. However, business unit leaders, technology representation, legal department would all have a unique lens on the outputs of an accounting system that would add value to the ultimate decision.

The Throughput

Embrace the rubric! From the rigorous discussions with key stakeholders, a list of features will have emerged. Those features should be listed in a good old fashioned spreadsheet and collaboratively labeled "must haves," "nice to haves," and "would be the dream." As prospective systems come to the fore, determine if the system has the features listed.

Meanwhile, the third and often overlooked ingredient needs to be dug into!

Inputs

We have all heard the euphemism "garbage in, garbage out;" however, often, all of the data sources that will go into a system are not evaluated. It is imperative that all data inputs be mapped and evaluated for efficacy - using process improvement methodologies.

This can be time consuming, but if done well with all of the pertinent stakeholders, it can make all the difference in making a business system the panacea you had hoped for.