It has been a few weeks since I last implemented my latest Pastel Evolution project, and seeing how the company’s employees or Pastel Evolution users are getting experts themselves is satisfying. It is satisfying in one way and sometimes cumbersome on the other because you know that your job well-done will not result in more support revenue, but that is a good testimony at least.

I was lucky with this client, most of the people was quite sharp and caught up on most ideas pretty quickly, but at one stage the CEO did ask me why I kept charging for training his accountant. I plainly said, “You surely do not pay a once-off fee for university and then stick around until you decide “the party” is over and graduate, do you?” No he said, you pay for every subject and should try and pass first time – he understood it I completed the project. Everything else went really well, i.e. the data conversion, the installation, the activation, the training and module integration.

The company had a previous SAAS based manufacturing application with the name bluebox, or something like that and although I am probably one of the most evangelical people for promoting SAAS, this software was just to complex. Well, maybe at least just too complex without proper in-depth training. In 2008 I wrote a 200 page Master’s degree research paper focussing on the alignment of software functionality and business process complexity. The results were not rocket-science albert-einstein like, but rather simple yet profound. I found that one; the software must be able to do what you want it to do. Software functionality that is misaligned with business processes requires additional development which is just a massive slept and unless you are willing to pay LOTS of money and LOTS of pain for some kind of IP or competitive advantage, well then look at software that has the right functionality…. [For crying out loud go to the US and download it from there, we live in a digital googlized world – sorry just me thinking there] and get an expert computer guy like me to come and run the project. Oh you might say, but it cost 40K more….well if you don’t do it right, save the money and rather use excel. If you are going to buy software do it right because you are probably going to change your software within 2 to 3 years anyway, ultimately losing your complete initial investment.

So the first thing was functionality. The second massive point to consider is the software’s user-friendly interface and logical process and data flow capabilities. I recently kicked out a R800K Pastel Evolution deal because the functionality for the manufacturing module was just too basic, and the user-interface and training material was not up to scratch (keep in mind I was dealing with an International Arabian client). Ultimately I did what I proposed you do above; I went to some American based software vendors and tested their software. I downloaded the software, demo it, the client was impressed and I got the deal…a massive deal. Other factors, to consider is the project leader, previous successes for the company that is doing the implementation and training, as well as the person overseeing the project from within your organisation self. If you do not have semi tech-savvy internal project champion, “trust me” costs will over-run, the schedule will be late and users will half-hearted buy into the project idea. You need a person that is willing to put his or her neck on the line to make the software, workflow, security and training all come together.

Software implementations are not an exact science, yes I have a structured methodology, but each and every project differs. Some are service, retail or basic manufacturing related on platforms like Pastel Partner, Evolution or Omni, while others are complex manufacturing like Xtuple or online SAAS based integrated solutions. No project is the same, and there is no such thing as a simple quick solution unless you use excel or a very simple one process SAAS application. If you are thinking about software and need it cheap, do me a favour, go to Incredible Connection and ask your IT friend to install it for you. You will anyway find that the advice you get at incredible connection is quite the contrary (software related) to what their name suggest, and I guarantee you will not be the last one to waste money on small business software. If you are a serious about what software can do for your business, get someone that knows what they talk about. I recently save a company R300K for looking into the software they almost bought. For doing an ERP implementation you need an IT and database expert with good project management and training capabilities. That is why many companies choose PC Plug to do their software project implementation. Do what you do best, and let me deal with your software issues. For any technical questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.