Without access to experts through consulting services, the business impact of an enterprise’s software development may disappoint IT and business heads explains Ash Sawhney at Zebra Technologies.
Businesses spend a lot of time and money researching, building and launching all sorts of enterprise software solutions. However, there is a risk around a successful software rollout—the application is deprioritised, and the focus moves to bringing the next software platform online. That means employees will be asked, or told, to use a software tool that may not be properly optimised for their jobs – or ready to use at all.
If many of the software features designed to enhance business operations, streamline processes, were not part of the project team’s defined minimally viable product, MVP criteria, even though they would have been MVP criteria among the intended beneficiaries – employees, then you risk losing money on your software investment on the go-live date.
Software requires technical support and feature optimisation, just like hardware, but in-house resources will need to move on to the next big rollout or the backlog of tickets built while they have prioritised a software launch. And hiring new in-house teams dedicated to ongoing software maintenance and optimisation will take time, including addressing learning curves.
Without access to experts via ongoing consulting services, the business impact of your software investment may disappoint. Now’s the time to tap into the consulting services offered by your software provider. Besides making it easy to transition into the maintenance phase, the outside consulting team will amplify the value of the software in many ways.
#1 Tailored expertise
Around the clock access to a team comprised of seasoned professionals with extensive knowledge and experience in your industry, not to mention the most experience configuring your deployed software to do exactly what you need it to.
By collaborating closely with you, your employees, IT team and other stakeholders, the software supplier’s consulting services team will determine the specific needs of each stakeholder and then identify which of the software platform’s features and functionalities align with this unique set of business goals.
Better yet, they will be able to guide your team through the process of turning on and integrating each recommended feature within your tech stack and workflows. Depending on your service level agreement, SLA, they may even be able to execute that integration on your behalf.
For example, for software platform implementations, consulting teams can collaborate closely with customers to design a solution that is tailored to their specific needs.
The functional consultants and implementation specialists identify and leverage the features and functionalities of the software that align with each customer’s unique business goals; the same is then captured in an extensive solution document and delivered to the customer. However, with other software platform implementations, the consultant team can work with software engineers or partners to complete the feature activation.
#2 Hidden strengths
The beauty of software is that constant innovation is happening, and new updates are being pushed via the new releases all the time. But given that new features and product enhancements are introduced regularly, it can be hard to keep up with what is available unless your entire job is tracking these updates.
Considering your company does not have someone focused full time on one or two software applications, it is important to lean into your software provider’s consulting team, as their job is to stay abreast of these changes. They can highlight lesser-known features to you that may significantly impact your operations.
It is often by leveraging these hidden gems that organisations find it easiest to streamline workflows, automate processes, and unlock new efficiencies that will save time, reduce costs, and boost productivity.
In recent software consulting sessions, the consultant proposed simple configuration changes to enhance the exception management journey for the retail customer’s store managers. Deployment of the proposed solution resulted in a time savings of approximately one hour per store per week, 500 stores * 1 hour * 52 weeks = 26,000 hours and improved the store manager experience.
This was a big win for the retailer. The impact of that one saved hour reverberated across the entire operation, positively impacting store employees and customers.
#3 Knowledge amplification
Consulting services go beyond simply instructing you and your employees on how to use specific features. Instead, they aim to empower your teams with a deep understanding of the software’s capabilities, enabling them to become self-sufficient analytical people and innovators.
Furthermore, by imparting their knowledge, consultants empower everyone in your organisation to harness the software’s full potential, not just IT or end users. This helps foster a culture of continuous improvement and growth.
In one recent software deployment, the customer was advised to change the scope of completing additional configurations to 24 hours of additional training instead. This allowed the functional consultant and the implementation specialist to impart their knowledge and enabled the customer to become self-sufficient for all such future configuration changes.
#4 Software optimisation
It is no secret that inefficient software usage can result in wasted resources and unnecessary expenses – or that constantly unlocking new value is the best way to render software useful, the key to getting your money’s worth. One of the main reasons why many organisations opt into consulting services support is because these experts are highly skilled at recommending software optimisations that eliminate redundancies.
They are also adept at fine-tuning processes and configurations and identifying areas where somebody may need additional training. By helping to ensure your deriving maximum value from your software, consulting teams are helping you achieve a higher ROI, making ongoing consulting services a cost-effective choice eventually.
Moving ahead
Technology is ever evolving, and challenges may arise as your business expands or adapts to new market trends. With ongoing consulting services, you will have constant access to a dependable partner who can provide initiative-taking support and problem-solving.
Consultant teams can function as trusted advisors for customers and ensure that their software aligns with their evolving business requirements and helps them stay ahead of the curve.
Investing in ongoing consulting services is not an expense—it is an investment in long-term success. By working with professional services team from software suppliers, you can leverage their consultants’ expertise, unearth hidden value, and amplify the impact of the software on your business operations.
Remember, the software you have invested in is only powerful if people use it. The ongoing support you will receive from the consulting services team will help you unlock its full value so employees will buy in, and you will get your money’s worth.
Key takeaways
- If software features designed to enhance business were not part of the minimally viable product then you risk losing money on your software investment.
- Software requires technical support and feature optimisation, just like hardware, but in-house resources will need to move on to the next big rollout.
- Hiring new in-house teams dedicated to ongoing software maintenance and optimisation will take time, including addressing learning curves.
- Without access to experts through consulting services, the business impact of your software investment may disappoint.
- Besides making it easy to transition into the maintenance phase, the consulting team will amplify the value of software in many ways.
- The consulting services team will determine specific needs of each stakeholder and then identify which features align with business goals.
- It is important to lean into your software provider’s consulting team, as their job is to stay abreast of changes.
- Consultants empower everyone in your organisation to harness the software’s potential, which foster a culture of improvement and growth.
- One of the main reasons why organisations opt into consulting services is because these experts are skilled at recommending software optimisation that eliminate redundancies.
- By ensuring you derive maximum value from your software, consulting teams are helping you achieve a higher ROI.
