Who in this network never tried to switch off and on any electronic device to make that work again? And how many times it worked? Probably more than 60% of the times.
The featured image in this article is taken from one of the most British and hilarious sitcom called The IT Crowd, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan. Just 26 episodes of pure geeky fun. And we can not even start (and being friends!) before you watching the first EPIC 2-min of the show:
Software isn’t magic
While hardware is critical to the usage (you can’t put a Ferrari engine into a Mr. Bean’s Mini car body), software is “the soul” that can spark the rocket. But guess what? Sometimes breaks down.
Over the years, I’ve seen many organizations envision software to be a thought-free “set it and forget it” solution. This is never the case. Unfortunately, they also often end up feeling like they have wasted their money and not gotten what they ultimately need but the point is that they were just not prepared for it.
Freddie, probably this is also your fault, scattering dreams of magic since 1986 with The Queen..
It’s a kind of magicIt’s a kind of magicA kind of magicOne dream, one soulOne prize, one goalOne golden glance of what should beIt’s a kind of magic
“We’re moving to an internal solution”
When they have experienced the failure, or worse, they don’t know what a digital asset really is, easy peasy they are jumping to the other side of the river and they want to magically build their own solution. Great, but keep in mind that you have to:
- find the right developer (good luck, do you have enough experience on recognizing them?)
- if you identify him/her, then hire him/her (good luck once again, do you know you are about to spend 20x or more than a subscription of an existing product on the market?..)
- spend months (I can not even count how many.. no less than 6 or 8) to just write requirements and specifications
- spend additional months on building something probably worse than solutions already on the market, tested and improved hundreds of time by others
- spend extra months because you have to test it, and make it work for others
- oh and by the way, finally you have to MAINTAIN it forever (this means extra cost about hosting, cybersecurity, distribution speed, regular updates, new features and so on)
But sure, makes total financial and resource sense. If 20k and have it now seems too much, imagine 400k and 12-month work.. but “at least at the end it is MINE”.
I think it’s just a control thing. Some companies would rather own a crappy internal tool than rely on external software.
But creating software is not a funny DIY hobby.
Your organization could end up wasting valuable time and money on a software solution that doesn’t work
Here’s my best advice: you have to answer three preliminary questions:
- Are the right processes in place? If you don’t have a well-thought out evaluation and data collection plan, including key data elements you need to collect and who will collect it, you probably aren’t ready for new software.
- Will this software meet your organization’s needs? Make sure you have a good understanding of what the software can do, as well as any limitations. Provide the vendor with a detailed, written description of how your program works to ensure it can track service provision for each client. Create a written analysis plan to share with the vendor as well to make certain they are aware of your reporting requirements. It’s also important to understand the amount of support the vendor will provide to assist with troubleshooting the new software until it is fully functional, as well as the additional cost of any such support.
- Do you have the right people in place to support new software implementation? You will need to appoint at least one staff person to oversee software implementation, and consulting resources may also be helpful to support the process. It’s important to select someone who is extremely detail-oriented and interested in learning how to use the software in order for them to be successful. If you are already short-staffed, or staff are overwhelmed with their current responsibilities, it might not be the right time to take on a new initiative or you have just to trust digital consultants to guide you through this journey.
If you don’t have these three questions above answered, this is what you are going to get, my Star Wars Padawans:
Now it’s time to take a break for Christmas Season, and it’s time to relax.You know what that means: a glass of wine, your favorite easy chair and of course, a book or a vinyl playing on the background, board games and great stories by the fireplace. So, go on, and indulge yourself, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and just enjoy!
Switch off the phones. See you all in 2026.
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Stay data-hungry. Stay data-foolish.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Digital Consultant