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| Is your software vendor delivering? |
   
Posted Date: 11/01/2012
By Stuart Bennie*
Ask any retailer their views on software vendors and software implementations.
Then take a step backwards.
Regrettably software vendors are notorious for over promising and under delivering.
Or are they?
There is hardly a good story out there regardless of the size and stature of the software company. In fact a good rule of thumb if you don’t have the right advisers is to take the time and cost estimate for a software implementation and double it. Chances are you won’t be wrong by much.
But is it always the software vendors to blame - and if so, to what degree?
Undoubtedly some responsibility is often theirs but there are nine tough questions retail CEOs need to ask themselves.
Did your CIO do due diligence?
Often CIOs assume that a comprehensive software package will include certain basics. This is not always the case so buyer beware. If you need to pay for modifications because you didn’t check all the boxes, you can hardly blame the vendor. And ask the CIO why he missed it.
Is your CIO or IT manager coping?
Often CIOs are overwhelmed by large projects. Many have grown up through the ranks and while they usually have a good general knowledge of IT, many have not handled complex projects. It is not uncommon that a CIO finds himself out of his depth.
Do you have a competent Project Manager?
Sometimes the CIO and project manager are joined at the hip and are very supportive of each other. This can be a good thing, but it can also lead to a host of problems and cover ups. A good project manager pays attention to detail but does not allow a project to stall over the minutiae. Momentum is important and when the rot sets in, it feeds on itself.
Do you know the right questions to ask?
If you are a retail CEO and answer ‘yes’ to this question you may be better off exploring opportunities outside retail. CEOs should not and do not know the ‘right’ questions to ask. Hence so many projects go off the rails and the CEO is unhappily ignorant of the reasons.
Do you have an independent ‘auditor’
The smart CEOs hire themselves someone who does know the ‘right’ questions to ask, both of the vendor and of the staff within IT and that includes the CIO. This person must clearly not report to the CIO but rather to the CEO. The CEO will then know what is really happening within their company.
Do you believe that ‘most’ of the blame rests with the vendor?
If the answer is ‘yes’, you may be right. But then again, you may be wrong. The vendor always cops most of the blame. If your company accepts no blame whatsoever, someone is kidding themselves.
Do you think that the ‘failed’ or severely deficient implementation is having an effect within your company?
If the answer is no, you are delusional. The staff always know when an implementation is critically ill. They may say the right things but there is always underlying damage to staff morale. They may even jump ship in their frustration.
Do you have sound corporate governance?
Most public companies do have good governance. Most good private companies do likewise and make the tough decisions in the absence of shareholders insisting on heads rolling.
Do you understand that because your implementation is sick, that you are impacting on your fellow retailers?
Some short sighted retailers may relish the thought that their competitors are being starved of resources by the stretched vendor who is trying to resuscitate the half dead patient. However the opposite is true. A strong and healthy vendor has many reasonably satisfied clients. When they cannot satisfactorily service their client base because of one errant retailer, everyone suffers in the longer term.
While the above questions are directed at the retailer, it is of course crucial that the ‘right’ software vendor is selected. Many retailers try to choose the vendor themselves. Some do a good job. Some don’t. The choice of vendor is a complex issue and goes way beyond the functionality of the software.
In fact many other criteria including cultural fit are most important factors for a long term satisfactory relationship.
*Stuart Bennie is a retail consultant at Impact Retailing and can be contacted at stuart@impactretailing.com.au or 0414 631 702.
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Friday, January 13, 2012 by Robert May
I can't speak for all retail software vendors, however from our point of view we are very conscious of the issues you have raised and strive very hard to minimise these.
What you say is true and we have to plan and analyse new installations to such a high degree to cover not only client shortfalls in IT but typically other areas as well such as business, financial and staff administration. If we don't then our industry reputation is on the line and we don't get any more referrals.
On the plus side though I believe that all of our clients are very happy with our retail software solutions.
Rob
Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Anonymous
Brilliant!
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