Common Sense IT

The benefit of technology is in the implementation

Computer systems power businesses.  A common question and issue faced by many businesses is how best to invest in their computer applications.  Of course, you want to invest as little as possible for the biggest bang possible.

While the most flexible solution is to write and own your own system – so it works exactly how you want it to – that approach may not be the most effective use of technology for your enterprise.  Owning the code means that you pay for all the bugs and all the fixes and all the upgrades to that software.   The same could be said for where your applications are hosted – on premise or at a hosting provider.  Do you need to own your server hardware and Internet bandwidth?  There are pros/cons and tradeoffs of any approach.

Packaged applications (either on-demand or on-premise) today, are being made available in a more modular fashion on all available operating systems and platforms.  And with the advent of  Web Services, the platform question doesn’t need to be a driver of your selection (for example, you don't have to have everything written in .NET or in the same language).  It’s possible to more easily integrate disparate systems and put together  a “composite application” that will provide business benefit more easily than at any time in the past.

The issue is that we (technologists) hype different technologies, like Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), and get enamored with the technology, and forget that without effective implementations, that technology will never produce anything of value.  Hence the recent post “SOA enters the trough of disillusionment” – you bet – because it’s not about the technology.

We forget that the technology itself will never provide the “silver bullet” that companies have been hoping will arrive, for as long as I can remember.  The true silver bullet is the work that is done to intelligently leverage available technologies into the applications that benefit the business, and deliver the intended results.  It's all in how you use the technology.

What’s still needed is the strategy and the overall blueprint of an organization and how it can utilize technology from the available options – how much custom code is necessary?  Where should an organization invest to get the best leverage for their business?  And this sort of strategy requires thought – but doesn’t need to take forever, which is another concern of most business people – analysis paralysis.

The bottom line is that effective applications are delivered when the IT projects and processes are managed thoughtfully – when business users are getting what they need, and being more efficient and effective in accomplishing their strategies.

Why the success of the on-demand vendors like Sales Force dot com?  Because they deliver what is of value to the business in recording and utilizing the information they need – quickly and effortlessly.  They have implemented technology effectively, delivering results to the business units using their “software as a service” model.

I’ll leave you with the post from Mitch Betts blog post at Computerworld: 
- to me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.

Using Technology to Integrate Marketing with Sales

With the advent of the Internet as a viable application platform, taking your business, or aspects of your business online is now an imperative.  New methods of servicing customers, new methods of servicing and empowering your partners, or interacting with your vendors – it’s no longer a question of do we need to change, it’s a question of how do we start?  How do we tackle it – how do we create an Internet-based presence for our organization that will deliver what we need?  AND can we afford it?

Business people don’t have a lot of trust in their Information Technology counterparts to deliver what is needed, within the budget, and timeframe necessary.  And given the past, and present demands on limited IT resources, it’s no wonder this state of affairs exists.

You're probably using CRM, have a website, have some sort of ability to allow employees access to internal resources through an intranet -- but how do you integrate those applications to provide the functionality that people need without having to access multiple systems separately?  And, oh yeah, do it well, and not break the bank?

While large organizations can afford to try and fail many times, if you’re a small to mid-size business, you can’t afford to take that sort of gamble.  You’ve got to create not only a successful presence, you’ve got to create a ‘capacity’ that allows you to be flexible and nimble with your online presence. And  you don't have forever to figure it out.

There are a number of technologies and frameworks that can be deployed that will deliver an online presence, or fulfill on specific sets of functionality – but have you expanded your ‘capacity’ to create, modify, expand, and experiment in that online space?   Can you create new initiatives easily and quickly?  Are you nimble when it comes to providing online servicing of customers, partners, and prospects?

It's possible to move forward and create this kind of infrastructure without breaking the bank.  We've worked successfully with our customers to create these sorts of "composite applications" -- leveraging our extensive set of ready-to-go functionality, that can be completely customized and integrated with existing applications through a Web Services interface, or through data level integration, depending upon the available technologies nd preferences of our customers. 

Check out Optimize Magazine's articles on "Designing Applications for Constant Change" and "What's Next for Web Services" to get familiar with what's emerging and happening in the realm of leveraging technology for business benefit.

For more general information about Service Oriented Architecture, check out the following white paper, "Service-Oriented Architecture: A Strategy Brief".

In future posts, we'll continue to expand upon what's possible and how it's getting done.  Working with a vendor who can help you think it through and be successful is a key to successful implementations.

Does IT Improve Business Performance?

Optimize Magazine recently posted a new article in the  Business Leadership section, entitled, "Does IT Improve Business Performance?"  --- Evidently a new McKinsey study shows a "clear" connection between good business management and good IT management. 

The McKinsey study looks at 3 distinct areas of operations -- lean manufacturing, performance management (HR), and talent management.  It's not clear to me that their findings are accurate.

To review, their study of 100 manufacturing companies (in those 3 areas mentioned above) found that IT investments have little hope of making an impact on a company's bottom line UNLESS they are accompanied by first-rate management practices.

In my experience, sometimes effective leveraging of IT has an impact for the business regardless of management being perfect or "right."  To say that things have to be "right" proposes an atmosphere of caution and could inhibit a company from making an IT investment that in fact, could drive a bunch of change and result in improved business performance.

We worked directly with a manufacturing company's sales and marketing function -- putting together a sales portal and partner extranet that provided the information necessary for sales folks and partners to be more effective, AND hooked into backend CRM systems easily -- saved their sales people 8 hours per week of administrative overhead!  Allowing their partners to record their active deals provided visibility to the full sales pipeline that allowed the company to pay attention where it was needed. 

In fact, through NO or very little management changes (in fact some of the key management positions changed hands during this process) or having even the "right" management in terms of talent management or performance management -- but through effective IT implementation -- this company had it's highest revenue quarter EVER in it's 10 year history!  Now that is ROI -- directly from an IT investment, and fulfilling on the company's objective of increasing revenues dramatically.

So while we can have our heads in the clouds and look at perfect and right process -- there are effective uses of technology that can improve business performance -- you have to be looking in the right places.

Leveraging Technology for Business Bang!

When I think about the opportunities that exist today for businesses to really leverage technology for true business benefit, and then think about IT departments and the experience that the business has dealing with their IT departments, we've made very little progress in having internal IT departments really be an extension of the business, that enables and enhances the businesses ability to fulfill on their mission and objectives.

I just came across a Forrester Research report from April of this year, entitled,"IT and Business Alignment:  Are We There Yet?"  by Craig Symons.

My reaction to that whitepaper was one of irritation.  Craig's solution is measure, measure, measure -- and yes, while Information Technology and systems need to be measured, the suggestions for measurement that include "the number of joint IT/business unit planning meetings or the number of IT steering committee meetings", because "Holding frequent meetings between IT managers and business unit managers will bring more opportunities to the surface and solidify a comfort level", fail to have me understand how there will be better alignment  at all.  It's like saying, "let's form a committee to address this" -- and we all know our reaction to that statement -- and it isn't that things will move forward easily and smoothly, or be more effective.

George Eby Mathew , in his blog called "Guruspeak: Why IT Management Matters", posted a topic in June of this year, Getting Beyond the Futile Debate: Making IT matter, and I've summarized a few key items from that post:

1. “Not long ago, IT systems were viewed as the most difficult element to change when implementing large, strategic projects. IT is sometimes viewed as the most difficult to change rated equally with corporate culture. And from the perspective of the senior management IT gets in the way of getting important things done.”   In my experience, one of the big problems with IT folks is that they love to analyze a problem to death -- and then apply the textbook perfect solution -- except that in reality - it is the source of failed projects!   Don't get me wrong, the antithesis is also true --  where IT  doesn't do the thinking, and slaps a system into place that creates more problems than it solves in the name of being "responsive" and "giving the business what they need."
2. “Technology must enable changes to achieve either business-valued cost reductions or revenue-enhancement results to matter. We know IT does add value because poor IT decisions can detract from equity value while good IT decisions can add to equity value.”  Exactly. 

The issue facing IT and the business it supports is a thorny one.  For as long as I can remember, business people have an adverse reaction when IT is mentioned, like they don't and won't ever understand technology, and the IT department oftentimes has an arrogant attitude about how technology "ought" to be delivered to the business.

What's needed are business people who understand the ways that technology can benefit their business and can challenge IT to provide what they need.

What's needed are CIO's that understand the business as well as technology AND can cultivate people in their IT groups that can actually identify the real "problem" that needs to be addressed -- which many times is different from what the business will say is the problem -- so you've got to be two-headed about it -- serve the business users, and deliver what they need (not necessarily what they say they need) -- and you know you've done this when they are delighted by what they get and it makes their job easier.

Finally, there needs to be some common sense applied to how technology is selected and delivered, so that the business doesn't wait forever for IT to deliver what it needs.

And quite possibly, IT could leverage outside expertise much more effectively, and reduce the backlog that frustrates their business counterparts.  While written from a marketing perspective, a recent post at the Marketing Interactions  blog, entitled Effective Marketing IT Projects with Limited Expertise addresses this from a business user perspective, and introduces what is possible.

What's your experience with leveraging technology effectively -- and working with your IT groups?

Security: A look at SSL

High on the list of integration concerns, that is, making two applications talk to each other and share information or data, is ensuring that security exists between the two applications.

Another security concern is that if you choose an on-demand vendor or system, that information your company owns is sitting outside of your corporate firewall.  How do you ensure that data is secure?

Many times, not knowing how to examine the issue or ask the right questions gets in the way of a company choosing the best solution for their needs.  This is the tail (of security) wagging the dog (business need and the best functional solution).

I am interested in starting a series of posts that will explore and examine the whole notion of security in a way that will make sense to non-technical folks, so that any issues that arise in the application evaluation process can be thoroughly examined and explored so the best solution can be selected.

The internet has brought to light the need for security, and most of us use the internet to access our bank statements, purchase products or services, and send and receive all manner of emails.

Most of us are familiar with the lock at the bottom of our browser that shows up when we are viewing something securely, or we are completing our credit card purchases.  That is the main security technology that most of us are familiar with -- SSL:  Secure Sockets Layer.

About.com  has the following definition of SSL:

"SSL security technology helps to improve the safety of Internet communications. SSL is a standard for encrypted client/server communication between network devices.

A network protocol, SSL runs on top of TCP/IP. SSL utilizes several standard network security techniques including public keys, symmetric keys, and certificates. Web sites commonly use SSL to guard private information such as credit card numbers."

The Visa website talks about SSL like this:

"SSL provides you with sound privacy protection by encrypting the channel of communication between you and the consumer. Using a mathematical formula, SSL puts the information you exchange into a complex code. Think of it as a kind of armor over the information. Even if intercepted, your data would be extremely difficult to read."

Basically, SSL provides point-to-point security between Server A and Server B, so that data that passes between the two applications is secure in it's transport.

To truly integrate applications safely, however, there are a few more security concerns that we'll cover in subsequent posts... just know that distributed systems have existed for over 20 years, and the Internet is making it easier and easier to create the cross-organizational integration of work and systems that will lead to greater productivity and greater potential for effectively using technology for business advantage.

Part 5: Four Steps to ensuring marketing and brand consistency across sales and channel partners

Automate Redundant Processes -- the rewards of effectively using technology

With this technology in place (see previous posts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, or Part 4), the company gathered feedback on what was working. One of the biggest improvements the sales team acknowledged was centralized information and access to the right tools. They reported saving eight hours a week by not entering information in multiple places or having to search for what they needed.

Rolling this out to channel partners was another challenge. Prior to the centralized system, channel partners’ plans for each fiscal year were tracked manually in Word documents. They remained static and allowed the channel management team limited visibility into deals in progress.

This changed when the partner extranet was adopted and the business planning process became an interactive tool that both the partner and the channel team could access.  Updates now happen dynamically as the year progresses. And because there is now visibility into channel activities, sales and marketing can provide useful, directed information to help partners close sales.

In the end, the technology exists to power sites with real-time updating, administration that makes life easier for your personnel, and tools to help sales and channel partners shrink sales cycles and close more deals.  Any website can push, stack, or list information, but the portal that puts the right information at sales’ fingertips when they need it is ultimately the key to a unified brand. 

Part 4: Four Steps to ensuring marketing and brand consistency across sales and channel partners

Create Trust

A bunch of the items being covered in this multi-post article might seem like "what does that have to do with technology and using it to fulfill business goals!" -- but, common sense utilization of technology, when you think about it, requires that you look holistically at your processes and business culture as well.  This blog will always try to bring together both perspectives. The more successful you are at providing technology that helps people do their jobs, and makes their life easier, the more trust you build!  In fact, when thinking about building or creating trust, check out 5 reasons people don't share -- especially since providing effective technology solutions for sales and marketing includes sharing successes and learnings, and having your sales folks and partners register their sales opportunities!

Imagine being able to launch products faster -- getting your sales folks up to speed quickly... Read on with the scenario of what's possible when a company uses technology effectively...

The company discovered they could quickly launch a product site and get their sales people in front of prospects.  What they still needed to address was that sales knew the right things to say to each prospect. Sales tools, such as product comparisons and deal registries created to accomplish this, became an important element in rebuilding the sales force’s trust in technology. In addition, it fostered adoption because it made their jobs easier.

By packaging relevant research and marketing information about competitors’ products into searchable, configurable results, sales people could compare features important to their prospect, with competitive products side-by-side. This ability helped sales more effectively and consistently position products relative to the competitors and close more deals.

What online tools does your sales force have available that assists them in being effective everyday?  Post your comments and thoughts here!

CRM - The On Demand or On Premise Question

Much has been written about CRM On Demand versus the traditional CRM packaged applications that are hosted on your own servers.  The arguments are really about using On Demand (hosted externally) or On Premise (hosted within your data center), and how to think about that -- not just for CRM, but for any On Demand option you might consider.

In a recent post to the CRM blog written by David Cowgill, he takes a look at the growing pains faced by CRM On Demand applications. 

Points that stick out are:

1. Don't think of On Demand vs. On Premise as mutually exclusive.  Instead think about where you want to focus your in-house IT expertise.  Do you get the biggest competitive leverage by using your IT resources to manage and/or own the functionality?   Remember that CRM and related application funcitonality is pretty standard -- but how you use it and employ it in your organization is going to be the competitive leverage that will impact sales effectiveness. 
2. How reliable have your IT folks been at delivering results on time and on budget?  Check out the reliability and track record of the On Demand vendor you are thinking about using -- as pointed out in Cowgill's post, "For most corporate executives, its chief appeal is being able to pay someone else to run and maintain the system."   Understand that you no longer have to be held hostage by an IT group that isn't responsive to your needs.
3. While David cites integration as a big hurdle - put the idea/notion of web services (also known as service oriented architecture) into your thinking, and in a nutshell recognize that with current technology it is possible to effectively integrate an on-demand application with an in-house application securely and effectively, and all On Demand vendors worth their salt will have these sorts of options available.

In summary, it's important to understand that On Demand options are available and very viable for functionality that at it's core doesn't require your investment in intellectual capital to maintain and support -- because  you won't get the bang for your buck there.  Use your valuable intellectual capital for those functions and systems that provide you with competitive advantage.

One of the chief benefits of On Demand software is "faster deployment, lower up-front costs and reduced in-house support and maintenance requirements."   

I'd love to hear your experiences and things you've considered when weighing the options of On Demand or On Premise applications deployment and utilization!  Post a comment.

Part 3: Four Steps to ensuring marketing and brand consistency across sales and channel partners

Market In-House

One of the first steps this company took to resolve this, when overhauling their Internet technology, was to make sure that they had the right tools for real-time updating. Not only could marketing change their Internet and Intranet/Sales Portal on the fly, enabling them to post materials directly to the website, but a tiered administrative system held content in an unpublished queue until a manager approved it. This gave marketing people a direct buy-in to seeing their materials disseminated.

The company surveyed its sales personnel about what they wanted and thought they needed to be more successful. The result was a sales portal and partner extranet that looked like a major news channel. The format capitalized on sites like CNN that their sales people and partners were already reading.  Headlines, subheads and dynamic materials were used to convey the urgency and value of the resources on the site. Stories were changed out on a daily and weekly basis, while links to the most important sales tools were on the front page.

The bottom line is give people information in a way that it will be read and appreciated.  This is much different than the sites that list content for people to search through like a file listing.  The way that content is packaged is very much a part of what has an information or sales portal be effective.

What are your experiences?  What sort of sales portals do you have?  How did you gain user adoption?  share your success stories by posting a comment!

Part 2: Four Steps to ensuring marketing and brand consistency across sales and channel partners

Expose the Existing Culture

When one of our customers set out to launch a new product, they discovered that before they could move forward, they had to address the culture among their sales people regarding the marketing department’s use of technology.  Marketing was frustrated by the technology they had in place because its form did not follow function. An example of this was the company’s web site. Its content was rarely updated because it took weeks to get any changes made. As a result, marketing personnel had long ago stopped feeling any ownership of the site and instead, had created workarounds to get new marketing materials to sales.

Sales people got their marketing information as email attachments and were on their own to keep it organized and up to date. Those with good contacts in the marketing department got better information than peers without any contacts. This bred isolation and a dangerous independence in which sales people showed prospects marketing materials that were out of date or even that they’d designed themselves. Periodically, marketing came across logos that sales people had designed and other materials that would have never passed their muster.

What have you seen?  What's your experience with the technology you deal with?  Does it support your ability to get your job done?  Do you have trust in your IT department, or are you always waiting, and experiencing bottlenecks when it comes to getting the technology applications that you need?