Believe it or not, evaluation your print MIS software options, interviewing and selecting a vendor, and signing the contract is the easier part.
The difficulty is in the details, and if your organization is not prepared to cross these six hurdles, then you should consider getting help before you pull the trigger.
Nothing will slow business down faster than moving from a system you’ve had running for many years to a new, slick cloud-based solution. You have to make sure your data comes along for the ride, and there is no interruption of service.
This “feature bias” is very common among our user base. We find the team will be satisfied with 95% of the functionality, but due to some convoluted and old business process, they won’t budge. Don’t let process exceptions, archaic systems, and that one thing that happens two out of every 100 transactions be a deal-breaker.
People get comfortable and resist change. Your staff needs to be prepared and education on the benefits and the reason “why” you are moving your business forward with an upgrade. If you share with them the vision from the beginning and give them ample time to test and train, the upgrade will go much smoother.
After the implementation, it’s important that you make sure to have all hands on deck and the support of your vendor. Just like you’re not used to the creaks and noises in a new house, so your new software will act a bit differently than what you’re used to. Be prepared for some quick learning and a few fire drills shortly after launch.
When going through change, it helps to keep the end goal in mind, both for the business owner and leaders in the organization. By properly mapping out your ROI and the benefits and features of your upgrade, you’ll be on your way to achieving those goals and stay motivated during the upgrade process.
That’s right; your new software has features and capabilities that you can make good use of, but you need to learn about them. Work closely with your implementation vendor to make sure you learn about all the futures and plan to change your business processes to reap the benefits of your technology investment.
Here at Virtual Systems, we’re here to help you along the journey. Since 1997, we’ve helped over 400 print, mail, and marketing shops run their operations using our print MIS software. You can request a demo or download our print MIS ROI calculator.
