“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” -Bill Gates
Are you contemplating taking on a large IT project? If the answer is yes, keep in mind that technology alone cannot fix a broken business process. In fact, it can exacerbate the issue. An organization must do the upfront work before designing and implementing new technology.
The most important step to take before investing in new technology is doing an in-depth “As-Is” assessment. These assessments can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, but are well worth the savings on the back-end. By going through this exercise, you will gain an in-depth knowledge of your processes, flow of information, input redundancy, time spent on specific tasks, where errors are occurring, etc.
Technology should not drive how your business operates, rather your business operations should drive the technology that you implement and configure. With a good foundation of business processes that work, technology can take you from good to great, but without it you will only windup with an expensive headache.
Click here to read case studies of how we have worked with clients on these projects.