An Implementation Is More Than Just Software
- Nov 22, 2011
- Ian Clarke
All too often I see clients who feel that as long as they get the right trading and risk management software in place, their business will run smoothly ever after. Certainly taking the time to evaluate business and IT system requirements and to select the right system s important, but that’s really just the beginning.
A software implementation project can only be deemed successful if it brings real benefits to the organization. It should provide operational efficiencies, reduced risk and greater scalability so that the company’s future growth is not restricted by system limitations.
Above all, any new software package needs to be embraced by the business community. Users need to have ownership in the product and to embrace the change that any implementation naturally brings. To that end, I encourage clients and system vendors to take a broad view of any implementation project and to implement with the end in mind: just how will these new tools be incorporated into the business’s day-to-day and longer-term activities?
A solid implementation project plan should include work streams that very early on focus on business processes, and software configuration and customization should go hand in hand with these processes. Not only does this ensure that the software and attendant processes are aligned, it also gets business users actively involved in the project and familiar with the product from the get go. When system users have a say in how they are going to perform their duties, they are likely to be much more receptive to change, because they themselves become agents for that change.
Another benefit of early user involvement is that any previously unidentified requirements are likely to emerge at a time when they can be more readily addressed and incorporated into the implementation project, provided they are warranted and the budget allows for it. If they can’t be included, at least the user base will know to plan for alternative ways of satisfying those additional requirements.
Finally, when users are involved in establishing their business processes, they are much better prepared to generate use cases against which the system and the processes can be tested and fine tuned. It’s rare for every single process to work exactly as envisaged from the outset, but early and iterative testing and dry runs go a long way to making the project successful once the software goes live.