Commentary

Knowing is half the battle: Common mistakes in tech implementations

Kimberly Berneck, senior vice president, delivery management, BTM Global, explains why knowing about common missteps before implementing new customer experience technology can save time and money.

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July 27, 2018

By Kimberly Berneck, senior vice president, delivery management, BTM Global

Retail technology implementations are complex, whether you're upgrading an existing app or implementing an entirely new system. So it's easy to overlook or miss something in that whirlwind, and I see it happen often. The good news is that the most common mistakes are avoidable if you know what to watch out for.

Missing the "all in" budget

Everyone has a budget for a technology project, but often times it doesn't account for everything that's needed for a successful implementation. For example: A budget may only include the cost of the base application and modifications, but miss the cost of the whole business process that's required to make it a reality. It misses all of the manual work that needs to be done, all of the flows that need to be created, and all of the testing that needs to be completed across IT, your other systems, and for the users handling the app.

If you have a vendor quote for the implementation, do you know for certain you won't need customizations? Be aware that a vendor's sticker price doesn't equal the implementation price. Be sure to look at the total impact of your project and account for everyone's time and cost. Many organizations have the mentality of “Get it done NOW!” which causes people to rush the process and be unrealistic about the time needed or the level of team involvement to make it successful.

Not thinking "all in" on your budget can cause significant delays and extra costs once the project begins; and nothing breaks down trust in a project faster than having to ask for more money because the budget wasn't comprehensive.

The root cause of this common pitfall is a lack of experience or knowledge about how technology implementation projects work. Being aware of and honest about your company's experience is a helpful start for avoiding this mistake.

But sometimes you simply don't know what you don't know, and that's where a good system integrator (SI) comes in. They should be asking thorough questions ahead of time to ensure you have all of the resources, skillsets and budget to make your project a success. They can also help you build out an “all in” budget. However, to make the project truly sustainable, you'll need a long-term plan so you don't have to rely on an SI forever. Are you going to cross train someone else? Hire a new person? Get a contractor? Don't gloss over the importance of having the right people in place.

Minimizing change management

It's one thing to put a system into production, it's something else to know how you're going to run with it, support it, keep it up to date and evolve it as business needs change. Another common mistake I see in technology implementations is that retailers are so focused on the systems and crossing the finish line that they haven't thought through what the human impact will be on Day 1 of the go-live. If not properly considered, this lack of change management preparation can have a ripple effect across the organization in terms of confusion, inefficiency, errors, and lack of buy-in in leveraging the system. You end up spending time and money on a great system but you make assumptions about things that, in the end, the business can't use in practice or that don't make sense for the organization's larger objectives.

To avoid this, it's imperative to have stakeholders from across the business involved from the start. “Involving all stakeholders” might sound fluffy to some readers, but it's really, really important for the success and support of the project. If the project is being driven from an IT side and those stakeholders don't seek out a common business stakeholder, the project risks getting disproportionately focused on IT and application-sorts of things, thereby missing the business needs or business benefits which contribute to making the project successful.

It's also important to make sure the project has well-articulated goals. What are your organizational goals of it? With the right level of business stakeholder involvement, you're less likely to lose sight of the people, process, and return-on-investment aspects of the project.

And all along the way, your SI should be asking questions to get you thinking along these lines, such as: What's the business driver behind the project? Who's on your project team? How are you communicating changes and expectations to your teams? Do you have the skillsets you need to operate and maintain the system after the go-live?

Knowing is half the battle

It's hard to anticipate problems if your organization doesn't have deep experience with technology projects. But being aware of the most common mistakes can be half the battle and help you avoid them. Working with your system integrator, you can ensure a more successful project by planning realistically for costs and timelines, and preparing your team for change.

Technology