You’ve Adopted Some Great Tech, But What’s Next?
Every savvy business professional understands that ROI is tricky to calculate, especially when it comes to technology. Indeed, when new systems are considered, committees often review pessimistic and optimistic ROI calculations, create in-depth score cards to measure competitors against, and sit through endless sales pitches and demos in the hopes that they’ll catch a glimpse of that single feature that will be key to user success.
But after the decision has been made, contracts are signed, trainings are held, and everyone gets ‘back to work’, businesses rarely revisit the efficiencies they’ve gained (or lost) thanks to their latest technology adoption.
So, we’ve been wondering: what would happen if companies actually did evaluate the ROI of their software? With the right insights, businesses can access the three pieces of information every technology leader craves: 1) how to increase user adoption, 2) get a better understanding of how the software is actually affecting everyday work, and 3) data on how the system is actually performing.
Increase User Adoption
New technologies are often adopted to increase efficiency and spark workflow innovations. However, it’s well-understood that regardless of how convincing a pitch to the organization is, there will always be folks who simply don’t want to change how they work. Certainly, they will either work around systems or ignore them all together—putting data and content at risk.
If businesses were able to evaluate technologies against best practices, monitoring how users are utilizing the software, more training could be offered to the right users in the right way—encouraging greater adoption throughout the organization, leading to cohesive work across teams and greater efficiency.
Understand the Impact of the Software on Workflows
Just as some users will resist change, others will embrace it. There will be those in an organization who see the potential of every new piece of software and do the work to discover those very features the committee searched for during the evaluation process. The challenge, as every technology leader knows, is surfacing that knowledge so they can share it with other users.
If companies could get insights into how these power users utilize the software, they could gain a better understanding of how it’s actually impacting workflows, answering questions like: Are we utilizing resources on the most critical tasks? Are users storing information in correct places? Can they locate work faster than before?
Monitor System Performance
Every technology leader dreads system lags. When a system glitch occurs, particularly ones that are at the core of day-to-day work, there’s no question a business is losing money. Even the smallest blip in an application’s performance can cause delays in work for users across the company.
If organizations had access to system performance insights they could ensure their vendors are actually delivering on their promises. It would provide technology leaders with the information required to approach a vendor and say, ‘We’re not giving us what we’re paying for and you need to fix it,’ without the frustration of that vendor brushing them off.
What Could You Learn From Your Software?
It takes an incredible amount of time, effort, and money to implement new technologies. From the initial pitch, to the committee, to the final training, there is little reason why organizations should not be demanding their vendors provide the information they need to properly assess a system’s effect on efficiency, user workflows, and actual performance.
Businesses who can access these insights will be equipped to identify gaps in training and adoption, lean into the ingenuity of their power users, and hold software vendors to their promises—all of which will certainly result in an increased ROI.
Watch out for next week’s blog to learn more about how NetDocuments is delivering greater transparency so you can maximize adoption, gain deeper insights, and better understand user behavior.
