Don’t skimp on your tech development goals
Technology will transform your business processes if it’s planned and implemented properly and you should see the ROI within a short period from the launch of your solution. As a business owner you should see this as an investment in your business vs. an expense, while ensuring the right provider is selected who carefully plans out your build and the related technologies to execute your vision effectively. Concise and careful planning is required by the stakeholder to ensure the correct solution is built that targets the right areas of the business to save costs or generate revenue. Read more below to find out how to plan out your next tech project.
Planning strategy
Developing and implementing new technology can be a costly exercise, while also time-consuming, therefore to achieve a successful solution extensive planning is key.
Before involving the team in indepth planning sessions, a business owner should identify upfront what his budget limit will be and:
Any inherent weaknesses:
- Are your systems vulnerable to threats, hackers or loss of data?
- Are there any inefficient or ineffective processes in your business that could be automated or assisted through software?
- How robust is your current hardware?
- How adaptable are your current software solutions, have they been maintained/updated and are they still relevant?
Any known Opportunities:
- Are you aware of any existing or new technology trends which you can capitalise on to improve your business?
Involve the Users
With this upfront assessment you can begin the planning sessions by applying the design thinking method. You need to understand the needs and pain points of the people who will be using the new technology – the customers, end-users etc. Planning sessions can be held with the intended users of the platform to gather information on their ideas and needs.The related functionality built should be validated by your software providers when planning out the solution.
Assessment of the problems
You can then analyse all the information gathered to define all the problems uncovered. You will then have a complete picture of what’s not working, what can be improved and what additions need to be added. This will enable a business to experiment with alternative and “outside of the box” solutions.
Build a Minimum Viable Product
An inexpensive scaled-down prototype of the product, or specific aspects of the product, should be created so that the business can use this to re-brainstorm with its team. The MVP should be tested extensively, and continually amended as more assumptions are validated or new knowledge is learnt.
This solution should be scalable to allow for future expansion and enhancements, provide the desired reporting or metrics to show how efficient and effective the new solution is, and indicate the level of return on the investment.
Consult an Expert
It is best to use the services of an expert software developer to analyse your needs and recommend the right solutions for you to achieve your technology goals. An expert will recommend a solution that is efficient and effective, can easily grow as your business needs evolve and where any new functionality or these additional services can be seamlessly integrated with minimal disruption to your day-to-day business and processes.
Continuously invest in your solution
Do not allow your solution to become outdated and irrelevant. Ensure you have your development provider supporting the solution, set aside budget to be reinvested into functionality additions to ensure your solution stays useful in your business and continues to aid its growth.
For a professional solutions provider, contact us, R&RTech, at: https://randrtechsa.co.za/services.html
Business owners need to keep abreast of technology trends and realign the tech goals of their business accordingly. You cannot afford to be complacent! Don’t skimp on your tech development goals as the right technology will transform your business.
For a professional customised software solutions, visit us at: https://randrtechsa.co.za/