- January 16 2021
- admin_gtmnmain
It’s not an easy job to get your business processes online! A complete 75 percent of all e-business ventures fail due to inadequate planning and unreasonable aspirations for emerging technology, according to Gartner Group, a renowned consulting company. Not because of the technology itself, but because of improper management of its implementation, the efficiency benefits and cost savings promised by e-business solutions are often missed. In most cases, the company’s management is to blame when a major e-business solution installation goes wrong.
Management’s inability to recognize the size of the project, project oversimplification, inappropriate expectations, and lack of resource dedication are just a few of the errors that weaken the implementation and use of the systems.
Installation phase pitfalls of e-business solutions
A major distribution business has agreed to use a new approach for the online supply chain management. The individuals who were supposed to use the system were very doubtful about the system’s potential, as they did not have adequate expertise and had very little or no experience to use a similar system.
As a consequence, it took the company over a year to bring the solution to full service. Productivity has suffered significantly. The final cost of implementation turned out to be many times greater than the original budget. A significant number of businesses are reporting that the implementation of their e-business solutions is facing similar difficulties.
Most possibly, the concerns that emerge when a company attempts to adopt e-business solutions include:
In order to learn and appreciate the solutions, senior managers do not devote enough time and effort.
As a result, they have no idea how their staff can react to this new solution and, in terms of performance and productivity, they do not set quantifiable targets for them. End-users do not receive the training required. As a result, the new approach is viewed as an additional burden rather than an instrument to improve performance and productivity. In certain situations, the IT infrastructure is not adequately up-to-date and lacks the capacity to support a new solution.
Because of the lack of awareness by the management of the e-business solutions they intend to implement, the time and money allocated to the project are sometimes much less than sufficient. Advanced Internet-based e-business solutions sometimes need integration with part of the old systems currently used by the organization, which in turn often causes incompatibility with software and systems.
How to escape pitfalls
Sophisticated applications that cover essential areas of the organization and its relationship with customers are e-business solutions. That is why, according to comprehensive plans, the execution of these projects should be carried out.
Build a spectrum that is well defined. Both end-users of the solution are interested in designing the scope, not just the technological and business model experts. Get the answers to such questions as:
What is the single most significant purpose that, thanks to this approach, the organization plans to achieve? What are the essential issues the solution is supposed to address? Is its introduction justified by the time and resources spent? What are the milestones for implementation? How do you know you’ve hit those milestones?
When you have all the company’s relevant individuals participating in the process, pick an expert implementation taskforce from all the appropriate parts. The creation of the implementation plan should be the responsibility of this team. Assign resources and deadlines according to this schedule. Upon completion of each process of execution, senior management will be interested in evaluating progress.
Training and Education
The “why” side of the solution should be protected by education and the “how” side should be educated.
Identify the individuals needed to be trained and educated. -Defines targets
Defining training and education requirements and choosing the syllabus-setting the assessment method-carrying out the actual learning process-evaluating their progress
Deployment
Solution implementation should take place in accordance with the strict predefined phases.
When each stage of implementation is completed, senior management will be active in reviewing progress. Conduct the verification of truth!
How does the answer so far fulfill your expectations? Is it doing what it is intended to do? Do you need some of your goals to be revised?
Set up a comprehensive post-implementation meeting with the task force and the related end-users once the implementation is over. The main thing here is to determine whether or not anyone involved with the project is happy with the results.
It is very important that you thoroughly understand the technology behind them in order to effectively incorporate e-business solutions. Employ a consultant if necessary and work closely with her. This could save you considerable time and money in the long run.
Other things to remember here:
1. Mere instruments are e-business solutions. Don’t expect them to change everything you have understood about business processes drastically.
2. Like every other project, e-business solution implementations require strict step-by-step project management.
3. Be sure that there is a sound business prerequisite to get it before contemplating an e-business solution. Some of the e-business solutions that help you attract new clients and markets are e-marketplaces, private exchange, business portals. Such solutions also allow many of the critical business processes to be streamlined. Those strategies should be at the top of the list in your e-business strategy.
4. Keep track of the emerging developments and keep an eye on the e-business tactics of your rivals.