Your Biggest Software Implementation Risk? It May Not Be What You Think.

My friend called me in a panic. “Our kitchen is half-gutted, and it’s a disaster! Our renovation is going horribly – they put in the wood flooring crooked, they built a wall where we wanted a window, nothing works right, and we’re scheduled to host my daughter’s wedding in two weeks! And we’re contractually obligated to pay them even though this is a mess! But I am pretty happy that our appliances all work really well!”

“Oh, my. How did you pick the firm for the renovation?” I asked.

“We chose the firm that manufactured our appliances. We very carefully considered all the options for appliances, and chose this one. They make amazing equipment! So we didn’t consider anyone else for the renovation project.”

OK, so in real life no one would assume an appliance manufacturer could renovate their kitchen. Yet I am always surprised to find that many organizations that work carefully to consider software options for their mission-critical software system default to using the vendor for implementation services.

And yet, the truth of the matter is that vendors who make great software may or may not have services that are right for your organization. Someone who builds a great appliance doesn’t necessarily know how to stain hardwood. The talent required for developing great software is quite different from the skills required for providing professional services.

Choosing to implement with the vendor based on assumptions is very risky. And risky projects can have lasting negative impacts on an organization and on the staff involved. So let’s take a tour of some of the common assumptions I hear about implementation services, and why you should re-think them:

“The vendor’s consultants must know their software better than anyone else.”

I hear this often and find it an understandable assumption. In evaluating any consulting practice, however, an organization should not assume, but carefully scrutinize the level of expertise provided in an engagement. The consultants doing your implementation should have experience working with this software in real-life nonprofit operations.

A consultant who is classroom trained can help you learn about the standard software functions. Maybe that is enough for your needs, but many organizations demand the highest level of industry expertise and a deep understanding of real-life use of the software.

A large vendor team may have seasoned, shining stars along with an army of fresh college grads with nothing but software basic training. You had better check to find out what they are really providing organizations and learn specifically who will work on your project. If you spend your time and your dollars teaching your consultant the difference between a CRUT and a CRAT, between a member on-sale and a member discount, you’ve just wasted your donors’ money and imperiled the success of your implementation.

Additionally, consider if you need specific product training or independent advice on how to manage your entire operation more effectively. Do you really want to be beholden to one vendor’s solutions to every new opportunity?

As one client said to me just the other day: “You guys are experts paid to think about our best interests, not what additional modules you can sell me.”

“One throat to choke”

Another reason organizations don’t even look around at options is “We thought it would be better for us if we just had one throat to choke.”

If something is not working right with the software, the assumption is that the vendor is more accountable with their own service consultants on the engagement. The reality? To compete, software vendors must make excellent software. When clients find issues with the product, developers and support teams usually work hard to address issues. But don’t assume that the software developers in one division of the company will take any accountability for data conversion or consulting services provided by another division of the company. And don’t count on them for help if the services team is over budget or behind schedule. Occasionally, developers sit up even straighter when an independent consulting firm with industry clout is at the table. But, by and large, developers strive for excellence because the product itself is core to the vendor’s business.

When selecting a services provider, you should assess each group’s track record of quality and accountability through reference checks and a review of marketplace history. Was the project on time and on budget? Did you hit the ground running at go-live or were you still cleaning up data six months later?

Different business model

A software vendor’s business is developing, publishing and supporting great software. When you sign a contract for software you add significantly to the value of the business, because you will be paying maintenance for a long time — we all know it is expensive and hard to leave. Once you sign that contract and are committed financially to that software solution, an effective data conversion and implementation is crucial to YOU. Don’t mistake your priorities for anyone else’s.

A dedicated consulting firm, however, has nothing to keep their business alive other than their reputation for excellent services. Firms like JCA, specializing in implementation services, cannot afford a failed client engagement. A happy customer is the only commodity our business has, straight and simple. The vendor doesn’t want unhappy customers, but their business is not dependent on their services reputation. They will always continue to get organizations to sign up for their services because, hey, they make good software.

How do you get it right?

So if you don’t assume that the vendor’s implementation services are always your best option, how do you assess implementation services to find the best quality?

- Remember this is a two-part decision. Find great software with features, functions and technology that work for you. Then consider your implementation project, with all its choices and opportunities, separately. There are a lot of factors driving a quality implementation, and you’ll want to take time and have conversations to understand your options.

- Evaluate your choices. Is the implementation approach and budget tailored to your organization? How in-depth were the conversations before you got an estimate? Did the services firm provide a proposal based on a brief conversation, or have they delved in-depth to ask good questions? Is what you have a very generic one-size-fits-all approach?

- How will you measure quality? For example, if data conversion is crucial to your implementation, make sure the consulting services team understands your data situation, and has a strong technical conversion team and methodology. The last thing you want to do after paying for conversion is to clean up a mess. Check here for more on excellence in data conversion.

- Reference checking. Take the services references you get and also look among your colleagues for other references. We suggest developing very specific questions to ask based on your planned implementation.

- Know your rights. Your consulting contract should always allow you to suspend an engagement without penalty. Any terms forcing you to commit to a single vendor for everything, requiring that you pay for services not yet rendered, or specifying buckets of hours with no deliverables should be cause for suspicion.

Organizations that take care to plan and execute a great implementation with quality services make their investment in new software pay off.

Ellen Duero Rohwer is Director of Jacobson Consulting Applications, Inc. (JCA)
JCA provides strategic consulting to the world’s leading nonprofits.