Published on January 12, 2023
Digital platforms are the new enterprise software
Extracting maximum value from digital platforms is the new frontier of achieving successful business transformation with enterprise software. However, any new technology platform is not the answer in and of itself but should act as the facilitator to transform the old operating model into a new one. This is why taking a holistic approach to transformation, with an end-to-end view that aligns business and IT on common goals, will get the best results. If done well, it’s also one of the fastest ways to enhance and strengthen the company culture, although doing it badly could set it back.
Just stitching together fragmented or inefficient processes with a new digital experience is a trap that many well-intentioned projects have fallen into - either due to a lack of vision, executive sponsorship, funding or all of the above. New enterprise-wide technology platforms present the ideal opportunity for change and to improve on poor-performing processes and manual ways of working. The chance for everyone involved to benefit from new skills development and contribute to the success of the initiative, should not be undervalued. Targeting processes that offer the most potential value for redesign, simplification, standardisation and continued optimisation, will help create success by leveraging an enterprise solutions’ extensive capabilities. As can be seen in the diagram below, the biggest gains are to be had from those that think bigger:
Buyers regret
Gartner has said that 73% of tech buyers who had bought but not yet implemented their products/solutions already indicated high regret - but they didn’t say why and I would suggest it wasn’t anything to do with vendor selection. In fact, most medium-to-large enterprises these days have a robust tender process and would refer to analyst papers, as well as Gartner quadrants and augment this with their own relevant experiences to help make sure they shortlist the best software vendors in the industry. As all the Gartner quadrant leaders like to shout about this fact in their marketing, it’s usually clear who they are even if you don't subscribe to Gartner.
If we can assume, therefore, that most buyers have done their due diligence, what Gartner is actually saying is that 'post vendor selection' there is a high degree of buyer's regret based on unsuccessful or delayed implementation of a solution.
This tendency towards buyer’s regret has long been associated with purchases of enterprise software, which by its very nature is big, expensive, complex, take a long time to get to value and you can only get there with significant resources on a long-term commitment basis. As companies increasingly digitise and transform their operations, the need for technology to solve difficult challenges and deliver the desired business outcomes is only increasing. As a business community, we cannot escape the need for software platforms that exist to help make things better.
The problem is, that the vast breadth and depth of these systems can mean that only the richest financial institutions can afford to buy, implement and run them, supported by a small army of dedicated in-house software developers. This can make such a prospect hard to digest for medium-sized businesses, whose transformation needs are equally pertinent to their success. How do they begin to reconcile all these factors, so they too can confidently take the leap into purchasing the solutions they need that could make the difference between stagnation and profitable growth?
Ready or not?
Much of the problem can be related to readiness to buy. If an organisation is not ready to adopt change and adapt culturally then the journey could get bumpy very quickly. Add into this the propensity for professional services to exacerbate both the problems and the project costs, and it’s unsurprising that things can quickly start to unwind. Internal alignment and executive sponsorship are of the highest importance, as without these key elements any implementation partner will struggle to deliver results.
Transformation readiness must not be overlooked and goes much deeper than technical considerations. A business must consider winning the hearts and minds of its people, what their individual roles will be in the transformation and how you may need to bridge any lack in skills to bridge their development needs. Otherwise, you could risk pulling the entire organisation, kicking and screaming, down a path they do not recognise and have not agreed to follow.
The template for failure
Gartner has put much quality time and thought into helping organisations select the right vendors but their help appears to stop at the point of selection, rather than addressing different models for ownership and their suitability for different company types. Evidence would suggest the point after vendor selection is when all the real work starts and organisations could do with all the help they can get. It would appear that
Gartner assumes the business purchasing the enterprise software will take on all the responsibility and risk by doing most, if not all, of the work themselves – and that’s precisely how enterprise software has always been deployed, regardless of whether it is on-premise or cloud. For smaller enterprises, even accessing the help of expensive professional services along the way may not result in success – usually, this is only done until this costly option cannot be afforded anymore.
It is at this stage that many businesses decide to take everything back in-house away from the consultants. This can be a rollercoaster of budget uncertainty and stress for everyone involved. Then there is the potential that one day in the future the business suddenly realises it now has full ownership of a software development team that costs over seven figures to maintain per annum.
This is a rich price to pay just to feed and water a shiny new technology, that is no longer so new, and has had some of the shine taken off as the project fails to meet the expectations of the business. After multiple attempts to get it right but with only small progress, the illusive promise of ROI may seem unreachable unless something changes.
This has long been the way complex enterprise technologies have been purchased, implemented and run but increasingly we see this approach as a template for potential failure, especially for medium-sized businesses, which may lack the knowledge, access to skilled resources and deep pockets to have the necessary staying power to see their strategy through.
Gartner’s suggestions are undoubtedly helpful to the largest of enterprises, those that have the resources to back their buying decisions regardless of the size of the effort needed to get it implemented – but what approach should more modest medium-sized organisations take to avoid the many transformation trapdoors? At POPX, we think we may have the answer…
The template for success
We believe the best way to implement, enhance and maintain complex enterprise software is as a fully managed service. Our ServiceNow experts have all experienced the shortcomings of doing things the old way and have a passion and vision for a better method that delivers the business outcomes the customer wants and is accessible via a more cost-effective ownership model. We also believe this is the future of how enterprise software will be delivered to medium-sized organisations.
The POPX Managed Service, for example, enables customers to onboard ServiceNow faster, with greater transparency on cost, timescales and added value. Created specifically for ServiceNow, POPX is a fully managed service wrap that includes everything needed for a successful transformation at a fixed price, allowing organisations to focus on running their business.
Working in this way, we can transform operations, service and business management functions faster and with less risk than using professional services, while delivering superior business outcomes. The managed service from POPX is a shared risk model, based on a true long-term partnership that includes all integrations, development and enhancements, upgrades and maintenance, as well as training and the day-to-day support of running a complex technology.
We started the POPX business to help ServiceNow customers avoid the expensive and often ineffective professional services trap - which relies on the customer taking on all the cost and risk while allowing the consultants to walk away with minimum accountability or continuity.
To do this we work on minimum three-year engagement cycles to ensure all clients get the maximum return from their ServiceNow investment. This partnership approach means the same experts that implement the solution will continue to work with the client to enhance and maintain it, giving continuity and assurance that customers are always in the best hands. Our expert team will guide, challenge and advise at every stage and carry out the work.
Our managed service is agreed on a fixed price that covers everything in an all-inclusive style arrangement, regardless of any surprises we find along the way that needs to be addressed. For example, if there is a new integration required or functional enhancement the client desires, our team of experts will get to work and develop it. There will be no professional services-style delay while there is a protracted conversation about price and budget.
The POPX team works as an extension of a client’s in-house team, with shared goals and an unrelenting commitment to achieving the business outcomes the customer desires. Our team works with a client on technical and account management levels to ensure alignment and clear communication to everyone involved and to all appropriate senior stakeholders. Our regular Customer Value reviews allow the joint client and POPX team to discuss, agree and plan each phase of the implementation and development thereafter. Having a long-term strategic view ensures a continual roadmap of planned work for our development team to focus on, see diagram:
In a traditional professional services engagement, the consultants tend to walk away from a project after the implementation and onboarding have been completed with an acceptance of the working solution. We believe this is just the start of the development and optimisation phase that we have created and call The POPX Customer Value Process. This phase is dedicated to extracting the maximum value from the platform by achieving the strategic goals and objectives articulated by the client.
2023, a year of change!
So, yes… I do believe that enterprise software will become easier to buy in 2023, certainly for businesses purchasing ServiceNow at least. One caveat is to beware of the fake managed service – consultancies offering to administer your software platform for an additional fee are not fully managed services and should be called what it is, Admin-as-a-Service. Like any good idea, there will always be copycats, all that does is validate the fact that more and more enterprise software customers are looking for a real managed service solution, so let’s not sell them short and make sure they get the complete service and benefits they are looking for.
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