Software-as-a-service (SaaS) can offer advantages to many organizations looking to replace legacy systems or build new functionality, including flexibility, scalability, and the potential cost savings of on-demand service.
But choosing between the innumerable SaaS enterprise services and determining which solution works best—from initial evaluation to trialing and planning eventual implementation—can be a complicated process. Experts who spoke with IT Brew had tips on how to navigate those steps without upending users’ experience and with minimal disruption.
Identify the key requirements up front. Frank Scavo, president of Avasant Research, told IT Brew that one critical factor is the strength of an organization’s formal processes for identifying key requirements.
“It’s like going to the grocery store without a shopping list,” Scavo said. “You’re gonna come back with beer and chips.”
For example, Scavo said, a small to midsize company evaluating a CRM system would have to distinguish whether it needs to handle B2B, B2C, or multichannel interactions, and task a core group of users to practice test data against that system—the most important factor being whether it fits those core needs.
“In the old days, you could not easily do a proof of concept with an old on-premises system, because you still had to install it, you still had to configure it, [and] fill and set up the database,” Scavo said. “Those steps have been greatly reduced if not eliminated with modern SaaS solutions.”
Ben Pippenger, co-founder and chief business development and strategy officer at SaaS management platform Zylo, told IT Brew that organizations should conceptualize what’s wrong with a current system before replacing it.
“Do my employees like using it? Are they using it? Are we using the full capabilities that we purchased?” Pippenger suggested asking. “I want to make sure I’m understanding all those elements of the system I’m replacing,” he said.
Determining whether the new system will play nice with legacy ones can become an “enterprise architecture question more than like a contracting or trial question,” Pippenger added.
Keep reading here.—TM
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