5 Myths Of Investing In Technology

Myth: “We can’t afford the additional costs for upfront strategy and process documentation.”

Reality: Well defined business processes and functional specifications equate to a 20% – 25% reduction in total technology project costs, and as much as a 40% increase in positive impact to the bottom line.

Myth: “We don’t have the time to fully understand what we need before we get started. We have to get the solution up and running.”

Reality: Defining and documenting your business practices delays the start of implementation, but the overall length of the project is typically equal to or less than a project without clearly defined business requirements.

Myth: “The vendor has done this for a lot of companies, so we will just use their best practices Out-Of-The-Box [OOTB].”

Reality: Most technology vendors expect their customers to configure the system, so they provide only a baseline configuration OOTB.  Add to this the fact that most vendors build in everything they encounter with past clients under the belief that it is easier to remove stuff than to add it.  No one buying this class of technology should ever implement it literally OOTB.

Myth: “We have processes already defined that are adequate to get started.”

Reality: Real estate organizations often have documented their policies and procedures, but they rarely have executed a formal business process documentation initiative that addresses best practices, operational efficiencies and enterprise-wide standardization vetted with full agreement from stakeholders. Without this, IWMS implementations will fall well short of their potential - every time.

Myth: “We will rely on the vendor’s consultants to help define the solution. They know it best anyway.”

Reality: This myth is the most dangerous of all for two reasons:

1. The vendor’s consultants have a conflict of interest in addressing your true business needs, since their goal is to get the software up and running as quickly as possible. They make their money by selling software and not by optimizing your business.
2. The majority of vendor consultants have little or no practical corporate real estate or workplace management experience. They don’t know what you do, only what the software does.  And sometimes the latter isn't even a given.