Digital Transformation is about People and Process

When vendors promote their software, they often showcase features and functions to get businesses excited about the potential change an application can bring to their business. Their promotional videos are designed to make it look easy to use, but don’t be fooled, software implementation is not that simple. Getting software to work for you is not just about the features and functions, it’s about the people and the processes.

Every year, thousands of businesses sign up to software, feeling excited and enthusiastic about the change this software can bring. For most, this quickly turns to frustration and despair. Too many businesses waste money on software that they never successfully execute and eventually cancel. The cost is written off and there is no return on investment. When you start the journey of a digital transformation project, make sure you take off those rose-tinted glasses and have your eyes wide open. Because if you can’t see where you’re going, you will not reach your end goal.

Software Consultants often use the term ‘streamlining your business’ and ‘creating efficiency’. This means going paperless, building automations, eliminating data duplication and integrating multiple software applications.

Today you may have duplication and manual data entry in your business, but don’t forget you have a process that works for you, no matter how clunky or slow it is. You know how to transact a customer from start to finish, and every step you’ve created over the years has been designed for a reason. If you want to change your software, do you know how to complete these steps in the new application?

To streamline and create efficiency in your business, you need to map your existing processes to the features and functions of the software. During this exercise, you will identify many gaps that the software does not support.

Unfortunately, businesses make the mistake of assuming their new software will do everything they need, but when they try to execute a process, it’s not what they expect it to be. They quickly discover there are other costs involved to get the software to work for them—development and consulting fees.

When Zoho One launched in 2017, we identified several gaps in Zoho's processes and integrations. Gaps that created the same problems businesses have today with data duplication and manual data entry. Gaps that also prevented businesses from completing the end-to-end process.

As experts in cloud software since 2003, we recognized the cost to develop solutions would be too high for small businesses. Our experience told us, if businesses could not bridge these gaps, they would likely cancel their subscription after months or years of frustration. They would be out of pocket and back to square one. We also recognized an opportunity as Zoho One provided advanced development tools to build any solution. Since 2017 we have developed multiple Widgets, API’s and functions. We created solutions for customers that were proven, affordable, and bridged the process gaps to ensure the longevity of their investment. Setting Zoho up is something anyone can do, but digital transformation is our expertise.