There are five key steps organisations should take to identify which software development approach is most likely to succeed in the business.

Step 1. Record and agree on business requirements including compliance with business and regulatory standards. Think about whether you are planning to expand nationally or internationally, and consider whether the business rules and processes will still be right. What business processes are unique or give you competitive advantage? This will help determine what you can buy versus what you should build.

Step 2. Record and then challenge existing processes to ensure validity. Some processes may be in place due to legacy manual processes or current system constraints. The more unique the business processes, the more this will seriously affect your ability to buy standard software. Modern systems are highly configurable and often are geared towards industry standard processes; meaning a buy scenario may be much more feasible than the organisation may expect.

Step 3. Consider team and change management requirements. The people aspect in any implementation is key and so is team participation in the due diligence activities. When it comes to due diligence for software implementations, businesses need to look at both internal and external risk factors; many engagements can struggle and even falter, even after the executive have defined their vision. Moving from vision to delivery requires a team that understands the goal, and has the ability and support to deliver. The team must involve participants from all areas of the business. This cannot be done by one department in a vacuum.

Step 4. Ensure the project will improve the overall business in terms of bottom line / cost savings, improved process efficiencies, faster decision making and better customer service.

Step 5. Post implementation. Once a project is complete there are still some considerations that businesses need to take into account. These include ongoing internal support for the project, ongoing vendor support, and managing future upgrades and updates to the solution. These all contribute to the ongoing cost of investment and cost of ownership. Companies that both built and bought can maximise the benefits by keeping as close to industry standards as possible, making strategic modifications based on product roadmaps and keeping in mind any costs for future enhancements.

Following these steps will ensure that the organisation makes the right decision on building, buying or both, and ultimately help ensure an optimal transformation outcome.

ARTICLE SUPPLIED BY//

DXC Technology
Australia