How to buy software your team will love

It is a common problem that software is not adopted by users or is not used to its full potential. A study by 1E found that companies in the US pay almost $260 per workstation in unused software. Taking into account the long selection and review processes when purchasing software, as well as the fact that changes and customisations are very time-consuming and costly, matters only get worse.

This is why you need to keep the following challenges in mind when purchasing new software:

1. Waste of resources: Whether it is your employees' time, the fees for the software or expensive training - all of this is wasted if the purchased software is not used fully or does not add value to your business.

2. Lack of focus: Your employees should be able to concentrate on their core activities and not deal with lengthy training and IT problems.

3. Lack of employee satisfaction: Software that works right away and makes your employees' daily work easier is loved by users. Unfortunately, the opposite also holds true. In particular, software that is intuitive and actively supports problem-solving leads to significantly increased self-efficacy.

4. Productivity losses: In addition to employee satisfaction, productivity should be increased and time saved through efficient processes. Software should not stand in the way but must actively promote productivity.

5. Follow-up costs: Who has not been there - software is rolled out and changes and additional functions are needed. Until these are implemented, the expensive software is only partially used and the changes take months or even years to be deployed.

So how do you go about overcoming these challenges?

Step 1: Needs analysis

The most important step is a needs analysis. Do you want to improve your communication? Do you want to digitise processes? Do you need functions that your existing software does not provide? Who should be the users of the software - the whole company, individual teams or different groups?

Before you set goals for procurement and implementation, talk to stakeholders and end-users next.

Step 2: Stakeholders and influencers

In addition to your IT department and budget managers, it is crucial to involve future end-users. If it is hard to address everyone, invite users of every level to talk about the challenges and requirements. Focus on known influencers in your organisation. User perspectives will provide you with unexpected insights and even conflicting requirements that you need to consider or resolve in your planning.

Taking these insights into account, you can set concrete goals for the new software in the next step.

Step 3: Set measurable goals

Now that you have analysed the needs and obtained valuable input from stakeholders and influencers, you can formulate measurable goals for purchasing the software.

In addition to functional requirements, a schedule and the available budget, these goals should also include metrics regarding the implementation process.

With these systematically developed goals in hand, you can now proceed with the selection of the software.

Step 4: Live demonstrations

Once you have started looking at potential software, have them show you the software in a live demo and check whether it meets your use-cases. Depending on the size and scope of the project, it may be advisable to have a demonstration with key stakeholders and influencers as well.

Step 5: Decide and order

Now it is time for the decision. In addition to the traditional project and acquisition costs, pay attention to contract terms, the quality of customer service and possible additional costs for installation and training. This allows you to compare the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Step 6: Step-by-step introduction

Once you have decided on a software and placed the order, our experience has shown that it is helpful to introduce the software in one team first, gather feedback and then roll it out to other or all teams in the company. On one side, colleagues can fall back on experiences "on a small scale". On the other, they will look forward to using the software because they have already observed the benefits amongst their colleagues.

Keep the challenges in mind and follow our procedure - you will not only add value for your company but also inspire your team with the purchase.

Arrange a 15-minute demo with our team to see how we can achieve your goals together.