Business Strategy: How to Evaluate New Software Systems for Your Organization
• The study provides useful information for re-engineering internal processes that the business feels will take care of the information deficiencies;
• The study is completed, and no action is taken.
Step 1. Get senior management buy-in.
The first step in the analysis phase is to make sure there is senior management buy-in and that an executive “sponsor” is selected. He or she must then put together a study team comprised of representatives of key departments. Each team member can gather information from the end users in his/her department as to which applications are working well for them and which are not. Multi-departmental study teams that meet regularly during the analysis phase often come to a new understanding of their individual functionalities as they see the repercussions of their functions across departmental lines. They also gain a broader understanding of other departments’ needs and the impact of those needs on their own.