This is a blog post from ReadWriteWeb, where I occasionally contribute.
I sat through a very interesting presentation at the OpenAir User Conference. The key takeaway was a statistic on achieving enterprise software success. Contrary to most of what we cover on blogs, marketing, demos, etc., effective user adoption is the absolute best predictor of enterprise software success.
According to a study done by the Sand Hill Group and Neochange, the most critical factor (70% listed as number 1) for software success and return-on-investment is effective user adoption. Software functionality came in at 1% surprisingly, with organization change at 16% and process alignment at 13%. This is a remarkable result. You can have the best software in the world, with the most sophisticated features, analytics and integration, blah blah blah, but if people don’t use it, it isn’t going to add value. I can’t tell you how many RFPs and software selection processes I’ve been involved with in prior lives that focus almost exclusively on tiny little, “knat’s ass” features that few people if at all will ever use. This study shows that focusing so much on features is missing the boat entirely.
This finding is very interesting for all kinds of applications, including consumer applications. Features very rarely make someone take to an application or not. Moreover, I doubt most software companies really take user adoption as a holistic approach into account when designing their applications. If this trend is accurate (and my experience tells me it is), then I think it has very interesting ramifications on how software should be designed, sold and implemented. User adoption is typically something that comes at the end of a cycle. This says it should be one of the most important elements of the entire process. Please share any opinions or war stories that either confirm or refute this conclusion.
Tags: Features, OpenAir, ReadWriteWeb, Software, Trends
November 23, 2008 at 9:19 pm |
Bingo!
The study by Sand Hill Group and Neochange highlights what we tell our prospects and users day by day. Team Adoption = Team Success. The founding team of Clarizen gave up the feature-war battle from day 1, knowing that the war will be won on a single critical front – the end user experience and embracing of the project team.
There are several project management solutions available in the market with more and even better features than Clarizen. However, what’s the use of giving a user rocket-science tools when all they need is to have visibility to their projects and quickly and simply update their tasks?!
The engine always stays under the hood with Clarizen so that when the mechanic needs to do some more ‘advanced’ tweaking of the system or reporting, all they need to do is pop open the hood. Even the Admin/Mechanic of a Clarizen account, needs no more than 3 hours to get comfortable with the system and not need to refer to the manual or spend days at Boot Camp.
Keeping an enterprise on demand project management solution easy to use is challenging but, if you master the science of simplicty, it pays off very handsomely!
November 24, 2008 at 7:35 am |
Yes, I agree that “effective” adoption is a key to success in any deployment of technology and that adoption is a multi-faceted and often a long term undertaking. Any technology can be launched, but assuring that the technology supports a business strategy and provides real benefits to the business side user, are a prerequisite.
I have written at length on the topic and offer readers help in my whitepaper Execution Strategy for Adoption of Enterprise 2.0 Technology…. a comprehensive 20 page summary of what a company needs to do.