Simplicity: What's Next in Business Software
Vendors must figure out a way to simplify the delivery and usability of their software for today's enterprise users and buyers.
By Anthony Deighton, QlikTech
Mar. 31, 2008
There is a widening gap today between what software users experience in their work environment and what is available on the Web. As the line between work and home life blurs, people expect the applications they use at work to be as clear, simple and user-driven as the applications they use to run their personal lives.
Companies today are much smarter about purchasing software. They're insisting on solutions that have a faster time-to-market, higher ROI and better end-user adoptability. Enterprise vendors must embrace the philosophy of simplicity in business software or risk being sidelined by innovative, emerging vendors in the near future.
Why Enterprise Software is So Complex
Traditionally, business software had been purchased senior executives focusing on automating business processes and solving performance issues without a priority of making the solution user-friendly or "fun" for their end-users.
Take an enterprise vendor like SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, their job was to sell to a top IT manager. The pitch? "Our product will solve your business problem by giving you control over your business processes." Reading between the lines, the sales message was also, "It will be easier to keep your users in a box and control them as well."
Nowhere in the list of selection criteria was "easy to use," "makes it easier for users to do their everyday work," or "an enjoyable experience for users." Enterprise software was conventionally understood to be complex, so these requirements couldn't factor into the decision-making process.
The top IT manager making the buying decision wasn't terribly concerned with implementation times, either. Again, conventional wisdom accepted that deployments and time to value was measured in years. Integration was a big concern so it was critical that the vendor would have a large team that would deliver whatever integration or customization services that would be needed. This gave rise to the multi-billion dollar market for implementation services.
So enterprise buyers were often forced to choose between a solution that was extremely expensive and took a long time to implement, or a product that was inexpensive and could be implemented quickly. The scary truth is that buyers most always chose the more expensive option.
Software companies figured out this purchase process dynamic very quickly. Vendors realized they could raise their prices and actually increase demand because buyers associated a high price tag with high-value solutions.
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Companies today are much smarter about purchasing software. They're insisting on solutions that have a faster time-to-market, higher ROI and better end-user adoptability. Enterprise vendors must embrace the philosophy of simplicity in business software or risk being sidelined by innovative, emerging vendors in the near future.
Why Enterprise Software is So Complex
Traditionally, business software had been purchased senior executives focusing on automating business processes and solving performance issues without a priority of making the solution user-friendly or "fun" for their end-users.
Take an enterprise vendor like SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, their job was to sell to a top IT manager. The pitch? "Our product will solve your business problem by giving you control over your business processes." Reading between the lines, the sales message was also, "It will be easier to keep your users in a box and control them as well."
Nowhere in the list of selection criteria was "easy to use," "makes it easier for users to do their everyday work," or "an enjoyable experience for users." Enterprise software was conventionally understood to be complex, so these requirements couldn't factor into the decision-making process.
The top IT manager making the buying decision wasn't terribly concerned with implementation times, either. Again, conventional wisdom accepted that deployments and time to value was measured in years. Integration was a big concern so it was critical that the vendor would have a large team that would deliver whatever integration or customization services that would be needed. This gave rise to the multi-billion dollar market for implementation services.
So enterprise buyers were often forced to choose between a solution that was extremely expensive and took a long time to implement, or a product that was inexpensive and could be implemented quickly. The scary truth is that buyers most always chose the more expensive option.
Software companies figured out this purchase process dynamic very quickly. Vendors realized they could raise their prices and actually increase demand because buyers associated a high price tag with high-value solutions.
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