In the hunt for ‘value’, should SMEs go for simple or cheap? Steve Baxter, enterprise marketing manager for Zoho UK offers his advice
CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Insider Media
Is value the same as cost? If we’re looking for simplicity, then they’re very different. You can buy low-cost apps from different vendors for each part of your business but when you discover how hard it is to make them talk to each other, the cost savings are eclipsed by your inability to do anything. You rekey data, you introduce errors, your processes slow to a crawl and unimpressed customer’s defect.
Value from purchasing
The second dimension to value comes from the purchase process. If you need to pay in small monthly payments rather than a big annual payment, you’re not going to get the value you need from a supplier that doesn’t give you that option. The software industry is almost unanimous in supporting this flexibility. Although annual prices might be a better deal, you can usually pay monthly.
Value from quantity
The third dimension to value comes from quantity. There are many technical advantages of software bundles but they have a financial advantage too.
Value from customisation
These aspects of value are dwarfed by the fourth dimension: customisation. We all know that our businesses are different. Even businesses in the same industry work differently. Maybe that’s because of their heritage. Or the weird preferences of the owner. Or the processes imposed on it by earlier generations of software. Whatever the reason, when you install new software you need to adapt it to work for your business. Customisation is a tricky topic in software because every software app is customisable. What matters is how easily and how extensively the software can be customised. That’s where you find value.
There are three levels of customisation to consider. How easy is it to add the fields and screen layouts you need? No app has a standard field for every piece of information you want to store. If you can’t add fields (or if you can only add a few) and if you can’t make it look the way you want it to, avoid the app.
Secondly, how easy is it to add new processes using the app’s drag-and-drop process builder? Most apps have these (if they don’t, steer clear). You’d use this sort of process builder to create a workflow that sends an email to the marketing director when you lose a deal because of brand weakness.
This is the most important aspect of customisation for SMEs. Every business will have somebody who can develop processes with this kind of process building tool. They can turn an unreliable and slow manual process into a fast and accurate automated process. It’s where apps evolve from recording a business’ activities to improving them. This is where you find value.
Thirdly, how easy is it to add processes using APIs or the app’s programming language. Many – but not all – apps have these. In the Zoho world, it’s called Deluge. For Microsoft, it’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). You may have to resort to this type of customisation but if you do, you’ll have to pay for the development and value becomes as elusive as a leprechaun’s pot of gold.
You’ll find some business commentators who recommend reversing the customisation process: don’t customise the software to suit the business, customise the business to suit the software. It’s a crazy concept – but one that’s worth considering.
Value from speed
The fifth dimension to value is familiar: speed. The speed of the software is rarely an issue – everything’s web-based and fast. Speed of deployment is another matter. How do you deploy an app fast? Make your business processes simple before you start, then choose an app that is easy to customise.
Value from single sourcing
The final dimension to value is single-sourcing. Purchasing software is not a frictionless process. Your accounts department has to review licences, pay bills and reconcile accounts. If every app has a separate bill happening at a different interval, paying for software becomes administratively expensive. If every app in bundled into one bill with one supplier it’s easier to keep admin costs low.
There’s no way on earth everyone will agree with this expanded definition of “value”. To a lot of people, “good value” will simply mean “low cost”.
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