When implementing a digital change or introducing a new tech service, it can be easy to take the ‘experts’’ word as verbatim. What they say should go, right? Wrong. Sometimes – not always – they haven’t looked at the full picture.
All too often, we see technical teams home in on their preferred technologies – or certainly the tech more familiar to them – while business leaders naturally get caught up in the wider strategy. But this is risky, because, if both neglect to think about how everything will work together, the solution is unlikely to be fit for purpose. What’s more it could cost over the odds, especially if the investment doesn’t fit the brief.
Drawing on some of our own experiences at Vapour, our CEO Tim Mercer digs into the constraints that can undermine innovation, and explore why simply speaking to each other with utmost transparency is the answer to delivering better solutions for customers…
Time, budget, and skills are the three main constraints when implementing state-of-the-art tech infrastructure. When any company wants to implement a new solution to meet both current and future business requirements, these considerations massively impact on decision-making.
Whether it’s needing to get a new service live in a matter of weeks, tight budgets not allowing for the most up-to-date technology, or the skill set of the team leaning towards traditional vendors only, these constraints often harm an organisation’s ability to invest in a solution that is truly fit for purpose.
Have you ever looked back and thought – ‘if I knew what I know today, I would have made different decisions?’ Even as a technology specialist, we too have learnt the hard way by jumping into our own projects without asking the right questions and exploring different options. So, you’re not alone.
It can be hard to push the boundaries sometimes, but this is integral to the ability to innovate. And the key is true collaboration – between internal and external resources. Whether it’s engineers speaking with the C-Suite to understand what’s possible in terms of the technology and budget, or the IT team reaching out to multiple vendors to find not just the best possible price but the most resilient, flexible and future-proofed solution, you never know what you might learn that you didn’t know before.
New projects are an ever-changing ecosystem of interacting parts. Without knowledge of all these areas, you’re setting yourself up for issues or regret in the future. No one wants to be asking themselves in five years’ time, “why didn’t I ask about true cloud?” or “how much time and money would I have saved if I had explored that specialist vendor?”
By being transparent with all stakeholders, plans can take shape without any nasty surprises – ranging from hardware and software issues, through to huge chunks of budget being spent on something which will need to be changed in a matter of years.
At Vapour, the view is that sharing knowledge, understanding, and building trust, is the key to delivering better service. We’re happy to work with other tech partners to supercharge their customer solutions, if they have a gap in their expertise. We’ve always believed that we’re here to collaborate, not compete, and this mantra is more relevant now, than ever.
At the end of the day, we’re all aiming for the same outcome – innovative offerings to help our customers do what they do best.
Talk more, share more, do more.
Interested in more information on this topic? Watch this recent video to hear more about Vapour’s own experience and how Tim would have done things differently in the past, if surrounded by people with the right knowledge. Our CEO also explains how sharing expertise and being transparent, leads to better service for customers here.
