Fixing Your Blind Spots

You’re in a meeting with a software vendor, you’re following the pitch, everything makes sense, but something in the back of your mind keeps nagging you, “what am I missing?” It’s a common feeling because enterprise software solutions often touch several departments and they can be a big commitment. When the meeting wraps up, you think to yourself, “that’s interesting,” and then nothing gets done.

So how do you overcome this analysis paralysis and actually move the needle when it comes implementing solutions that will grow your business? For starters, appoint someone in your organization to oversee your systems operations. Beyond a technical understanding, this person should know how these systems interoperate and also how they’re used by every team member. Having this person in the room can give you the peace of mind that you’re considering the needs of everyone in the organization, not just the immediate team.

If this role doesn’t already exist at your company, you might consider hiring a consultant before making any big moves. There are a lot of good, small shops that can help in this area and also won’t break the bank. An outside firm can steer you in a better direction, or at the very least, make sure that you’re not overlooking anything critical.

Having an understanding of your systems operations doesn’t always have to sit with a subject matter expert. Your department head can serve this role by taking the time to understand the roles and responsibilities of team members in tangential departments. For example, your head of ad operations may not deal with the billing process directly, but if that person takes the time to understand the day-to-day of finance team members, that knowledge can be invaluable when it comes time to decide on a new system.

However you approach your systems architecture, have a strategy. You’d be amazed how many large publishers still manage their business with rudimentary tools like Excel spreadsheets and lack basic integrations that could be implemented with little investment. This dynamic exists because decision makers are often two or three steps removed from the problem, and they don’t know their blind spots. Instead, if you invest the time to better understand the workflow across your organization, you can more effectively execute these decisions with a simple cost-benefit analysis.