NFIB

Buy Technology Conservatively--and Use It Fully
05/ 03/ 2004

by Charles R. McConnell

It was a sweet looking system that was purchased for the maintenance department. A little on the costly side, but it included four interrelated subsystems that would feed each other and supposedly save vast amounts of time and aggravation. The preventive maintenance program and the work order system would automatically adjust amounts in the inventory control system as parts and materials were used, and inventory control would automatically feed requisitions into the purchase order system to maintain parts and materials at desired levels. A sweet looking system indeed, yet two years after its purchase--when the system's vendor was promoting a newer, faster version that would supposedly do even more--it was being utilized at less than 25 percent of its capability.

What happened? In this specific instance there were two common occurrences: normal staff turnover and business-as-usual diverted others from becoming overly involved with the new system. With the exception of the individual responsible for preventive maintenance, no one had more than a partial familiarity with the systems they were supposed to be using. And no one felt they could take the time away from working to learn the system's operation to the point of comfort and proficiency. More to the point, however, some who were expected to use the system resisted on the grounds that it impaired rather than improved their efficiency. As the person responsible for monitoring work-order status explained, "We just don't have that many work orders; I can keep track of them manually in less time than it takes to input everything to the system."

The overall result? A fairly complete preventive maintenance status report but little else other than seemingly endless computer-generated lists of projects, parts and equipment with blank columns where numbers, dates and status information should appear.

In business there is an incredible amount of technology that regularly experiences the kind of extensive under-utilization described above. Perhaps we have become so conditioned to the notion of galloping obsolescence, we tend to buy greater capacity than our present and near-term projected needs indicate, and never end up taking advantage of the full capabilities of the purchase.

In addition to the problems caused by normal staff turnover and the pressures to conduct business as usual, there are also the following reasons for technology being under-utilized:

Vendor training and service, often provided more at the convenience of the vendor than the user, frequently does not go far enough to see the user to a state of proficiency. Many users will simply limp along as best they can rather than face high costs for additional training.

The extent of resistance to change among user staff is invariably under-estimated. In the absence of rigorous follow-up on implementation, many employees will find creative ways of de-emphasizing the new technology in favor of older ways and will usually kid themselves into believing that in light of the need to conduct "business as usual" they do not have sufficient time to learn new ways.

To avoid the acquisition of unused or under-utilized technology:

When considering the purchase of any new technology, perform a cost-versus-benefit analysis and determine: first, whether implementation will generate savings over present methods, and second, whether the investment will pay itself back in a reasonable period of time.

Examine requirements carefully and buy just what's needed. Buy to cover today's requirements and what's known to be coming in the short term (say 6 months to a year). If you look further into the future, chances are the technology will be even more advanced and you'll still be behind the curve.

Look into the vendor's record of both service and customer education. Don't be bashful about asking a potential vendor for references. Call a few of the vendor's customers. Show a special interest in the vendor's capacity for helping to get your staff trained; you want to assure yourself that the vendor you choose to do business with won't forget about you after the sale.

Make a solid commitment to helping staff learn the new technology thoroughly. Remember that the time and reinforcement required for implementation of a technological improvement are always more than at first we might believe.

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