You've deployed a new system, tool, or solution, yet your users or customers are resisting adoption and complaining that they liked the way things were before. How can you overcome this resistance? By making systems that are simpler to use than whatever you had before. That advice comes from Wayne Kakuda, CIO of logistics consulting company TPS Logistics. In Part One of an interview with The Enterprisers Project, he explains how to make this work.
The Enterprisers Project (TEP): As companies adopt new technologies, how can IT minimize the impact on users?
Kakuda: When you think about technology, there are three distinct parts to consider: user interface, business logic, and where the data lies. These three areas are where you can minimize impact.
For instance, on the user interface layer, or the area where employees, customers or clients have to interface with your systems, the way you minimize impact on users is through progress. This means that the way they interface with you should be easier than how it was done before. It's an easy concept to understand, but hard to implement because software developers are typically more focused on functional updates rather than improving aesthetics or making workflow processes easier. So whenever we look at new technologies that touch the users, we need to ensure that the next version of the interface offers enhancements that make it easier for them to use.
Oftentimes, you can leave that interface layer alone by adjusting either the business logic layer or the data layer. If you have a well-designed system, you're able to make additions or modifications and leave the user touch point unaffected in a way that still allows you to achieve the business results you're looking for.
By keeping these three layers in mind, you can continuously ask yourself: Am I surgically integrating new technology as basically as possible for my users?
TEP: When evaluating new technologies, are there red flags that should alert you that a proposed technology will not work well with existing systems?
Kakuda: Definitely, and again, we look at this in two contexts around strategic value. What I mean is that CIOs need to know where the core strategic values that they provide to the business community exist. They need to know if the attributes in the solution they are adopting impact the core value proposition or non-core/routine services.
Whenever we have tech that touches core value creation, that solution needs to have the capability to be manipulated to a high degree — either at the user interface, business logic, or data layer.
For example, as a third-party logistics provider, one of our core value propositions at TPS Logistics is the ability to audit freight invoices and making sure clients pay exactly the rates they should. In doing so, we want a highly configurable system because freight auditing varies greatly from customer to customer.
Now, if you look at technology solutions that fit into non-core areas, you can treat them as least-cost services. The ability to customize has little importance.
TEP: Deploying a new technology nearly always means changing the way people do their jobs. It's human nature to resist change. What are some best practices for making this work?
Kakuda: Over the course of my career, I've come to the conclusion that people are more apt to accept changing if they understand how the change benefits them personally or the organization they serve. That makes change much more palatable. Even in the case where a group might have to do more work, but at the end of their increased effort they get richer data or improved value creation for the organization, they can more easily get their minds around it.
In the areas where increased effort, such as entering more data, doesn't result in tangible value-add, that's when change becomes difficult to make. A lot of people can sense how change will impact their roles. Practitioners who have been doing their jobs for 10 years can tell if a change will help or hurt their efforts. So it's a necessity for CIOs implementing new technologies to take a hard, sober look at those technologies and answer the question: Are we creating more value for the whole organization by putting this piece of technology in, or are we changing for the sake of change?
It's fun, interesting and exciting to bring on new technologies, but unless you're increasing value across the company or with a client, it's often the right decision to say no, even if it's the harder choice.
