The True Cost of Selecting and Implementing Software

The cost of software systems implementations can be broken down into six components.

1. Selecting a system (soft cost) - The time it takes you to define your system requirements, research different packages, and all other steps required to select an appropriate system.

2.  The quoted price of software (hard cost) - This will be defined within the software vendor's proposal.

3.  The cost of training and implementation services (hard cost) - This should also be defined within the software vendor's proposal, but is commonly understated by both the vendor and the company implementing. The vendor could be tempted to understate the cost of training for two reasons. They want to make sure the total quoted price is under your budget. As the software price is fixed, they may reduce services offered to lower their bid. Also if a smaller amount of training is estimated, the perception is that the software is easier to learn. The customer can also understate the cost of training. They are attempting to keep the total project under budget, or they may not have the experience. They are using the vendor's quote as a measuring stick of how much training will be required.

4.  The cost of infrastructure and hardware (hard cost) - You can easily shop this component. However it may be worth a little more outlay to work with a hardware vendor that has experience with the specific software system. This experienced vendor can minimize finger pointing between hardware and software. On the other hand, if this more experienced vendor does not deal in enough hardware volume, you will pay a premium for this "peace of mind" solution.

5.  Internal costs (soft cost) - The cost component that is usually the last considered is your internal labor for implementation. In budgeting and forecasting ROIs for the new system purchase, this is commonly the area of least attention.

6.  Your valuable time - the most expensive component of implementing a new system is the time needed to implement the system. While you are implementing software, you are not doing your "real" job full-time and therefore costing your company money. An average implementation of an ERP system takes between 6 to 12 months. If you are not doing your "real job" for 6 to 12 months, how much will that really cost?
 
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New Features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Outlook Client Setup by Mansoor Riaz

The new version of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Client has some great features which bring a lot of value and more ease to the deployment experience. I'll try to highlight a few of the key points.
Install Once, Configure as Needed - In V3 each user was required to install the full client to use it with their profile; we've greatly simplified this process in our new release. The CRM Online Client need only be installed once per machine. Using the new Configuration Wizard, each user can configure their CRM profile without requiring administrative privileges. For the Online Client, an administrator can install it once and every user on the machine can configure it themselves.

Online or Offline Client: Just one installer Now you can give your users a choice between the Offline or Online only Client from a single administrative install point. The 4.0 Client has a single installer that includes both the Online Client and Offline Client.

Out of the Box Support for Terminal Server and Citrix - Terminal Server and Citrix deployments for the Online Client are now supported out of the box. This is a direct result of separating the Configuration Wizard from the install process.

Download of required components - If you have the installation media for the client then these prerequisites will be included on the disc. If you're installing from the download package off of Microsoft.com the installer will detect which components need to be installed and will automatically download the latest versions.

The changes and additions that have been made to our client setup processes will make various deployment scenarios faster and simpler.

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"You Say Stop, I Say Go" - Economic Factors Weigh In When Adopting New Technology

Many in the business community have come to believe that the U.S. is already in an economic recession and that things are going to get worse before they get better. As a result, they're looking for ways to cut IT costs right now. In fact, in many organizations, the drive to cut IT costs has already begun.

The rate of change in IT (Information Technology) has become overwhelming. A substantial portion US business folks are so concerned about the rate of change and the continual stream of high costs associated with it that they're looking for strategies to "drop out" or avoid changes altogether for several years. They've assumed the perspective that they're happy with what they have, they don't see any compelling business needs that require a change, and they'd rather not change at all.

Maintenance costs are a growing concern for many ERP users as well. In fact, several customers I spoke with are considering the idea of continuing to use ERP software no longer supported by the software vendor in the hopes that they'll be able to reduce maintenance costs and avoid ERP upgrade costs for as long as possible.

Of course, the newest buzz is about social networking, collaboration, New Web, etc. However, they're not interested enough to investigate technologies that have yet to develop strong business cases or value propositions.  This is a market that has yet to be embraced by the average business owner.

So, what is the upshot here? It seems to me that this all comes down to getting the story out on the value proposition. While many of those in the IT community believe we're in an exciting time with an ever-increasing rate of change, many of the end users have an entirely different perspective. The end users, already very concerned about a challenging economic environment and attempting to reduce IT costs, see that changes without value are being forced upon them and that the costs of those changes are very high.

To align those perspectives, those who evangelize for IT must do a better job of aligning rapidly-changing technology and innovation with specific business value. Will your new technology or your great innovation help users do things better, faster or cheaper? It's important, because if the end users aren't motivated to take up the fruits of innovation, those fruits will die on the vine...the worst result for everyone.

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A Word From Bob

Here's another entry in the mobile communications sweepstakes.  MySpace Mobile is now accessible to Sprint customers on all web-enabled Sprint phones.

On March 20, 2008, MySpace, the world's most popular social network, and Sprint (NYSE:S), the nation's wireless leader in providing innovative mobile data content to its customers, announced the launch of MySpace Mobile on all Web-enabled Sprint phones. The launch marks the first free direct access to the new MySpace Mobile website on a U.S. wireless carrier, allowing Sprint data subscribers a fast track to their MySpace profiles on their phones.

As part of MySpace's ongoing effort to offer users a rich and meaningful mobile experience on the go, MySpace has partnered with Sprint to provide customers direct access to MySpace Mobile's innovative tool set, including the ability to edit MySpace profiles, view and add friends, post blogs and bulletins, send and receive MySpace messages, and much more - all from their Sprint phone.

This announcement also marks the official launch of MySpace's Mobile website, available via any mobile device. The new version of MySpace Mobile features a rich graphical design, a revamped email interface and other new features. The site, previously in beta, has seen more than one million unique visitors per day since its release in September.