Key Takeaways
- There are six key phases in the technology buying process.
- Adapting your technology will help you meet your organization’s strategic goals.
- Setting realistic timelines and transition goals is crucial to success.
The Technology Buying Guide for Business Leaders
The needs of your organization are constantly changing—from overcoming challenges to supporting organizational growth—and your technology needs to adapt to those changing needs. However, there’s a dangerous misconception that business management software can be one-size-fits-all; that simply purchasing licensing from a top technology will produce an out-of-the-box solution that will easily plug-and-play to support your organizational needs.
This is far from the truth. While many of today’s leading solutions can be implemented in such a way, to truly gain an ROI from your technology investments, it requires aligning the solution to your people, processes, and priorities. In fact, as your organization grows, the technology you’ll need to sustain your operations only gets more complex. You need a solution that is tailored to how your business operates.
This guide is designed to help you if you are:
- Looking for the next step after QuickBooks
- Re-evaluating your current enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
- Looking for a better way to manage your customer relationships and sales cycle with a CRM
- Trying to increase efficiency with automations
- Exploring how to better use your data
No matter where you are in your journey, the steps to choosing a new technology are the same. But where do you start? We’ve created a comprehensive guide for business leaders that outlines everything to know about the technology buying process from start to finish. The guide provides actionable insight and expertise to help you navigate:
- The six phases in the buying process
- Key objectives
- Who should be involved in each phase
- What deliverables to expect
- The six phases in the buying process
- Key objectives
- Who should be involved in each phase
- What deliverables to expect
Buying Timeline and Complexity Calculator
One of the most important things to keep in mind as you plan for a technology implementation is setting realistic timelines and transition goals. Since every organization is unique and has different needs, we’ve created a calculator to help you determine a rough estimate of a project timeline.
Put in your desired go-live date below to see a recommended start date and timelines for two scenarios: a highly efficient implementation and a standard implementation.
How do you know which category your project fits under? Its level of complexity. Use our complexity calculator for an estimate of how complex your implementation will be.
Desired Go-Live Date
Recommended Start Date
Highly Efficient Timeframe for Implementation
Standard Timeframe for Implementation
Delivery Timeline
Cutover
Testing & Training
Configuration
Discovery
Implementation Kickoff
Decision Timeline
Contract Execution ?
Legal Review ?
Solution Review ?
Demonstration ?
Discovery ?
Initial Conversation ?
*Note this is an implementation with no integrations or customizations
How many integrations do you have?
How many entities do you have?
Do you have business processes which are unique to you within your industry?
Do you have a legacy system with customizations and workflows?
How open is your organization to change?
How many users do you expect?
COMPLEXITY:
Now that you have an understanding of the expected timeline and complexity of your project, our Technology Buying Guide will walk you through the process from start to finish.
To get the guide, simply fill out the form on the right. You’ll get immediate access to the Technology Buying Guide, as well as an email link for later use.