We have recently had deals get complicated by a delicate dance between the operational managers, the people who manage the mobile workers, and the information technology (IT) department managers.
Here is what operational managers care about:
- It must solves their unique problem exactly they way they want.
- It must be easy to use and easy to train (“this must not be too complicated for my folks?”)
- It must not require lots of reworking of process and procedures
- Does it cleanly integrate with my backend software infrastructure, current and planned?
- Does it open up any security hole
- Is the operational department going to be constantly calling the help desk with problems?
- Will the approach solve many problems in the company, necessitating only one infrastructure and training investment?
- Will there be a performance or maintenance impact on my mission critical systems?
These are not so much contradictory concerns, but different concerns. At many companies the two groups work together to select a solution. At some companies it is a battle, viewed as an “either/or” proposition. At some places the user group feels like it needs to sneak in a skunkworks project. At some places the IT groups watch like hawks to make sure no “unauthorized” devices are attached to the corporate infrastructure.
We try to work with both sides from the beginning. An enterprise sale needs to sell both. Sometimes you need to be the peacemaker that gets everyone talking with each other. This is more work up front, but more likely to produce success long term.
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