We tend to take technology for granted, but anyone old enough to remember life before Facebook may recall that, as an industry, we used to be downright luddites. Many were confident a relationship- and people-centered business could survive quite nicely without the interference of technology. Few wanted to take the chance that technology might dehumanize the critical relationships we prized with candidates and clients. We’ve since learned through experience that the right technology can actually strengthen relationships, drive efficiency, enhance quality and accelerate growth goals.
Whatever your goal, there is sure to be an application to make it happen. The problem is that unrelated applications tend to compete with one another. Rather than a brilliant beginning, you can usually expect a frustrating “getting to know you” period. In other words, implementation can be painful – unless you transition both your thinking and your solutions from customizable to configurable. When you build your tech stack on a powerful, single-source enterprise platform, you can ease implementation headaches and gain out-of-the-box security, performance, reliability and scalability.
What’s the Primary Cause of Technology Implementation Pain?
Like the fine print in advertising that tells us “Some assembly required,” “Actual results may vary” or the classic “Don’t try this at home,” some technology implementations are easier than others. That is because prospective users often have unrealistic expectations about what technology can do for them. They don’t fully understand either the capabilities or the limitations of the technology solution they’ve selected. As a result, users often ask for more than what the implementation team expected to deliver. Sometimes that leads to disappointment; other times it leads to over-engineering the solution to meet expectations.
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Understanding the Difference Between Configured and Customized
Every technology solution offers some basic functionality that can be either minimally configured to work for your business or highly customized to your every requirement. With a configured solution, you select options from a set of available choices. With a customized solution, you design features and functionality tailored to your unique needs. Like the differences between multiple choice vs. fill-in-the-blank testing, the first implementation requires a series of clicks to get it ready for launch, while the second requires coding. Configurable solutions are developed to meet the needs of a broad audience. They are easy to adapt to individual needs. Customizable solutions are far more complex. They require lots of decisions and generally come at a higher price and take longer to implement.
Isn’t There an App for That?
The iPhone was introduced in 2008 with 500 apps to enhance the user experience. Two years earlier, Salesforce introduced 575 apps built on its platform to help businesses operate more effectively. It now offers a robust partner ecosystem with 5,000 different apps that businesses can simply download and quickly configure instead of customizing. Cloud technology, coupled with all of these plug and play options, offers easy ways to integrate new technology solutions into your technology stack with little to no setup or complicated implementation. This allows for changes in near real time when there is an immediate need to solve.
Build Your Tech Stack on a Powerful Platform for Easier Implementation
Some staffing businesses may have a highly sophisticated technology roadmap to guide every technology decision. Those are exceptions to the rule. A more likely scenario is multiple applications and separate systems cobbled together over time. They are typically difficult to integrate and often require constant maintenance and legacy oversight. Building your technology stack on a single-source integrated platform solves all those integration headaches. It eases data sharing among applications and shortens implementation timelines. And the bonus? It allows your business to benefit from ongoing investment and millions of hours of research to ensure reliable performance, top-notch security and the ability to scale with you as your organization grows.
