Ten reasons POS projects fail- reason 6-10!


6. Not involving the key users in the selection process: This is often reaped mistake where management makes all the decisions when selecting a new system. The key users should be involved in the selection process. They are much more likely to adapt to a new system they helped chose.

7. Project creep: Once people begin evaluating new systems their vision of the possibilities expands. This leads to “project creep” where new sub-projects are added on creating delays and loss of focus of the original goals.

8. Biting off more than you can you can chew: This is related to the prior point but also to the original project plan outlining the problems you are you trying to solve. You can’t determine the resources required to support the project until you realistically define the project and have an implementation plan with timelines and assign people to specific tasks.

9. Skimping on training: This is the cardinal sin of failed projects. Once people get to the quote stage they look for ways to cut the cost. Cutting training is a big no no! In fact I advise my clients to buy additional training to be used six months to a year after the initial training to get them the next level of utilization.

10. You haven’t developed an ROI strategy to measure success. The two initial questions I ask a perspective client are: What problems are you trying to solve and have you established goals that you can measure the success of this investment. One example is getting a better handle on your margins. Once we know the goal we can design a utilization strategy by determining our base line and the target objectives.

My advice to anyone before they make any technology investment is to develop a ROI strategy before investing. Without clearly defined goals are as target you have a weak plan.