It seems Integrated Workplace Management Systems live a life of their own. Too often organizations ask for my advice in buying an IWMS that will solve all of their problems. They tend to forget that the IWMS is just a means to an end!
In the 31 Day Challenge to Improve your IWMS implementation iwmsnews.com has helped to improve your implementation. In most cases your IWMS is implemented to reduce operational costs and to increase efficiency. However, a lot of organizations still conduct actions that will cost the organization a lot of money. Today we describe a few of those strategies to lose money by using an IWMS.
Strategy #1 – Buy every module
In most cases you don’t need all the modules that the IWMS vendor offers. By failing to prepare carefully, you are preparing your project for a failure resulting in a loss of money. Only buy what you need!
Strategy #2 – Don’t align to organizations’ goals
Your IWMS is an important tool that should support your organization in achieving formulated business goals. Not aligning to those business goals ensures that somewhere down the road organization conflicts will occur. This will cost your organization a lot of money. And heads will roll…
Strategy #3 – Don’t align to your organizations’ IT policies
Another ‘very good’ strategy to lose money is not to align with organizational IT policies. Conflicts in supporting your IWMS implementation, authorization conflicts, update failures, etc. are a costly result of not aligning with IT policies. This strategy is also very effective in creating internal conflict between the IT department and the business.
Strategy #4 – Save on training
Although training can be expensive, it is nothing compared to the costs of being dependent on the IWMS vendor for every (minor) change to your IWMS implementation. By saving on functional training you will definitively ensure that you will lose money.
Strategy #5 – Lack of procedures
The lack of procedures within your IWMS is also a good strategy to lose money. By allowing exceptions to procedures (or not implementing procedures at all) people can update all kinds of information according to their liking which will reduce the quality of your implementation immediately.
Strategy #6 – Don’t communicate about the IWMS
Perhaps one of the most important strategies to lose money is not communicating about the IWMS (and to keep it to yourself). IWMS’s have an immense cost savings potential however, if nobody within the organization knows about your IWMS, they will not use it.
Strategy #7 – Don’t document anything
Another great strategy to lose money is to not document anything. You will ensure that nobody will be able to retrieve key information about your implementation. Especially when key people leave the organization you will definitively lose money. Together with them a lot of valuable knowledge will leave your organization as well.
Strategy #8 – Fail to produce correct management information
Your management is using the information from your IWMS implementation to make decisions. Failing to produce the correct management information will ensure wrong decisions about space occupancy requirements, contracts, real estate performance, etc. The costs associated with these wrong decisions are immense and thus hold great potential to lose money.
Strategy #9 – Don’t update / upgrade
Software developments are evolving at an ever increasing pace. Outsourcing and off shoring R&D to Eastern Europe, India or other countries has increased the velocity of new functional developments of Integrated Workplace Management Systems. This implicates that every release a lot of new functionality will become available. If you don’t upgrade you can’t use the new functionality which can solve many of your problems today. In addition to that, the IWMS vendor will stop supporting your version at some point ensuring that you have to invest in support. The longer you wait to upgrade, the more money you will lose.
Strategy #10 – Don’t evaluate anything
Save the best for last. This is exactly what failing to evaluate your IWMS is. If you really want to lose money using your IWMS, don’t evaluate any aspect of your IWMS! Not only you will make wrong decisions, but in addition to that you won’t have any clue to improve it.
There you go! Here are the 10 Perfect Strategies to Lose Money using your IWMS. If one of the above aspects applies to you, you are losing money. If you don’t want to lose money, but want to contribute to your organization, try to avoid the above strategies as much as you can.
I love to hear your strategies to lose money using an IWMS!
IWMS, Money, Strategy