As a Software as a Service (SaaS) company, DataServ was founded on the principal of “Evolution vs. Revolution” (which we also refer to as “bite-sized chunks”) – our concept for improving business processes. What does this mean? Well, at the basic level it is an example of iterative innovation. With our clients, it involves them initializing a portion of an accounts payable automation solution (for example, Digital Mailroom services) or the full solution across a portion of their organization (perhaps one location or a small subsidiary). This approach minimizes risk by providing decision-makers with more instantaneous feedback on how our solution works in their business. The lessons learned are then applied to improve their ultimate rollout and launch. Once an organization sees how the solution works in the “real world,” we can work together to come up with a much better, lower risk launch plan. This approach can also accelerate user adoption.
A recent example of this is a Fortune 500 healthcare client that was seeking to significantly improve their AP process through automation. They were very concerned about the risk of rolling out a solution across multiple states and business entities, as well as thousands of employees. We were able to address their concerns by introducing our full Purchase to Pay (P2P) solution at a small subsidiary they had recently purchased. This “bite-sized chunk” approach perfectly met their needs as they were able to see how the solution performed in their environment, without the risk of an enterprise-wide failure. Thrilled with the results they received at this small subsidiary, the company then had the confidence to implement the P2P solution throughout their entire organization. Our SaaS platform makes it easy for clients to “try before they buy” and greatly minimize the risk of their AP automation project.
With this experience in mind, we read with great interest a recent article by Deloitte titled “Minimum Viable Transformation” – part of the firm’s larger “Business Ecosystems Come of Age” report – which discussed how more and more top management teams at businesses throughout the world are reconsidering the fundamentals of how a business creates and captures value in this day and age. Deloitte cites a popular Harvard Business Review study which concludes that over 70 percent of all major transformation initiatives fail due to these initiatives being unable to quickly test and respond to issues that inevitably arise during implementation. The minimum viable approach cited in the article addresses these issues by providing organizations with ability to “identify flaws and working to improve them as rapidly as possible.” This approach has the added advantage of addressing the major roadblocks we see businesses struggle with when trying to start AP automation projects, which are as follows:
- There is too much to bite off
- They are distracted by other priorities
- There are business process changes that have to be done first
- There are too few resources (IT and/or business)
Unlike standard ERP solutions, which require you to go “all in” on a solution before you even know if it works, the “Evolution vs. Revolution” approach affords you the ability to ease into a solution. As Deloitte so aptly concludes, “minimum viable transformations can reduce risk and increase speed, better enabling business model transformation at scale.” Our experience working with clients certainly bears out the truth of this statement. To learn more about how the “Evolution vs. Revolution” concept applies to an AP automation decision, email us at info@DataServ.com and pre-register to receive our new AP automation eBook for free when it is released in September.
