Are You Putting Enough Thought into Your Software Decisions?
If you’re only thinking about which mobile applications you need to develop or download to support workers, they may not be getting what they really need to be effective at their jobs.
Two years ago, I wrote a Forbes Council article encouraging members to assign more value to software tools. Not just the apps that are on mobile devices and wearables but the software that’s being used to manage those devices and manage overall operations – the software used to make critical business decisions.
When I read the article again recently, I realized that this is advice that needs to be resurfaced:
How Business Leaders Can Make More Intentional Software Investments to Build Smarter Operations
Too many technology decisions – and too many business operations decisions – are still hinging exclusively on hardware selections, and that’s concerning.
More consideration must be given to the software either built into that hardware or used to extract value from that hardware. I’m talking about everything from device management and operational visibility tools to task management, inventory management, asset tracking, and voice-facilitated workflow automation software. This software may live on the device – it may be core to the hardware’s DNA – or it may be hosted elsewhere in your tech stack, shuttling information between data capture systems, business systems, and mobile computing devices. But it must all be evaluated in a new light, nonetheless. If you aren’t thinking “beyond the app,” then that app may not deliver the guidance or insights workers need to deliver results.
To put it another way: Your operations are going to be much easier to plan, manage, and execute if you have the right software running on every device, collating intelligence from every business system, and supporting every functional decision – not just those on the frontline.
Just look what companies like Walgreens, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Hellenic Train, and Autodemolizione Pollini Group have been able to accomplish in terms of operational efficiency, waste reduction, and improved business capacity once they were more intentional with their software investments.
Sure, they were thoughtful in their hardware selections. But their hardware decisions were driven in large part by the software they needed to facilitate the workflows and information flows they mapped out. They focused on getting the business process and user experience defined and then started to plug in the hardware needed. They had to prioritize software evaluations to ensure the apps they were running on their mobile devices or the platforms they were using behind the scenes to inform business decisions met expectations. It was the software that held the intelligence, and it was the software that would tell their employees what to do and why. The device is just the vehicle to shuttle that intelligence between people and information systems (including AI systems).
So, I hope you’ll read what I shared with the Forbes Council and then check out the stories below about what happened when business leaders took a more calculated approach to their software selection and spend. It will quickly become apparent how much you can potentially accomplish if you make more intentional software investments moving forward.
- A Closer Look at Walgreens’ AI-Powered Demand Planning Transformation
- Empowering the Frontline: Inside Grupo Bimbo’s AI-Powered Transformation in Its Bakeries and the Stores It Stocks
- There is More Than One Way to Track Trailers (and Inventory) on the Move. This Retailer Proved It.
- Three (Really Good) Things That Happen When You Login to VisibilityIQ Foresight Every Day, According to Two Customers
Suresh Menon
Suresh Menon is Senior Vice President and General Manager for Software Solutions at Zebra Technologies. He is responsible for the strategy, development, and management of Zebra’s Software Solutions product line, which features an industry leading portfolio of AI-powered workforce management, task execution and communication solutions, prescriptive analytics and self-directed physical inventory management solutions.
He has held a range of software leadership roles, most recently serving as the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Informatica’s Master Data Management and 360 Solutions business unit where he led the transformation of an on-premise, perpetual licensed business to a high growth, cloud native and subscription business. Under his management, Informatica’s Master Data Management and 360 Solutions were recognized by Gartner in 2020 in the Leaders section of their Magic Quadrant as the leading solutions in this category.
Earlier in his career, Suresh served in software product management leadership positions at Identity Systems, a division of Nokia Enterprise Solutions and at Search Software America.
