The Top 6 Ways to Guarantee a Successful Enterprise Software Pilot

Software pilots are tricky endeavors.  They are a crucial first step in the process of deploying an enterprise software technology solution.  You don’t want to commit full tilt until you’ve tested a technology.  Successful deployments have significant impacts upon companies, people and careers.  You want to get it right.

Whether you call it a pilot or a Proof of Concept (POC for short), Pilots may be “tricky” but there are 6 crucial steps to take to optimize your chances for success  

• Your software vendor partner can be your best friend.  Software vendors love pilots.  This is because they believe that once the software is in, it isn’t coming back out again.  Plus the vendor will have their people on site for the term of the pilot, ideally lobbying on behalf of flipping the pilot into an ongoing license.  The upside of this is that most software companies are not in the pilot business….they’re in the annual license business.  This means they’ll be working hard to help you make the pilot a success. 

This might be your first pilot of software of this type, but your software partner has gone through many pilots.  They have accumulated a number of best practices they can share.  They have the benefit of hindsight where they have seen the pitfalls where other clients have mis-stepped.  They can monitor the progress of your pilot and provide ongoing practical guidance to keep your pilot on track.  Of course everyone needs to agree on what that course is, hence the fact you should have a measurable goal for the pilot.

• The most important attribute of a successful pilot is to have a measurable goal.  That might seem obvious but so many neglect to attach one to the event.  I have heard of lots of pilots of enterprise social networks where there is no defined goal.  

You can’t just throw it out there, see who uses it and hope for the best.  Because if you do, you’ll get some early adopter types (those who enjoy using new technologies) to embrace it and no one else.  And even those early users will stop using it after a while if they don’t see others jumping in or if they don’t see results.  And senior team members won’t touch the software at all.  They’re afraid of it to begin with; are not anxious to learn something new, or for that matter to share anything, anyway.

When you do define the goals of the project, consider asking everyone on the team for input.  Establish the success criteria for the pilot, with input from all stakeholders.   Your chances for success are increased if not only do you achieve your goals with the pilot, but that everyone who participated in the process agrees those goals were meaningful and important.

A measurable goal lets you monitor the progress of the pilot and if you’re not hitting the mark, adjust your strategies to get on track.  It might be something as simple as measuring Adoption Rates(how many people are using it) or Engagement (the number of Contributions).  You can measure both activity and results.  Here are some examples of measurable results:

• How much content is shared and how often retrieved.
• How many customer interactions,
• How many client problems were solved
• How many new products were put into the pipeline
• How many tweaks to the customer engagement process were implemented as a result of customer feedback
• How many ideas
• How many good ideas were accrued during the pilot
• How many sales result from each communication  

But measure something. Because when the pilot is over you want to be able to answer the question: “Was the pilot successful?” with statistical results.  

• You should get the right crowd involved in your pilot.  I think we all can identify those “usual suspects” when we think about who would embrace new technologies.  There are always “early adopters” you can rely on to try out the software.  If you’re clever you can make certain these early adopters are spread throughout the organization into various geographies, departments and disciplines.  They can act as ambassadors to other users.  If the early adopters are advocates, you can exponentially grow your user community.     

Advocates or ambassadors can serve as support, trainers and cheerleaders. Equally they can provide feedback from the troops back to those responsible for managing the process.

 

Plus the users during the pilot can be your biggest supporters during roll out.

You should probably not limit your pilot to just a small number of users in one department (the usual inclination).  You want to optimize your chance for success.  This is a situation where rewards outweigh risks. Frequently champions for software want to limit the exposure of the pilot to their own department so if the pilot fails, the exposure will be minimal. But this can be a case of when a preconceived notion of failure might better be supplanted by a manifest destiny approach for success.  You want a positive outcome; why not take every measure you can to ensure success.

• You should constantly market to end users and management.  This means training, newsletters, email updates (with call to action links taking users into the system).  Management and users should hear good news and about successes. 

You should not only collect usage data, as well as the output of the software, but also the feedback from the user community about how to improve the software for eventual roll out.  Simple items like “I wish this link or item was on this screen” or “It would be easier to use if…” can inform the success of the actual and eventual roll out.  

• The time frame is critical.  You should keep it short, perhaps thirty to sixty days.  People will operate more effectively with a deadline.  Six months is way too long, long enough to have user interest ebb without the payoff of additional data accumulated.  Plus this helps subscribe to the notion of “fail fast”.  If the pilot is a mis step, then get it over quickly so you spend the minimum amount of money on it.  Similarly don’t allow “scope creep”.  You’ll get lots of suggestions from the user community which you absolutely should collect for consideration before roll out, but don’t let it slow down the pilot effort nor more importantly steer you away from achieving those measurable goals. 

Along with timeline and goals you should also add other rules. Think about what you want to achieve with the pilot and keep everyone within those parameters.  

• The next most important attribute of a successful pilot is senior management support. Of course you need a champion.  This is someone on your team who is a “believer”, who understand that using this software will improve your organization. This might be you! But if that champion is not senior enough, then you need a “higher-up” to buy in.

 

How important is this step?  Let’s put it this way, the very best pilot kick off speech I ever heard was when a Vice President at a Fortune 100 company got all the potential users in a room (some of the virtually) and merely said, “OK, thanks for coming.  I want you all to use this new software.  Dependent on the success of this project, my job is on the line, and that means yours is too.  Login, ask for help, start using the software and make this a success.”  Everyone got the message, there was a flurry of activity immediately and the project was a huge success.

Conclusion: 

1. Make sure you have your user community, your management and your software vendor involved in the project so they feel and act like partners.  
2. Solicit and gain consensus so you have a well publicized, measurable goal.   
3. Carry out the pilot within a short, defined time frame.   
4. Keep the lines of communication open to receive user feedback, to encourage adoption, and to publicize successes.

Ron Shulkin blogs researches and writes about enterprise technology focused on social media, innovation, voice of the customer, marketing automation and enterprise feedback management.  Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation ecosystem.  CogniStreamer serves as a Knowledge Management System, Idea Management System and Social Network for Innovation.  You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60 .  Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here). You can follow him Twitter. You can follow his blogs at this Facebook group.  You can connect with Ron on LinkedIn.

Virtual Work Helps Women Get Ahead in Tech

We all know that women in the tech start-up world are outnumbered by men, and most of them tend to be in support roles such as marketing, public relations and office management. But, as of late, it is the lack of women entrepreneurs in the technology industry, and the shortage of female tech employees have been major topics of discussion.

Some women are working hard to bring more women into tech, but mostly they choose to ignore the industry’s male-dominated tradition, shrugging off the threat of sexism. Many seem not to notice when they’re pitching to a room full of men; some notice, and don’t care.

A recent survey from Elance entitled, “Women in Technology,” suggests virtual/online work may be the answer to women finally achieving serious parity with men in tech. The survey, which polled over 7,000 independent professionals across the globe, found that women are finding more tech opportunities in the virtual world than in the real world. In fact, 70 percent say online work gives them more opportunities in technology than on-site work does.

Women say they are finding numerous benefits of working virtually in tech including:

Level Playing Field

According to Elance’s survey, gender discrimination is neutralized when women work virtually. Instead of being perceived as female entrepreneurs, they are known as tech employees, gaining respect based on skills.

Work/Life Balance

For working moms flexibility is key. Virtual work enables both tech entrepreneurs and tech employees to balance their work and family time. The survey showed that 60 percent of women say online work allows them to manage their work life home life.

Ability to Build a Business

Sixty percent of women say working as an independent contractor with multiple clients is easier than trying to find full-time work. So, virtual work enables women to build their own businesses.

Intellectual Challenge

About 65 percent of women in tech say diverse projects enable them to improve their skills and provides more learning opportunities than an on-site job would.

All in all, 80 percent are optimistic about the future success of women in technology, and 32 percent are extremely optimistic.  

Related articles

• Next Level Tips for Women Leaders
• Start-Up & Pitch Ideas For Entrepeneurs At PitchCamp

Caution and Innovation: Do They Go Together?

Are you apprehensive about innovation? You are not alone. A new study by Accenture based on surveys of 519 companies across over 12 sectors in the U.S., U.K., and France revealed that half of executives feel their businesses have become risk averse when considering new ideas. Instead of inventing brand new products and services, 64 percent of companies focus more on product-line extensions.

If innovation is the creation and delivery of new value, they have focused too much on the "new" part and not enough on the "value" part. While most companies look at innovation as a priority, managers often dismiss radical new ideas. More involvement in the innovation process leads to better financial results, as well as helps develop team commitment.

According to Wouter Koetzier, managing director for innovation and product development at Accenture, many companies take a low-risk approach to innovation because they don’t have a disciplined approach for risk management. "It's a situation compounded for many by an inability to rapidly scale inventions," Koetzier told Business News Daily. "However, the research suggests that those companies that have a formal, end-to-end management system to nurture, scale and launch innovations tend to be more satisfied with their results as they achieve stronger outcomes."

Image via www.andyellwood.com

More than 90 percent of the executives said that the long-term success of their organization's strategy depends on the ability to develop new ideas, but there is a decline in the innovation performance satisfaction over the last three years. The number of executives who were likely to identify the introduction of a new product category as the main innovation goal dropped to 27 percent this year - down from 42 percent in 2009. Not to mention, 33 percent said their main innovation goal was the expansion of the products that supported basic offerings.

The research shows that companies that have formal innovation-management systems are twice as likely to say they were very satisfied with their idea-generation abilities. And, businesses with a system in place are 75 percent more likely to define their strategy as competitive, twice as likely to introduce a new business process, and 35 percent more likely to be first to market with new products.

Adi Alon, a managing director in the Accenture Innovation and Product Development practice, said, "Approached correctly, innovation can be executed at scale, with speed and balance between renovation and game-changing initiatives, driving higher strategic and commercial value."

Related articles

• What Does Innovation Have to Do With Strategy, Anyway?
• Kill Your Innovation Champion
• How to build a lean high performance innovation team
• 7 Tips to Speed Time to Innovation

Innovate Your Innovation Strategy

For decades, consumer goods companies have line extended in order to maintain continued growth. New sub-categories have been created, and then saturated. But this has led to many more choices than a consumer could possibly want. In turn, this has created a “paralysis of choice,” according to Luke Atkinson, deputy head of planning at Leo Burnett Sydney, so retailers are starting to consolidate and replace aisles of brands with their branded products.

“There is no genuine unmet need left in these categories,” he wrote. “This is further compounded by digital, which has created lots of new, interesting and often free ways to spend time and energy. Brands, as means of self-expression, have lost their power. And it costs more money to sustainably launch NPD into the market. No wonder incrementalism is a dying art.”

Atkinson says it’s time to innovate innovation, and here’s how:

Think Big. Classic incrementalism starts with detailed quantitative understanding of consumer needs, looking for empty percentage that a new product could target. Ask questions like, ‘What is my brand’s human purpose, making my target’s life better?’ Around this bigger purpose, ‘What unmet consumer needs exist that your brand, through a combination of products could fulfill?’

Think Utility. Digital technology offers new innovation opportunities that when combined with your product, offers consumers utilities that have value. How can the purpose of your brand and your product set, when combined with any consumer-friendly technology offer a new utility to people?

Think Functional Integration. To escape incrementalism, you must deepen your relationship with your consumer, not expand it. This is what integration is about – integrating your products together around your meaningful purpose.

Think Product and Promotion as One. Instead of developing a product and then worrying about how to promote it later, consider bringing the two together in one fresh combination. Consider bringing your product, advertising and digital agencies to innovate together. 

Related articles

• Inspiration Comes From the Most Extreme Places - Jeremy Gutsche's Innovation Strategy Speech (TrendHunter.com)
• The Barriers To Innovation, And How To Break Through
• 25 Keynotes on Brand Persona - From Creating a Cohesive Brand to the Evolution of Consumption (TrendHunter.com)
• The 4 P's of marketing aren't enough anymore!

Apartment Searching Goes Digital: 5 Trends that Impact Your Decision

As anyone who has searched for an apartment knows, choosing one is a big decision that involves time spent searching and re-searching an overwhelming amount of options. As I just went through this stressful process is one of the biggest cities in the world, New York City, I understand that apartment hunters want as much information as they can get to help them locate their ideal place. Luckily, today’s technology gives them more ways than ever to find it. In fact, here are five disruptive tech trends shaping the way renters find apartments in the digital age.

Deeper Research

With more information available at their fingertips than ever before, renters are looking closer at apartments before making a decision.  Renters consult many sources to get a complete picture of the apartments they are considering and compare options to find the best fit. In fact, by the time they visit one in person, many already know about everything about the apartment. This trend will cause only apartments marketed across different media to stand out.

Social Media

Social sites like Facebook and Twitter are powerful sources of information. Renter friends’ referrals online carry more influence than any other single factor when it comes to making a decision. Tech Crunch recently reported that people use Twitter to share referrals as often as email, and Facebook is used to share referrals as much as Twitter and email combined. Turns out, apartments that get people talking online will easily find interested renters.

Image via Lifehacker.com

Online Ratings

From Amazon to Yelp, reviews and ratings on all types of products have become part of the online shopping experience and are becoming a huge force in the offline world too. Authentic reviews help renters verify the information they’ve found and commit to their choice; renters will actually take longer to commit to apartments that don’t have online reviews.

Video

Renters are interested in video information about a location because it is relevant to the quality of life. Reading that an apartment is a sunny and friendly place to live doesn’t carry as much weight as seeing a video that confirms it. In the future, videos may become as common as photographs for apartments listed online.

Mobile

Though most apartment hunters still browse the Web on a desktop, their phones let them access information anytime, anywhere. Mobile information accessed during the later stages of a search helps renters make a decision more quickly. Soon, apartments with mobile optimized websites will be able to quickly convince renters that they are a good fit.

Strategies for negative collaborators

How To Deal With Negative Contributions

One of the most frequent questions I get when we talk about collaborative innovation systems, is “what do we do with negative input?”.  Those responsible for the collaborative innovation environment, (whether it is a simple idea management system, an electronic suggestion box, or a full blown social network dedicated to ideation) worry about contributors who submit negative comments that can potentially kill good ideas. 

In the innovation world, we always note there is a place for some negative thinking.  If someone pokes holes in an idea with the hope that those negative attributes once noted, can be “solved”, then the negative input is truly constructive.  For instance, “here’s where I see a problem with your idea” followed up by others responding with “fixes”, e.g. “thank you for pointing that issue out, here’s how we’re going to get around that problem”.  The negative input stimulates additional contributions, more intense collaboration, includes more people and results in a positive outcome.

But what worries the innovation management team are the folks who “kill” ideas. 

• “That idea is terrible” which can imply you’re stupid for posting it.

• “We tried that two years ago and the idea went nowhere” even though the circumstances two years ago could have been completely different.  What was a bad idea back then might be a good idea today.

The best practice response we always share is to make certain the collaborative environment is closely curated.  The community managers or moderators need to pay attention and either edit or delete those comments.  Or a private message asking the contributor to frame their criticism in a more constructive way.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

New studies point out other approaches can yield success.  Here’s a new tack and is based on a novel premise.  Intense polarization depends on ignorance.  Drawing attention to how little the team knows about any given topic can actually help the collaborators to “get along”.  When researchers asked people to indicate their position on a particular topic and then asked them to explain the mechanics of the new idea, contributors took a more moderate position.  You’re not asking the “Negative Nellies” to provide a reason for their negative position (which won’t have a positive outcome); instead you’re prompting the mechanistic explanation which can apparently enable empathy and a more open mind.

Standing The Test of Time

If you want a new idea to enjoy some sustainability, you need to give that notion initial wide exposure.  If a contributor’s post has a minor initial “splash”, it’s percentage of mind share amongst the community will drop back off the radar fast.  To get lasting notoriety, you need to debut with wide coverage so that the new idea “locks in”. 

So the “marketing attributes” of the collaborative system needs to be tapped into in a big way. 

1. The new idea should be placed obviously in the innovation social network’s news-feed;
2. It should be posted in the “spotlight” area on the initial dashboard;
3. The idea can be posted in the weekly innovation newsletter (“here’s what’s hot this week”);
4. Perhaps the idea has an “editor’s pick” graphic alongside of it;
5. It can be posted in multiple, different communities beyond its initial placement.

Taking this type of extra effort for a struggling, yet worthy idea may yield an idea that “has legs”, standing the test of time.

Benevolence versus Mercenary

Generally playing games to gain support for one’s idea is frowned upon.  Usually the mechanics of a Challenge helps prevent users from gaming the system.  (The winner isn’t for the “best idea”; the winner is for the most “contributions”).  You don’t want people to vote for your idea because you want to win the iPad for your kid; you want people to vote for your idea based on the idea’s merit.

One ethical approach to reduce polarization surrounding a worthy idea; a way to overcome the “gridlock” surrounding its promotion, is to tap into a strategy well proven in the political arena:  Pork Barrel Politics.  If an idea has attributes that appeal to a variety of different groups within the collaborative space, it is possible to garner wide reaching support.  When describing an idea, the inventor should probably consider how it can impact all the different parts of an organization.  Marketers should think about engineers; people in one geography should think about how it impacts users in other geographies.

If an idea can provide benefits to MY area of the organization, it gets much easier to add my support.  This method of framing one’s idea helps reach compromise.  This appeal to others doesn’t necessarily garner “support”, but it does act as “bait” for convincing others.  It can stimulate other users to join a coalition amongst collaborators who might otherwise spurn an idea.  People need to see the value of an idea in their wheelhouse.  This approach can even enable others to claim credit for the parts of the idea that aids their cause.

Summary

The trick is to remember the collaborative space is populated with humans.  The user community is subject to all the foibles of any other group of people.  Staying aware of the psychology can enable a smoother, more successful collaborative effort.

“Greasing the Wheels: Using Pork Barrel Projects to Build Majority Coalitions in Congress”, Diana Evans, Cambridge University Press (June 14, 2004).

Van de Rijt, A. et al., “Only 15 minutes?  The Social Stratification of Fame in Printed Media,” American Sociological Review (April 2013).

Fernbach, P. et al., “Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding,” Psychological Science (forthcoming).

Post Script:

I write frequently on the topic of Adoption and Engagement surrounding Collaborative Innovation Ecosystems...in other words, how to get people to use the new Idea social network.  Here's a smattering of recent blog postings covering the same topic:

Which Innovation News do you want first? The Good News or The Bad News? 

Last lesson learned: Ideation for Innovation is a social networking activity 

Everyone wants to be one of the cool kids in the “In(novation) Crowd”. Don’t you?

When is the best time to ask your team for ideas?

It's a little like teaching your Mother to use email: How to get older users to collaborate!

Keep Your Ideas Fresh! Adoption & Engagement in Collaborative Systems

   

About the Author

Ron Shulkin blogs researches and writes about enterprise technology focused on social media, innovation, voice of the customer, marketing automation and enterprise feedback management.  Ron Shulkin is Vice President of the Americas for CogniStreamer®, an innovation ecosystem.  CogniStreamer serves as a Knowledge Management System, Idea Management System and Social Network for Innovation.  You can learn more about CogniStreamer here http://bit.ly/ac3x60 .  Ron manages The Idea Management Group on LinkedIn (Join Here). You can follow him Twitter. You can follow his blogs at this Facebook group.  You can connect with Ron on LinkedIn.