Waiting for Software to Change to Fit Your Business

Software feels malleable. New features come out. Trade shows are packed full of vendors showing the bright new thing that might lure you into the sales process. Complex software (Print MIS) does not change fast (because it shouldn’t), and the sooner you realize that changing your business is a better strategy, the faster you’ll get to the ROI and business differentiation that a Print MIS can deliver.

If 800 printers buy the same Print MIS, what differentiates them? 

We approach the shopping for software phase as mission critical, almost like we think this decision is what’s going to differentiate us. If 800 other printers have the exact same software as you do, clearly this isn’t the differentiating factor. 

With any Print MIS, you can find printers who are ready to throw it out and you can find printers who swear that it has revolutionized their business. How can the same product perform so differently?

Before I answer that question, I want to tell you about one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve had in my career in print. I was doing some research at a trade show, sitting in a Print MIS booth talking to their existing customers. I was introduced to a gentleman with this statement: “He’s got the best implementation of our software anywhere.” This piqued my interest because we all know that most printers default to complaining (vigorously) about their Print MIS. About five minutes into the conversation, this gentleman said something offhand that was actually truly profound. He said:

“When I was told our company was moving to a new Print MIS, I got some training on it, spent some time learning it myself, then came up with a plan on how our business would have to change in order to use the new solution in an optimal way.”  

Holy smokes!

This statement couldn’t be further from the reality in almost every other printer I’ve interacted with. It is so far on the other end of the spectrum, it's hard to believe. I made him say it again (several times) so that I wasn’t mistaken. “You mean to tell me that you get an understanding of how the software works then you make a plan to change your business to fit the software?” I asked. “Yes,” he said each time I made him repeat it.

“So,” I continued, “how does that work out for you?”

“Well,” he said casually, “because of consolidation and acquisition, I’ve worked with three different Print MIS systems and every single vendor introduced me as the ‘best implementation of their software.’”

“How has that impacted your business?”

“Well, I don’t really ask for feature requests. I simply tell the vendor what problems I’m trying to solve and ask for their help in solving them with the features that already exist in the software. From the very beginning, I’m looking to work within the system that is there, not create workarounds or exception workflows. My plants are always considered the model for how to run the operations. I guess it’s working.” He was both brilliant and humble (a very powerful combination).

I swear this was the craziest conversation I’ve ever had. Then I remembered the story of my colleague Jane Mugford. She was a COO of a large printer in Canada when she needed to transition from EFI’s Logic to EFI’s Pace solution. Her approach was to “work from home” several days a week to completely internalize and learn Pace first, then figured out how her business fit into it. The implementation of a Print MIS is a marriage between the software and the business. For the marriage to work, the business has to learn enough about the software to make it work. Jane did this, then she implemented Pace in an optimal way for her business—going to the vendor for challenges that she got stuck on. For years, Jane’s implementation of Pace was referenced as the best implementation of the solution.  

I have another customer who on almost every call uses this phrase, “we’ll just need to change our processes.” They come to us to figure out solutions to challenges. If the software doesn’t exactly match the way they work today; their go-to response is to offer a change in their workflow. Not surprisingly, this company is considered the best implementation of their Print MIS software.

Let's look at the other side of the coin. What do you think we can learn from the printers who are on the unhappy end of the Print MIS customer spectrum? I would look at how many feature requests they are making that are not about differentiation. If you have a brilliant way of working that totally differentiates your company or serves a unique market, then custom features are absolutely necessary. If you insist on doing something because it's the way you’ve been doing it (no differentiation), then changing this practice is easier, quicker, and a lot less frustrating then waiting for software to change. There are so many printers stuck in the rut of waiting for the next release of software. The next release never solves all your problems. You are outsourcing the optimization of your business to the software vendor who has to think about the other 799 customers they have and the printers they are trying to sell new licenses to—that is a longline to get in (put your patience cap on).

Try for a minute to think about the complexity in deploying a Print MIS that has 800 customers. If the vendor acted on even half of the feature requests, the product would simply not work. There is no incentive for a vendor to customize their software to fit your specific/non-differentiating workflow, even if you offer to pay them. So you part with a couple thousand bucks—or tens of thousands—to get you the workflow that you feel is critical to your business. The vendor is burdened with maintaining that customization forever, even if you don’t use it. It builds up what’s called “technical debt,” slows the product down for everyone, and increases the costs of maintaining it. I think this is a lose–lose situation. Neither party wins. 

If you bought a Print MIS that 800 other printers have, how do you differentiate? Easy answer: you change your non-business differentiating workflows to work optimally with the Print MIS. Act as if the software is non-changeable so that you can optimize the use of it immediately. Once you go down the path of thinking software is going to change to fit you, there is just a lot of waiting, hoping, and sub-optional operations. It's a morale killer and a culture of being a victim to the software. You have the power to truly optimize the software by opening your mind and admitting that the things you’re holding tight to are not differentiating and are in fact keeping you from the business differentiation you seek.