How well are you equipped to thrive in a digital future?

Since the caveman first fashioned axe heads out of flint, having the right tool has always delivered a competitive advantage. In times gone by, the purpose of, say, the plough, the loom or the steam engine may have been self-evident. In a digital age, things are sometimes less readily apparent.

The computer, the internet and the digital revolution have invaded almost everything we do, but how many truly understand the technology well enough to know that we have all the right tools in the bag?

• Change is no longer optional. The pace of change is increasing – done well, it can transform – done badly, it can destroy. Increasing too is pressure to minimise the cost of change, accelerate the benefits, and drive through a clear and demonstrable return on investment.

• The tools and techniques available for delivering solutions are changing too. Building bespoke solutions from scratch is almost unheard of now, and off-the-shelf packages (though ubiquitous) may still not provide the panacea to all problems. If Covid has taught us anything, it is that flexibility is no longer an optional requirement.

Where you are on your digital journey matters – though this is more likely to influence your immediate next steps than the desired endpoint.

• A largely paper-based organisation is open to considering its choice of where to start, whilst at the other extreme, a fully digitalised company may be more focused on ensuring its raft of systems keeps pace with evolving technologies.

• The flow of information through an organisation is every bit as important as its product pipeline, its sales pipeline and the services and products it takes to market.

• Accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and cost to produce all drive the digital agenda, and in today’s marketplace, there is no reason why you can’t tick all the boxes

A commitment to continuous improvement separates the leaders from the pack – gone are the days when a successful go-live marked the end of the journey. Continuous improvement is now an essential measure – leaning your processes, exploiting the latest technologies, and adapting to external threats.

So, before you assemble your list of potential suppliers for your next project, take a few moments to complete the checklist below, and see if you are at least considering all the available options.

If in your answers you are ticking all 4’s and 5’s, you are a technically mature organisation with a comprehensive, accurate, accessible, reliable, and flexible digital platform – anything less, and there is still room for improvement.

The Key Questions

To identify the best solution, we believe you need to consider the problem from three distinct but interrelated perspectives.

1. Business Logic – Irrespective of any solution chosen you will have to understand the necessary business processes you seek to support at an appropriately detailed level: What data you wish to capture – where, when and by whom; what rules apply to the manipulation and display of the data, what outputs you want. You will also need to take a view on how stable those processes are likely to be over the duration of the contract, and hence what level of flexibility you require.
2. Application Logic – how well does the solution support the Business Logic. Does it capture all the information required at source (is some missing or is double handling required); does it support all the required processing rules; does it support all the desired outputs; does it provide all the management information required and in all the formats required. Perhaps most important of all how easily will it evolve in response to changing demands, business rules, emerging technologies.
3. Underpinning Technology – does the underpinning technology enable or constrain; does the solution work equally well on laptop, tablet and mobile; can it work off-line as well as on-line; does it integrate seamlessly with other standard applications – email, text, MSTeams, Google Maps, and with other bespoke and off the shelf package solutions already in use. And can the solution keep pace with changing technologies to ensure the interoperability you have at the outset is maintained.

Potential Solutions

In our opinion, there are three ways you could seek to meet your requirements:

• The least attractive (a bespoke solution built from scratch) many discount on the grounds of time-scales, costs and risk, all of which would be prohibitive in all but the most extreme circumstances and with the most demanding requirements – when there is no alternative.

• The second option – which may be the default choice these days is the identification, configuration and implementation of an appropriate tailored off-the-shelf package solution, if available, with a suitable match to the required functionality.

• The third option – which you may not yet be considering but which we believe you should evaluate alongside your package selection, is the rapid assembly and configuration of a tailored off-the-shelf solution developed in a no-code platform.

Off The Self Packages – At first glance, they may appear lower risk and lower effort to configure and implement, and sometimes it is possible to find a good fit. But, off-the-shelf packages:

• rarely provide an exact match between business logic and application logic – hence you end up paying for more than you need and still have gaps in the solution;

• can be configured – up to a point – but often require the business to tailor its processes to meet the limitations of the package, which can increase training needs as staff have to learn new ways to complete what had hitherto been perfectly satisfactory processes; and,

• can offer significant resistance to change – if or when the business requires something which the package cannot be reconfigured to do.

No-code Solutions like Excelpoint – often take even less in-house input to support the assembly and configuration of a solution. No-code solutions will deliver your processes to your exact requirements, and the nature of no-code means much of the heavy lifting has been completed before the tailoring to your configuration starts. Such a solution is guaranteed to match business and application logic exactly – and to allow continued alignment between the two as your business processes evolve in response to continuous improvement initiatives or external demands.

In addition, we have taken great pains to enable the following additional elements to our solution, which may enhance your digital delivery:

• we are accessible (securely) through any modern device, including desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile, and accessed via a portal, the internet and mobile app;

• we can handle data through multiple channels without the need to re-key, moving seamlessly through email, text, and MSTeams; and,

• our solution complies with WCAG2.1 guidelines and has successfully passed the assistive technology testing team audit receiving AA rating.

We can also integrate policies and procedures with process automation improving compliance and supporting self-service training and public self-service operation. For example:

• embedding links in all electronic processes with associated policies and procedures allows direct access to the relevant passage at a single click; and,

• supporting self-service training for new joiners and those moving to new roles, ensuring relevant policies and procedures are presented and confirmed to have been read and understood and allowing dissemination, tracking and confirmation of changes to policies and procedures.

And finally – you could do it yourself:

• It has never been easier to develop powerful business-critical applications. With a shortage of experienced developers and a trend towards software to digitalise entire business processes, there is a new role evolving, the citizen developer. Using our no-code software, organisations can look within and identify individuals with no prior development skills, simply problem solvers able to apply their skills and knowledge.

• Our software offers ease of use and rapid onboarding, enabling admin users to quickly gain experience in building powerful applications integrated with other internal information repositories. We provide in-depth training, or you can supplement your team with our consultants to ensure you realise the full advantages of our no-code software and address all your organisational challenges.

Author: Parry Jenkins, Strategic Business Consultant, Excelpoint

30 years of experience as a consultant and experienced trouble-shooter working both outside and inside organisations to deliver IT led transformational change.

Excelpoint’s digital transformation no-code platform offers a scalable, flexible, secure and reliable way to digitalise enterprise-wide business processes much faster than you think, leveraging legacy systems and information, replacing paper and spreadsheets, delivering powerful real-time reporting dashboards, accessible anywhere and on any device.

Get in touch with us to find out how we can help you achieve a successful digital transformation: hello@excelpoint.co.uk or 01325 375930.