Unless IT is going to give your organisation a massive competitiveedge, it is often better to adopt 'best practice' rather than leading - or'bleeding' - edge technology. The results might be less than spectacular,but the business benefit will be much easier to realise, writes GuyDresser.
Different countries around the world have different perspectives on IT. Any software vendor trying to make it in the US will not get so much as their foot in the door if their product is not the very latest and greatest, all singing and dancing system. Anything more than two years old is deemed out of date.
In Germany, on the other hand, conservatism rules the day. Many a supplier has been sent on their way after being told in no uncertain terms by a finance director that only those with a long history of supplying companies in the Federal Republic and ten years’ worth of audited results will be good enough.
In the UK, things are rather different. According to John Paterson, chief operating officer of the mid-range accounting software supplier Systems Union, perceptions are what count.
And analysts have frequently described the company as having fairly boring but tried and tested technology with a highly satisfied customer base.
Indeed all the available research into the accounting software market has consistently placed Systems Union’s customer base as the most satisfied of any group of software users.
According to Paterson, however, the company’s reputation for dull but worthy software is set to change. Last week it announced an agreement with US-based Citrix Systems that will give users of SunSystems remote access to data over the Internet, corporate intranets or wide area networks.
The tie-up is the first of a series of agreements which will see Systems Union incorporate a number of newer technologies into its product set, including workflow, EDI and document management. And the company will broaden its range within the next 18 months to include manufacturing, supply chain management and human resources applications.
Paterson said that companies in the US, keen as ever for the latest technology, believe the Internet will change everything about the way they do business.
‘This might stick in our European gullets, but it will eventually happen.
A lot of the Internet technology out now is interesting but doesn’t deliver business benefit. What people seem to overlook is that if it just gives the IT director an ego trip and a career opportunity, you may sell a lot of software. But if it’s not the answer to businesses’ problems, then we’re not interested,’ commented Paterson.
Next year Systems Union will bring to market a 32-bit client/server architecture for its Captiva range. The company will be ceasing its support of dumb terminals, character-based software and even Windows 3.x.
‘This will be a global product and as such we will be moving the boundaries forward,’ Paterson said. Users worried about the implications of new technology should take heart – the company’s dramatic growth over the last ten years has yet to be pursued at the expense of its installed customer base. However, it might force software analysts to revise their opinions.
