Reprinted with permission © 2009 TreeTop Technologies

When you're implementing packaged software, the fact that it's off-the-shelf technology is generally a good thing for getting you the features and service you need without the hassle of in-house development. Just don't get too caught up in some of the other terms often attached to such third-party products, like turnkey application or out of the box, warns Neil Gardner, who as a former senior vice president at a large investment firm has dealt with his fair share of such implementations.

"The biggest mistake that people make is to think that because they aren't writing the software application from scratch, that the implementation won't be too big a deal," says Gardner, currently a partner at NewVantage Partners. "They underestimate the level of difficulty that can be involved in an implementation and that can mean cost overruns, lost time and less effective outcomes."

Part of the problem is that the third-party software provider may make the sales pitch to the business side of the company and the IT department may get left out of the discussions, at least initially. This can lead to misplaced expectations and a lot of pain later on, Gardner notes.

"Sometimes, this happens because of the traditional tension that can exist between IT and the more business-minded people in a company," he adds. "But sometimes, it's because the software vendor says that IT doesn't need to be involved in the discussions."

Gardner advises that companies set up a third-party software installation the same way they would any other significant project. Make a thorough project plan, have a requirements document, and plan for a huge testing phase, for example.

"One place that people get tripped up is in failing to do non-functional testing or not doing enough of it," he warns. "They do the functional testing to make sure the product can do what it says it will do, but then when they roll it out for everyone to use, they find out that the performance is lacking or that the systems can't handle the full load of users once it's active."

Footnotes: From "View from the TreeTop" Volume 3 Issue 2 March 2009