ROI from Enterprise Software - People is key

I attended the 2nd Perform Day from Compuware this week. (It used to be called Compuware APM User Conference for the 1st edition) 

Application Performance Management (APM) is definitely going to get bigger and bigger, especially in this region.

Anyway, I took away a key message from the conference. Nothing technical, but very useful to apply for my work - IAMS (Identity Access and Management Service) and APM.

The software from both domains (IAMS & APM) are developed for the Enterprise and the cost attached is not cheap. Decisions to purchase usually come from the CIO level. These people usually measure the success of the projects by ROI (Return On Investment). They must see value from the software they purchased. Otherwise, it's a failure … to them.

So during the Panel Discussion, one participant asked:

"We have been using Compuware product since 2009. Can you help us to show value of the product to our Management?"

I nearly fell off from my chair! Mind you, she said since 2009. Today is year 2014. It has been 5 long years and she has not found value from the expensive software.

Ok, this is Asia, by the way. :)

Back to her question, one of the panelists responded with something along this line:

1. Work with Compuware consultants. They will help you to understand the software and more importantly, use the software more effectively.
2. Commit a dedicated resource to learn the software.

The MD of Compuware (Eng Kiong, a friend of mine) emphasized what he has been preaching to customers frequently - "In order to get value from dynaTrace/DCRum, you need to assign a dedicated person to learn and operate the software on a daily basis. You cannot have someone who is on a part-time basis."

From his observation, there are 3 ingredient for success:
1. Software
2. Process
3. People

A company can always deploy the best software in the market and define the best process. However, if there is not a single well-trained person in the company who can competently manage the software, there is no chance to get any value out from the software.

Another panelist added: The software will just be another "white elephant".


What they said really hit hard on me because I have deployed many IAMS and APM solutions in the region and I can say they have not yield the kind of value I wanted customers to get.

Why?

Customers are not committed to assign dedicated resources to learn and be competent with the software.
Every engineer I worked with is usually multi-tasked. Now, a software cannot be auto-pilot in Production. Human input is required.

Sad, but commonly seen in Asia.


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