Scramble or Strategy. How much thought goes into your cloud software purchases?

Technology is integral to how your organization functions.  It shouldn’t be an after-thought, and it shouldn’t be left to the few folks on the team that “know I.T. stuff”.  Don’t believe me?  You will if your website goes down, you can’t send out that holiday email campaign, or you can’t generate a report you need before the next board meeting.   

Here’s the thing;  most people know this already, however in the scramble to get the important stuff done, most of which, on the surface, don’t seem to be technology related (i.e. securing repeat donors, on-boarding staff, building meaningful programs and events, training volunteers etc.) there’s often a rush to purchase whatever software will address our need the fastest, without consideration toward the broader context surrounding said purchase.

This has been an ongoing struggle.  I.T. folks wanting/needing to sit in, and sometimes help facilitate, the technology strategy sessions vs. end users that prefer to go at it on their own and buy/use software that will alleviate their immediate pain.  The result is misalignment, which often leads to increased frustration, potential security challenges and increased costs (among other things).  Consider the various pieces of software you use within your organization. 

• What discussions were held before they were purchased?  
• Was it part of a well thought, time-based, project-related plan? 
• Does the software work/integrate with your other systems?  
• Does it offer functionality that you already have in another solution?  
• When is the last time you reviewed how successful you've been with the solution?
• Do yearly renewals surprise you?

These questions alone may get you thinking about having a more well rounded discussion about the approach to software in your organization.   It’s not to say that personal preferences and the human aspects of technology usage shouldn’t be considered, rather it’s to help ensure that conversations and adequate planning are being done to make everyone happy with the direction the technology is going, and subsequently how that technology (overall) will support the mission of the organization using it.