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All of the SFA/CRM, Accounting, Call
Center Automation and Proposal Automation systems we represent
come already set up to provide full functionality for the
end-user. You'd expect nothing less, nor would we.
But that functionality is provided with a "generalized" operation
in mind because, in the end, the sofware publishers have
no way of knowing what kind of organization is going to install
their programs and how they will be used. What is initially
available is a generic "best guess" and, while
that is sometimes good enough, it is often the case that
getting a really significant return on your investment means
fine-tuning the product to your specific needs and requirements.
And that is where system customization comes in.
Customization can mean re-arranging and modifying screen
layouts, adding extra databases to track items that are specific
to your industry or organization, setting up special reports
to fit your operational requirements or providing inteface
functions with other programs or legacy systems. It can mean
writing libraries for your proposal automation program to
use to generate customer-specific proposals with minimum
effort.
Customizing systems takes them from "generic" to "specific" and
it greatly increases productivity and your return on investment.
It is common for clients to use a system, generic or customized,
and find that there are things they want or need that require
modification. As a result, we frequently find ourselves continuing
to provide fine-tuning for several years after the initial
installation because our clients find ways to be more and
more efficient as they use the system.
One of the great benefits of the partners we represent is
that the great ones provide us the ability to make modifications
to their system, the ability to make the general into the
specific and the generic into the custom tailored. That ability
is what delivers the extra return our clients look for in
the first place. |
