How do you identify your software development priority in times of pandemic as several companies are currently experiencing its repercussions. As the Prime Minister said, some are “on pause” while others are unable to find the necessary employees to meet demands.
One thing remains though, what did not perform well before the pandemic, is still not performing well during the pandemic and will not perform well afterwards. However, we will return to performance issues in a context of pandemic and economic downturn in a future post.
Of course, you could also embark on the Digital Transformation project, which we have already discussed at length in previous posts, or on an Agile Transformation project, i.e. the integration of Agility into the enterprise. These projects are certainly very worthwhile, but we have something else in mind for you.
Identifying software development priorities in times of pandemic?
For some companies, it will be a question of doing more with less, while for others, it will simply be a question of doing better?
Indeed, any IT manager will seek either a gain in productivity or a gain in performance. However, there is a third path that is less obvious but certainly just as profitable, the path of Intelligence (not artificial, that is ?).
So, if your company is on idle, why not take advantage of this time to recover Business Intelligence? Such a Business Intelligence-oriented software development project, while requiring good thinking, will not sideline your critical applications. Moreover, whether it is Financial or related to your Customers, this Business Intelligence will prove to be an invaluable competitive advantage in the recovery.
Now, is Business Intelligence identified as a software development priority in your company? It should.
The Value of Financial Business Intelligence
Thus, we say that a period of economic slowdown is a very good opportunity to reassess the return on investment (ROI) of each department or business function.
Just as a Human Resources Director regularly evaluates resources, he/she has put in place, any company must regularly evaluate the ROI of its business functions.
To get there, you need metrics; so, we are talking Dashboard here. Beforehand, it would be a good idea, for example, to group your departments or corporate functions into fundamental categories; is it an expense or revenue item and also, is this corporate function critical, necessary, useful or optional?
And what metrics should you measure? Each business will have very specific metrics, but some ratios or metrics speak louder than others, here are a few:
– Cost / Revenue Ratio
– Cost / Employee ratio
– Salary / Sales ratio
– Revenue / Employee ratio
– Number of Days of Absenteeism / Department
– Etc.
The objective here is to define the Business Intelligence (metrics) that will allow you to take the real measure of the degree of profitability and / or performance of a department (a function) within your company.
You will then be able to compare yourself to the standards of your industry, of your sector of activity.
For example, you may discover that one department is overpaid compared to the norm in your industry or that another department performs much better than the norm in your industry, in which case its employees would deserve a bonus.
Should Financial Business Intelligence be considered a software development priority for your enterprise in times of pandemic?
The value of Customer Business Intelligence
What exactly do we mean by “Customer Business Intelligence”?
No doubt, your company has set up a CRM providing a wealth of information about your Customers. In particular, we are thinking about the filiation of divisions and sister companies, geolocation data, sales activities, sales pipeline, etc.
However, what little or no CRM will give you are complex metrics from many heterogeneous systems:
– Sales / Customer
– Cross-selling within the same Customer
– Profit Margin / Customer
– Customer Risk
– Customer Renewal Rate
– Etc.
Should Customer Business Intelligence be considered a software development priority for your enterprise in times of pandemic?
So, what should be considered a software development priority in times of pandemic?
Now, identifying your software development priorities in times of pandemic in not an easy task with all the economic turmoil it brings along but without any doubt, Business Intelligence should always be considered a software development priority!
But the quality of Customer Business Intelligence is what will allow you to grow with confidence, build realistic sales projections and define fair sales objectives from which you can derive a solid business plan.
Thanks to this new Customer Business Intelligence, you will therefore be in a better position to start off on the right foot and with more vigor and confidence in the post-pandemic recovery.
Be careful and good continuity,
Team Analystik