Internal Technologies for Business Transformation

The development of Internal Technologies or purchasing of external technologies to aid in an organization’s Business Transformation or Digital Transformation is a key decision factor of executive leadership.

What is an internal technology?

An internal technology is a technology that is developed within an organization, not relying on external vendors for the deliver or creation of the technology. The primary purpose of this article is to evaluate the different strategies that businesses can use to implement a business transformation. The article details the pros and cons of two different strategies: adopting an external software purchase strategy and developing an internal software. The primary reason to choose to adopt an  external software purchase strategy is its ability to be customized and to be much less expensive than developing an internal software solution. 

A company can choose to develop an internal software in order to meet the needs of their business. These solutions are much more costly and time consuming to develop than  external software purchase strategy.  When evaluating options, it is imperative to adopt software that has the ability to break down complex workflows into easy to understand steps and to create a solution that is tailored to the needs of the company. 

The article sets out to determine which option is the best option for a business based on the type of transformation that they are trying to achieve and the needs of the company.

Key Considerations for Internal Technologies

A fundamental question that comes into play when beginning the stages of an internal business transformation or internal digital transformation is the questions whether to purchase softwares from external sources or to begin developing internal technologies to meet your businesses need. 

The benefit of developing internal technologies is the ability to highly customize and tailor the needs of your business to the internal technology being developed, however this benefit can only be realized in a select few situations as in then majority of cases the time, cost, delays, and resources required to develop an internal technology vastly outweigh the benefit of purchasing an available software off of the shelf and making customizations to a base framework to achieve your business transformation objectives.

The most common reasons for internal IT initiative failure includes poor planning, lack of resources, and unrealistic expectations. Poor planning includes a lack of a clear project plan, a lack of a clear project scope, and a lack of awareness of the project’s complexity. Lack of resources includes a lack of budgets and lack of appropriate skills. Unrealistic expectations include a lack of both a realistic time frame and a realistic scope.

Internal IT and software are integral to all businesses, and play a vital role in the success of a business transformation. In a digital transformation, a company must have a strong internal IT and software team to ensure that the transformation is successful. The team must have the competence and skills to address the needs of the company and to ensure that the transformation is a success. The team will also need to have a diverse set of skills in order to be able to meet the needs of different departments and to develop a variety of internal software to meet the needs of the company.

Internal Technologies goes beyond IT

Internal business processes can be improved by using a number of internal technologies and software tools, but they can be even better accelerated by adopting tools that are ready to function out-of-the-box. While the upsides to developing internal technologies typically are found in the highly tailored features specific to that organization, the time and effort required to get the rest of the functionality of the software off of the ground cannot be overlooked. Purchasing software from external sources who have the technology and business processes in place to result in a rapid deployment of the technology across internal business teams can ultimately result in significant cost savings plus an acceleration of time to value compared to an internal software development initiative. With a very high percentage of internal IT software projects failing, the case for purchasing software from external sources increases.

Additional benefits from purchasing software from external sources include the ability to start using the software much sooner, increased scalability, and the ability to integrate with other existing software to provide a more robust and easy-to-use solution. With the rapid pace of change and an increasing number of competitors, the need to stay ahead of the curve and be able to quickly adapt to change is paramount. Acquiring software from external sources typically results in a more flexible and adaptable software solution than internally developed software, and one that is more easily able to adapt to the changing needs of the organization. With the increasing number of software solutions available to address business challenges, the need to carefully evaluate options and choose the right solution to fit the needs of the organization is more important than ever. Purchasing software from external sources typically provides a more tightly focused solution that is ready to be implemented to address a specific type of business challenge. When considering the purchase of software from external sources, it is important to consider the following: 

• The need for a highly tailored set of features and functionality and the time and effort required to get the rest of the functionality of the software off the ground. 
• The need to stay ahead of the curve and be able to quickly adapt to change to better address the changing needs of the organization. 
• The need to be able to address a specific type of business challenge, and the availability of a tightly focused, ready-to-implement solution.

Purchasing Software to Complement Internal Technologies

Purchasing software from external sources can be a cost-effective way for an organization to address specific business challenges.

Whether your organization makes the decision to develop internal technologies or procure external technologies, software tools can be used to make internal business processes more efficient and to ensure that they are more effective in meeting the needs of the company. 

A business transformation will often involve a change in the business process, so the IT and software tools will need to be able to adjust to meet the new needs. Internal software development will be a major part of a business transformation even when purchasing external softwares. A standalone technology will never be able to deliver as much value to the organization as something that is deeply connected to various workflows, processes, and internal / external systems across other areas of the organization. The argument can be made that it is more beneficial to focus time on developing the other aspects of the larger software ecosystem versus spending resources building something that can be purchased off of the shelf.

Software developed to address the current needs of the company and to anticipate the future needs will be a major undertaking for any company that is looking to undergo a digital transformation. Internal applications are used to meet the needs of employees and other stakeholders. They can be developed to address a variety of needs, such as delivering information, improving the productivity of the employee, and making processes more efficient. These internal technologies will need to be developed to meet the needs of the company and to make the transformation a success. An internal IT and software team should be able to develop a variety of internal applications to meet the needs of a company. 

In all cases, internal software development will be a major part of a business transformation, but it is important to keep in mind the end goal and the needs of the individual stakeholders before deciding to develop solely internal technologies.

Whether you’re delivering information, improving the productivity of the employee, or making processes more efficient, each action has an opportunity cost, and it is important that you choose to allocate time and resources to the projects that have the highest likelihood of success, and the greatest short, mid, and long term impact on the business.