March 29, 2024

You’re the Boss Blog: Dealing With a Laid-Back Software Vendor

She Owns It

Portraits of women entrepreneurs.

In a post published last month, Susan Parker, a member of the She Owns It business group, shared some of her frustrations about working with a software vendor that didn’t seem to share her sense of urgency. Her company, Bari Jay, has been in the process of switching to new software for more than a year. During a recent conversation, Ms. Parker reviewed the status of the project, which was supposed to take three months, and she responded to reader comments on the earlier post.

No, Bari Jay has still not made the changeover. But Ms. Parker is cautiously optimistic. “We’re into the home stretch,” she said. Invoicing is the new system’s remaining sticking point, but at least the process of testing the invoicing function has begun — a sign of progress, she said.

She hopes the new software will be up and running by May. To try to ensure that the vendor picks up the pace, she has been holding daily huddles on the subject with her staff. And once or twice a week, during the huddle, Bari Jay calls the vendor to address issues that have arisen among the group. “This eliminates the he-said, she-said,” she explained.

Ms. Parker noted that the well-intentioned advice of some commenters reflected the erroneous impression that Bari Jay was attempting to create a fully customized system. For example, one commenter wrote, “I cannot fathom her business is so complex/unique that she needs completely custom software.” Ms. Parker couldn’t agree more, which is why she chose the software option she did, an off-the-shelf solution that is being partially customized for Bari Jay. “The majority of the system already existed,” she said.

Other suggestions might have been helpful had she followed them a year ago, Ms. Parker said. She noted that given the time that has elapsed, the amount of work already done, and the payments she’s made, Bari Jay is “way past the point” where it would make sense to — as one commenter put it — abandon this “unsuitable spouse at the altar.” As for withholding payments, it’s also too late for that, although Ms. Parker said she has certainly learned from that mistake.

She has tried issuing hard deadlines and checking references, as some commenters recommended. But, she said, the deadlines have so far proven ineffective. And though Ms. Parker grilled past references, she noted, “No one’s giving a reference unless it’s good.”

We’ll follow up to see whether Bari Jay’s software vendor delivers by May, as Ms. Parker now hopes.

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/dealing-with-a-laid-back-software-vendor/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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