Most of the time the answer to this question is “Our current product does not work.” While this is certainly a problem, it is more than likely not the problem you have to solve. More considered problem statements are:
- Our teachers and staff need to be able to communicate effectively while remote so we are looking at a cloud based phone system that seamlessly extends their experience to any remote location with internet access or any internet connected mobile device.
- We have a need to better manage preventive maintenance for our HVAC systems so we want to purchase a CMMS.
- We don’t have a strong understanding of employee recruiting and our success or failure rates and reasons so we want to purchase an applicant tracking system.
- We want to start high schools later but don’t know the impact on transportation costs so we want to purchase routing software.
- Our cyber insurance policy requirements have changed so we need to purchase a tool to help us manage MFA across the enterprise.
These problem statements provide really important guidance for both the specification development and product search process. Also of particular note, they are brand agnostic. This agnosticism lets us define what we want and need rather than who we are comparing products to in the absence of a well-defined set of requirements.
As a side note, the current software “not working” is much more likely a problem of poor setup, poor implementation, or poor integration than it is an outright failure of the product. As a result, it is critical to revisit the core rationale for purchasing a product to determine whether we need to replace the system or reimplement what we have. Clearly defining the data needs, the business process needs, the reporting needs, and the integration expectations is a must if you are going to truly find a tool that helps you solve the problems you face. Doing this before you go out and purchase a product is ideal, but even an ex-post assessment of the problems you are trying to solve will provide strong guidance in the replace or reimplement decision-making process.