Haunted houses are scary, paying bills can be terrifying and the news can be eerie. But retailers know better than anyone that the scariest thing of all is an unreliable integrator. (Queue the Psycho Norman Bates intro music here.)
A bad technology integrator can make you feel like you’re living in a nightmare. Thousands of retail IT teams experience misery throughout the year when their technology projects fall behind schedule, costing them thousands of dollars in missed revenues each day. Projects can fall over budget due to unexpected scope changes required due to poor implementation. Those are just the financial challenges! The stress and frustration can result in a poor performance review, a sense of dread at work, or even cost you your job. Fortunately, there are several “queues” that help to identify poor performing integrators.
Failure to Find Areas You Need to Improve Upon
During the evaluation/bid/scoping process, a good integrator will make a discovery that can save you money. They’ll prepare your site for a more successful implementation or position your technology for greater success. From infrastructure upgrades, to technology adjustments or alternatives, if your integrator doesn’t find an area for you to improve upon or save you money down the road, they haven’t fully evaluated the situation.
Eerie Communication (Especially) When Things Are Bad
Enterprise technology projects are complex. Dealing with multiple sites across broad geographies and multiple stakeholders comes with challenges. Your integrator should be in constant communication with your team about the status of the project, unexpected challenges, and proposed solutions and metrics. As a team, you and your integrator must communicate – the good and the bad. Partner with an integrator who isn’t afraid to lay it out in the open. No news is scarier than bad news.
Field Service Teams That Go Ghost
When strict timelines are at stake, field service must be present, prompt and prepared. Field service teams that pull no-shows, come unprepared or fail to meet the technology at the installation location can set a project off timeline and budget in a hurry. Great technology integrators have carefully trained, well prepared field service teams who execute effectively and on time more often than not.
They Get Lost in the Maze of Complexity
Unexpected challenges are inevitable with large, enterprise technology projects. Your integrator should be agile and prepared to respond confidently to changes in the situation. If they are inflexible or incapable of assigning the resources and/or additional services to meet the client’s request, your integrator may not be capable of handling projects of this type or scope.
At Telaid, we have been handling complex, multi-site enterprise technology projects for nearly 40 years. We serve 8 of the top 10 retailers, a testament to our ability to deliver.
Don’t take our word for it; explore why Telaid to see our track record and the numbers that prove it. Or explore our Proven Process to see our process, developed over hundreds of projects with dozens of clients, designed to ensure results.
Don’t be afraid to make the switch to an integrator that’s right for you. We can end your nightmare of failed technology projects.
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