How have you successfully upgraded technology?

searcher profile

December 04, 2024

by a searcher from Johns Hopkins University in Melbourne VIC, Australia

Hello Community

I'm in contract for a company that sells products in a health vertical, with B2B and B2C sales, virtually no online sales. The core tech of the business is a modified on-prem MS Dynamics for accounting, CRM and inventory.


The solution is not fit for purpose for growth. For example, not cloud based, no integrations to web, ecommerce, etc., no real-time analytics, etc....

Question: How have you successfully upgraded technology? How did you build your requirements for tech upgrade? What pitfalls did you avoid and how, i.e. distraction from taking on a new business, budget blowout? what were your key considerations? Maybe you can share conceptually your new stack and how you got there?

Thank you

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
in Charlotte, NC, USA
Agree with Tim, it depends on what business outcome you want to achieve. Also, I would want to understand what about the current technology stack does not work (ie. pricing? on-prem vs cloud-based? etc.)? There are many pathways to achieve the success you are looking for, and a lot of biased opinions, but starting with the outcome and working backwards is the starting point that I would also recommend.

One thing that you can also try is formulating a series of prompts and asking AI to help identify the questions, steps, and pitfalls to avoid. You would be surprised with the amount of ideas it can spit out with even a basic prompt like:

"I'm in contract for a company that sells products in a health vertical, with B2B and B2C sales, virtually no online sales. The core tech of the business is a modified on-premise MS Dynamics for accounting, CRM and inventory. Create a list of 25 questions to ask when coming up with a plan to upgrade their technology stack
for the purpose of growth"

Here is an example answer:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/i-m-in-contract-for-a-company-zsUu7v4MROqV7TBYWp.zWw
commentor profile
Reply by a professional
from Texas State University in Sidney, NE 69162, USA
Upgrading technology for growth starts with defining what success looks like. Identify key goals—whether it’s enabling online sales, streamlining operations, or improving analytics—and involve stakeholders across departments to build requirements that address current pain points and future needs. Prioritize a cloud-based, scalable solution that integrates with e-commerce and offers real-time reporting. To avoid pitfalls like scope creep or budget overruns, focus on critical features for phase one, plan for phased implementation to minimize disruption, and invest in team training for smooth adoption. Include a budget buffer for surprises and choose implementation partners with experience in your industry.
Hope this helps, and happy to dive deeper into specific areas if needed!
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