Choosing smart tools, what works and what does not?

As an entrepreneur I often come across organisations where specifications for systems are still written in Word and Excel. Some tools are in use, but an integrated approach and adoption within the organisation are missing. That is a real shame, because using modelling tools to record data helps to secure knowledge within the organisation and to save money. Fortunately, there are some guidelines you can follow to make the right choices.

Insight is essential, expertise is not

When you want to solve a business question within your organisation and are going to choose a technical standard for it, there are a few things that can help you make the right choice. The most important deciding factor is to have an integrated method that can separate functionality from technology, and that ensures all information is recorded.

When you choose a particular tool, and certainly when you are going to develop one, it should cover as many of the technical standards already in use in your organisation as possible. If the tool can translate functionality into technology, your organisation depends less on the knowledge of individual employees. Make sure they understand what is needed functionally; then they can make the right choices, and the tool helps them produce the functional and technical specifications.

Logical reasoning becomes a sport

When you work with smart tools, you can train your staff in the logic behind the technology. Once they have this insight, they know what is needed to make the right choices in projects such as integration issues. This means that specialists can focus more on the complex issues, while other employees can do the regular work. And that is a gain for the organisation. A culture develops in which challenge and the development of employees are central. Reasoning logically to find answers to questions becomes a sport, or second nature. In the projects we do at Digitect, we involve our customers' employees in our work, we develop training on the job, and we evaluate together how it went. A practical approach that helps to secure knowledge within the organisation, and in our view a logical way of working.