Old Software and New Tricks

Modern software packages often contain so much functionality that is hard for users to understand everything they are capable of. If they are not careful, this can lead organizations to make the costly mistake of replacing software that is actually capable of meeting all their needs.

By Kevin Turgeon

18 April 2024

Modern computer software packages are typically designed to appeal to a wide range of potential users. The reason for this is simple. The more people a software package appeals to, the more potential customers there are to buy it.

In order to ensure their products appeal to as many potential users as possible, software developers try to include as much functionality and as many features as possible in their products. The result is software packages that can meet the needs of a wide range of customers but contain significantly more functionality than is typically needed by any one particular customer.

One of the interesting side effects of how much functionality is contained in modern software packages is that most customers do not know everything their software can do. Even common software packages like Microsoft Excel are often capable of doing so much that most users do not fully understand the full range of their functionality.

Since most users do not understand everything their software can do, it is not uncommon for users to go looking for new software to a meet need that their current software is already capable of meeting, or can very easily be made to be capable of meeting – and this can be a very expensive and time consuming mistake.

I encounter organizations more often than you would probably think that are looking to replace software packages that are actually fully capable of meeting all their needs. The scenario is often something like this. A member of an organization hears about a software package that can do something that would greatly help their organization, gets excited about the potential benefits of the new software, and in good faith aggressively pursues purchasing and implementing it – all without ever doing a thorough review of what their current software is capable of.

Mistakes like this can be extraordinarily costly. Moving an organization from one software package to another is often a very large undertaking. The new software package typically needs to be configured to meet the specific needs of the organization. Data from the current system often needs to be migrated to the new system. Interfaces might need to be rebuilt. Staff need to be trained on how to use the new software and given time to achieve proficiency. Some staff might even be lost during the move to the new system, requiring the organization to search for, hire, and train new staff.

The best way to avoid the costly mistake of replacing a software package that can meet your organization’s needs is to conduct a thorough analysis of alternatives prior to making any major system change. One of the options considered as part of this analysis should always be continuing to use the current system, and the developer of the current system should be engaged to provide insight into their product’s capabilities in the same way as the developers of any alternative systems. This should ensure the analysis does not miss any capabilities of your current system that you might not be aware of.

Developers intentionally include as much functionality as possible in their software packages in hopes of attracting a wide range of potential customers. This makes it very hard for users to fully understand everything their software can do, and this can lead organizations to make the costly mistake of replacing software systems that are capable of meeting their needs. The best way to keep this from happening is to require a thorough analysis of alternatives to be conducted prior to any major software system being replaced.