Ensuring a Transportation Management System Can Provide Optimum Return on Investment

Implementing New Technology

The goal when adding technology to current processes is to streamline operations, improve efficiencies and free-up internal resources like IT support.

In many scenarios, however, companies expend more resources implementing new technology than they save.

Before integrating a new tool or software into current processes, companies should consider their return on investment (ROI) and ask themselves, “will this technology solve more problems than it creates?”

Look for these warning signs when assessing a new technology’s potential ROI:

Slow implementations – Implementation processes should be fast and smooth, meaning that it’s easy to set up, integrate with other software, and transfer critical data back and forth. Out-of-the-box implementations with configurability let users customize their experience while still beginning to generate value straight-away. If the implementation takes months, or even years, that’s valuable time and money going down the drain even as the company’s requirements change, rendering the solution unusable. Companies should look carefully at their technology provider’s ability to implement quickly.

Not customizable on an ongoing basis – Once initial integration is complete, it’s important that tools for ongoing configuration are available to provide users the adaptability they need. Users should be able to easily modify settings, permissions, etc. to ensure changes in business needs don’t result in roadblocks. If every time business needs change, companies need to dedicate IT resources to make the alternations, that detracts from the technology’s overall ROI.

Unintuitive user experience – The experience of the user is of utmost importance. It doesn’t matter whether the technology has every “bell and whistle” available. If the interface is impossible to navigate the software will likely “sit on the shelf” unused. Great user experience makes it easier to train teams, successfully leverage money-saving features and avoid wasting-time misusing the system. ROI cannot be generated successfully if users need to be IT experts simply to use the technology.

No support from the technology provider – Technology providers shouldn’t sell their product and simply wave goodbye. Ongoing support and assistance means that companies can be confident in their ability to use technology over the long-term. A team of experts from the technology provider should work directly with users to determine the optimal setup and should offer both out-of-the-box solutions as well as fully customized ones. The provider should work side-by-side with users to ensure that the technology isn’t only a stand-alone tool, but a complete solution to meet their business needs.

Delivering Optimal ROI

Time-consuming implementations and limited capabilities are common reasons that technology sometimes doesn’t deliver the optimal ROI.

Without ongoing IT and customer support, users can end up feeling as though they would have been better off without the new technology.

Software like Kuebix TMS solves this issue by offering a modular, scalable and intuitive TMS platform which can be fully implemented and integrated with the help of Kuebix experts. From initial setup through routine use of the solution, Kuebix partners with users to ensure that their TMS is providing optimal ROI.

Read Gartner’s recently released Critical Capabilities for Transportation Management Systems to see how highly Kuebix ranks for usability, implementation, and adaptability.

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