Choosing Wisely

When it comes to the topic of software for the recycling industry, the good news is there are many vendors in this market who are very talented and are more than willing to sell you a software package that may or may not meet your company’s needs or expectations.

The question is: How do you as a business owner, operations manager or contractor determine what product is best for you? What elements of a software program are most important to your company and how do you filter through the multiple applications to ensure the product meets the specific needs of your facility?

With those questions in mind, it now falls on you to determine the most beneficial and cost-effective data collection software package for your operation.

ASK QUESTIONS. When considering any major software purchase, businesses are always faced with compromises and trade-offs. These

To sort through all these issues to get the best product for your operation, ask yourself some fundamental questions and be brutally honest with the answers.

The first question to ask is to what level you are sacrificing functionality for price. What is the short-term gain of the compromise? Will saving some money now cost you more money in the future? Will this decision limit your future data collection options? Don’t be surprised if once you start asking questions, more questions come to light.

Some of the foremost concerns could include:

Let’s look at each at the questions you should consider when assessing each of these areas of concern.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT. If I am in a growth situation, will customer service be available to sit down and work with me? Will they listen to my concerns and expectations of the system and then offer the best solution based on minimal interference to the current operation? Can they leverage other resources by tapping off of other customers who may have already walked through this process?

AFTER-HOURS SUPPORT. At what level will the vendor provide after-hours support? Will I be expected to leave a message, and then will someone get back to me, or is there a system in place to reach a "live" person who will get my company back up and running?

SYSTEM EXPANDABILITY. Generally all data collection software packages come with some standard or "canned" reports. At the time of purchase they may appear to meet your operational needs, but what if your needs change? Does the system offer the ability to create your own reports that are a better fit for your operation or management? Does the vendor provide upgrade installations or custom programming?

When it comes to adding new modules, are they already seamlessly interfaced with the current system or is it a patch situation subject to additional programming and quirks?

WARRANTY. How far will the software vendor stand behind its product and commitment to my purchase? How much money are you willing to pay for a better warranty? Will the software company offer a window of time for you to work with the software and, if need be, fine-tune it to meet your operational expectations for no extra charge?

TRANSITION ISSUES. Transitioning to a new software system is one of every business’s biggest fears, perhaps the biggest fear. Ask the software supplier what is included in its transition plan. How is the transfer of data going to be done? Will there be a parallel data collection process in place during the transition? If you close a location and add another one, are the licenses transferable? Are there additional costs involved? If the storage capacity is maxed out, will the vendor assist in moving your data to a larger environment?

Solid and affirmative answers to these questions will greatly ease your mind as you move to a new software package. These are concerns that should be carefully evaluated and considered when working to identify a data collection software package/vendor for your operation.

I know what it is like to find a system that works for an operation now and has future capability. Before joining the Paradigm Software staff, I was the manager responsible for data collection at a waste-to-energy facility. Like many of you, I inherited a data collection system that the vendor with the help of our staff had made to work "so far."

At first, the software system continued to work through "fixes and work-arounds," but as my frustration grew because I was not receiving the kind of support I needed to make the software work, I decided to look elsewhere.

It was a difficult course of action, but the temporary discomfort of implementing a new software system was a good trade-off for the expected increase in performance.

While I hadn’t formulated all of the questions previously mentioned in this article, I was fortunate enough to find a system and a vendor who was willing to share "how" the system was written to work and to address my major questions about adaptability.

This partnership approach enabled me to understand the product and the environment in which it was meant to function. Most importantly, it gave me comfort in knowing where the product could go as the business grew and changed. Past experience told us that functionality and reliability didn’t only affect our business, but also the scale house staff, the facility customers and eventually their customers and their customers, etc.

As life would have it, things did indeed change. We added numerous new facilities, and the need for a new software package was addressed, but was quickly tabled in light of the knowledge gained from our previous stream of questions.

It was clear that the current software and vendor provided the needed support, system flexibility and business know-how to make the merger seamless to our customers, governmental agencies, our corporate office and to our sites involved.

Remember, questions are your most effective tool in finding the right system for your business; but, good, firm understandable answers from your prospective vendors are the real building blocks toward a good long-term business partnership.