MPS Software: Do You Have a Backup Plan?
Last week, the news broke that ECi acquired FMAudit. For the two companies, I think this will prove to be an excellent move. But from a channel perspective, an acquisition like this makes you realize that it is necessary to always be prepared to make a change to your MPS software infrastructure.
This acquisition is probably concerning for dealers who currently use FMAudit in conjunction with a software solution that competes with one of ECi's other products, such as Digital Gateway's e-automate, and those dealers who use one of ECi's other software solutions, such as OMD, in conjunction with data collection software from a company other than FMAudit. My guess is that while all of these companies will claim to continue to support integration with all of the popular software packages, they will not be advancing support for a company that is now their competitor. Maybe this situation impacts you directly, but even if it doesn't, how would you deal with it?
The software industry is in a constant state of change, and without having direct control over the development of the software you use, there are many things that could force you to change your current processes. Maybe it's a merger or acquisition, maybe the vendor closes shop, or maybe there's simply a new software release that is barely recognizable compared to the previous version. In any of these scenarios, your processes may have to change.
My suggestions for preparing for these situations are simple:
- Do not build your MPS program around a specific software package. Know the processes that you need to execute your MPS program at a high level, so you can clearly articulate your needs to potential new software vendors. Know the items you absolutely need in a software package—integration with your other software solutions, reliable collection of the printer data you need—and worry less about the little details, such as having a particular report for a quarterly review.
- Always be evaluating alternative software solutions. You never know when you might need to switch. Keep up to date on what alternative vendors are offering—in the process, you might find something better than what you already have.
- Minimize your clients' direct interaction with your software. Particularly from a data collection software perspective, while it's nice that most of these applications have a web interface that allows end-users to log in, it's usually unnecessary. Maybe clients need to log in to some applications to check the status of service issues and things of that nature, but as much as possible, keep clients away from your software interfaces so they don't have to be confused if it changes. At the very least, take advantage of options that let you brand the interface for your company.
As the market matures, it makes sense that independent software companies will continue to merge or be acquired until there are a series of one-stop-shop vendors for all of your MPS software needs. ECi is well on its way to becoming that, with software products in a variety of categories: business systems, e-commerce, delivery management, and mobile sales. This most recent acquisition might push other software companies to form tighter alliances with complementary software products and potentially get the ball rolling on further M&As. In the long run, these mergers and alliances should create solutions for dealers that have tighter integration between different types of software applications.
From a dealer perspective, you can only prepare yourself so much for a potential need to change software vendors. For software vendors, there is incentive to make it easy for dealers to switch to your software. Just like how most banks are willing to switch over all of your automatic payments and deposits for you if you switch to their bank, software vendors should be offering extensive transition support for prospects currently using a different software product. I'm sure most software vendors support transitions to some extent, but it will become critically important as companies merge, alliances form, and more dealers look to change software vendors.
Read The Skeptic's blog for further analysis of ECi's acquisition of FMAudit. Overall, I think it's good news, and I hope the transition is a smooth one!
Posted by Emily Offshack on 03/16/2011