SIS implementations are complex, at times difficult and ultimately immensely rewarding. The journey can be rocky. At times you might feel let down, believe that the salesperson lied to you, that obvious features are missing from their product.
We don't always realize that we feel let down because we made assumptions, that sales people are always optimistic and usually not very technical, and obvious features are only obvious since the product has made it this far.
In contrast there are always positive surprises, good people to work with and surprisingly simple solutions that are discovered along the journey.
With every SIS project I've worked on I've been on that rollercoaster. What I have learned is that solutions often arise from relationships. If you want a good relationship with the vendor you have to be a good customer.
Characteristics of the BEST SIS Customer
From a SIS vendors point of view the best customers will often do these things: (If you are a SIS vendor, please add to my list)
Have a central point of contact (likely a project manager) who can keep the project on track.
Make timely decisions (likely by an executive project sponsor). Quick but informed decisions speed a project along and generally reduce costs and the time to implement the project.
Budget to address the unknown. The more that you don't know, the greater this needs to be. After I am confident on how much I think the maximum cost of the project will be, I would budget an additional 10-30% based on my uncertainty. Budgeting for the unknown means that you can grease the wheels when it's needed.
Proactively think about how you will resolve issues and reduce risk. We usually talk about this in terms of project Governance. Governance meetings look at the project from a high level view with the purpose of reducing risks and removing barriers to the success of the project.
Attack the issues not the person. I am passionate about what I do and it is easy for me to get fired up about an issue. Vendors are much more likely to help me resolve the issue if I'm explaining the negative impact, or how resolving the issue will have a positive outcome rather than just complaining.
Promote the positives. All of the systems you use are not perfect, but implemented well, they will achieve great results. Sometimes people surprise you and go above and beyond Valeria Santos from Sentral, and Annie Robins from The Alpha School System (TASS), Chris Durante from Schoolbox, Kevin Karp from StudentNet, Clay Papillon from Digistorm and now Veracross, Phoebe Riorden from Clipboard, Dean Downes from K12 Solutions, Mark Barrett from EnrolHQ is a non-exhaustive list by far of people that I have had the pleasure of working with that have gone above and beyond what was asked of them at times. Recognize this and they will likely go even further. When a system surprises me with a great feature I tried to recognize that system and the people working on it as well.
Learn and follow the SIS's processes to resolve issues. Many times I've heard of people complaining that a vendor doesn't have good support. The truth is usually that their support works if you understand their processes. Until I know their processes, I provide all of the details, follow up regularly on the issue and try to assume the best intention, many issues can be quickly resolved. While this is not always the case, it is the proper way to do things and you can't hold the SIS to a higher standard then what you are willing to do yourself. If their normal processes fail, bring this up in governance meetings so that the general issue can be recognized as project risk ande deal with. If you aren't having governance meeting with your SIS partner, then escalate the issue.
Don't exceed their capacity. I have seen this most often with feature requests. Your product should have... why doesn't it do this like this. You might be right, but development takes time. Get a list, prioritize it and stagger your requests. The alternative might be that you overwelm the developers, or who can't keep up and instead give up.
Be positive Atreyu! (reference to The Never Ending Story) Assume the best, crack a joke, smile and you are already ahead of everyone else.
Celebrate the successes! When you reach important milestones, pause and celebrate with the internal and external teams. Bring the donuts, by the drinks, supply the marshmallows! :) That will bring you together and give you some momentum to keep going.
Listen to the Vendor. Chances are that they have worked on more projects than you and certainly more projects with their specific products. If they say, "Data migration will be difficult." it probably will be. If they request that you update your personal Gannt chart you would be wise to listen.
Being the best customer is something that is in your control. Being the best customer means that you have a much greater chance to succeed and make it out of the other side with everyone smiling.
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