Does My Custom Software Project Really Need a Business Analyst/Product Manager?

After considering the benefits and needs, vetting development firms, and finally choosing the right partner, you’re ready to start your custom software project. You discuss the project with your software partner – you look at time, budget, resources. And you notice something.

Among the developers and testers assigned to a project, there is a line item for a business analyst/product manager. You immediately wonder why – you’ve made the need for the software clear, and explained why you’re going to both the trouble and expense of having it built. Why add another body to the project?

A BA or product manager may seem like an unnecessary expense, but in truth, the inclusion of this role on your project team can save you money and leave you with a better product that better meets your business’s unique requirements.

What Does a Business Analyst or Product Manger Do?

It’s first important to understand that in the context of custom development, these roles can be very similar. Or, in actuality, you can view business analyst as a subset of what product managers do. While this is not true with large development projects with extended development cycles, or even for mature software, in the case of a custom development project a product manager can do both.

Certainly, Agile purists could make a case for separating the roles, in most cases for smaller or contained products the roles overlap and can be managed by a single resource.

But what exactly is it that they do?

To begin with, they work to understand the requirements of your project. Again, you may think that you’ve already outlined what it is you need. But with experience and skill, the product manager or BA digs deeper to assess the need.

You may see a single functional element that needs to be addressed with your new software product. The product manager or BA is trained to speak with stakeholders and understand the real problem you are trying to solve. It may be larger or smaller than you realize.

This allows them to validate the requirements to make sure that the development team isn’t building a much larger solution than you need – which wastes money and time – or a much smaller solution – which prevents you from actually solving the problem you started out to address.

They will lead discussions with stakeholders, ensuring that meetings and discussions on the requirements don’t drift into unrelated or tangential topics or dead ends.

They also act as a bridge for stakeholder to stakeholder relations, and for business to developer discussions. They can mediate between stakeholders who can have competing needs. Plus, a core function of a product manager or BA’s job is to represent the customer throughout development. This safeguards that the developers are building the right solution for the business need.

In the end, the product manager or BA is the one team member who has the business’s needs and requirements in mind that and involved throughout the entire project. They provide a single, holistic view, representing the business but understanding the technical challenges.

The Benefits of a Product Manager or BA on the Project

A few of the benefits of having a product manager or BA on a project are hinted at by their responsibilities, but their contributions go far beyond what their role implies. The benefits of having them involved can be placed into two, overlapping categories – project efficiencies and cost reduction.

Project Efficiencies

Because of the product manager or BA’s holistic view of the entire project, and their contact with business stakeholders, they are in the unique position to identify additional functionality that may be required to make the project successful. It may be minimum effort to add functionality to your solution that will significantly increase the value of the software to your organization.

With a deep understanding of the need for your custom software solution and the business challenges it will address, the product manager or BA can prioritize the functionality to guarantee that the most important functionality is prioritized above the nice-to-have features.

They will also have a view of the project, the resources, and an understanding of when the needs of the software shift as your business adapts to change. Change management can be a critical part of a project, incorporating new information into the process and keeping it moving forward while also keeping their eye on the important pieces of the solution.

Cost Reduction

With a complete view of the business need and the IT resources, the product manager or BA can help to guide the development team in creating the right functionality from the start, instead of creating re-work because of a missed or misunderstood requirement.

Because they represent the client to the development team and have a broad view of the solution, their role allows them to identify functionality being built that may conflict with later work. This is invaluable to both the client and the development team. Product managers and BAs can see the whole picture, and understand how that fits in with the intended solution.

At first glance, it may seem that a product manager or BA is a superfluous member of a custom software development project. But through their role on the project, your solution will be developed efficiently and cost effectively, and meet the critical needs of your stakeholders. The benefits of having a Product Owner or BA on your project more than pays for itself.

The post Does My Custom Software Project Really Need a Business Analyst/Product Manager? originally appeared on the Curotec Blog

The Importance of Integrating with Your 3PL Partners

Ninety percent. That’s how many domestic Fortune 500 companies rely on third-party logistics (3PL) providers for supply chain services and outsourced logistics, according to a new report by supply chain consultancy Armstrong & Associates.

That number alone is impressive, but it becomes even more astonishing when you compare it to Amstrong’s previous report from just 3 years ago. The report from 2013 found that 46% of the Fortune 500 partnered with a 3PL. This significant increase makes one thing very clear – partnerships with 3PLs are here to stay, especially for eCommerce logistics.

Given that third-party logistics aren’t going anywhere it makes sense to ensure that your processes with your 3PL provider are as efficient and as seamless as possible. Automation of order processing is one way to ensure that orders happen quickly and without errors.

Implementing an integration between your organization and your 3PL software is a cost worth investing in, saving you time, money, and even your reputation.

Resource Savings with 3PL Integrations

The first benefit that immediately comes to mind when talking about automation with your logistics provider is a lesser need for resources. It also means a reduced need to train team members on data entry systems. Whether you have a staff that is dedicated to order entry and management, or resources that manually handles this as one facet of their job, an integration can free up those man hours for other tasks.

Integrations Provide Visibility to Inventory

An integration with your supply chain partners can provide more timely updates to inventory levels. By having a more up-to-date understanding of what you have, and what you need, there is less risk of overstocking an item or running out. This not only helps you provide better customer service but also keeps tighter control on your cash flow. With an integration, you’ll have the data you need to pull accurate reports across your entire product line.

Manual Entry Errors Can Cost Real Money

Manual entry errors are a fact. There is no getting around it. According to the book Purchase Order Management Best Practices: Process, Technology, and Change, errors occur an average of once in every 300 keystrokes. Depending on the complexity of your SKUs, that could be as many as one errors every 7 to 8 orders.

This translates into hard dollars that can be lost as a result. Returns cost online sellers between $6 and $18, and that doesn’t include items returned because they were damaged or otherwise delivered in unsaleable condition.

Validating manual entries is a means to reduce costs, but there are still dollars associated with quality checking order entry. Keep in mind the 1-10-100 rule for data entry – in essence, it costs $1 to check data entry for accuracy, $10 to clean up incorrect data entry, and $100 for errors that get through the system.

With an integration to your 3PL, manual entry is all but eliminated, and any errors can be traced either to the customer or a consistent programmatic issue that is both predictable and easily remedied.

Manual Entry Errors Can Hurt Your Reputation

At a time when a good word on social media can boost sales, and a poor review and make them plummet, your reputation is a critical piece in acquiring and maintaining your customers. So, it should come as no surprise that high error rates as a result of manual order management can take a toll on that reputation. An incorrect or poorly managed order or return can result in lost sales as quickly as being out of stock on an item or incorrect pricing.

As above, an integration can significantly reduce errors in your supply chain and order management process, helping you provide consistent order delivery and customer service.

Fulfillment Efficiency

Several studies have shown that the speed and efficiency of your supply chain can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. When orders are managed manually, data entry times can be inconsistent. Additionally, a manual system has an upper limit, and scalability depends on resourcing.

An automated solution, even one that is batch processed, provides consistent and hands-off uploading of your orders to your 3PL. Orders can be handed off to your supply chain partners even on holidays or in the middle of the night.

Many eCommerce vendors prefer to leave the order handling to the experts, partnering with a 3PL for logistics. But to fully take advantage of the value to your business, vendors should consider implementing an integration between their systems and their partner’s. Automated order processing and management will save you time, money, and improve your customer’s satisfaction.

The post The Importance of Integrating with Your 3PL Partners originally appeared on the Curotec Blog