Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.74 2017.08.01 Takahashi Minoru

A bad system keeps bleeding like a wound that never heals

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


What we pay particular attention to when designing systems
is to “minimize and avoid creating features that won’t be used.”


For example, if out of 100 features, 50 are not being used
About half of the setup costs for that system will be wasted.


In addition, systems inevitably come with ongoing costs.
・Monthly usage fees
・Maintenance costs for server equipment (if applicable)
・Labor costs for data entry
If the system’s functionality were reduced by half, these maintenance costs would naturally be lower,
and that difference becomes wasted money every month.


In other words,
"Minimize unused features as much as possible and avoid creating them in the first place"
By doing this alone, you can not only reduce system development costs
but also the monthly operating costs.


So, how can we reduce “unused features”?
The key lies in “the CEO fully understanding all system functions.” That is the essence of it.
Of course, as system professionals, we strive to create designs that are neither excessive nor lacking, and we have extensive experience in this area, but
ultimately, the CEO is the only one who makes decisions for the company.


It’s a common occurrence that features “which are popular at other companies, but just don’t work for us”
is a common occurrence—a classic scenario in the world of systems.


We understand that the CEO is busy with day-to-day operations,
I recommend that you participate in system planning and meetings as much as possible.


That's all, Thank you for reading.

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