Half-Measures in IT: How to Choose the Right Application for Business Process Management

Jacek Szafader by Jacek Szafader on January 29, 2024

Unique Needs and Imaginations

Imagine a scenario familiar to consultants at a company like Atteli: A client discusses a process that is not overly simple but not excessively complicated either. They wish for it to be supported by an application, emphasizing the involvement of many individuals and the existence of multiple subprocesses. The client signals that data stored in individual records by different people should not be overt for security reasons. Additionally, they stress the need to limit access to this data effectively, safeguarding the company from potential threats posed by dishonest users.

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The client understands the necessity of presenting this process in detail, considering the unique nature of their company’s operations. Armed with a document outlining roles, responsibilities, and process participants, the client believes it’s time to make the right choice from the available solutions. The market offers numerous process-supporting applications such as Wrike, Basecamp, Airtable, Notion, ClickUp, and many more.

If the client is tech-savvy, they initiate testing various solutions. If they also serve as a sponsor, they analyze costs, set up test accounts, implement solutions, or conduct usage trials. This process is time-consuming and generates additional costs, as the company with real needs awaits results while the client invests time in trials and errors.

Tips

  1. Hire an advisor with comprehensive knowledge of available applications who can authoritatively recommend the most suitable solution based on your process documentation.
  2. Be flexible and open to compromises—a minor change in the process or team structure might be a simpler solution than modifying an existing application.
  3. Have a broad perspective—not only on a specific process but also on the long-term outlook.
  4. Prefer modular solutions—allowing expansion, with a flexible fee model for specific feature usage.
  5. Avoid solutions imposing specific philosophies or operating methods; they can hinder adjustments and modifications.
  6. Check the possibilities of managing access to data—evaluate how effectively data access can be controlled, as there are situations where not every person should have full access to all information.
  7. Remember the principle of temporary solutions—sometimes a simple, temporary application can fulfill its purpose in the long run.
  8. Be open to team initiatives—employees may have valuable suggestions for improvements, even if not immediately noticeable.
  9. Consider the ecosystem you already operate in—evaluate internal options before starting external solution searches.

Proven Solutions that Work

From the perspective of the Microsoft ecosystem, Power Platform, with its low-code, no-code, and Power Apps, is an unequivocal choice for handling most business processes. Full integration with user identification, roles, and tools like Office, Outlook, and OneDrive adds invaluable value. While it may not grab attention visually compared to other alternative solutions, it’s crucial for our applications to be robust, align with real conditions, and meet business needs.

Solutions Aligning with Broader Perspectives

The advantages of Power Platform and Power Apps with model-driven applications are clear when looking at the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Essentially, everything is connected after granting user licenses. Hence, the title “half-measures” and the tedious clicking for integrations or user and permission setups, or the absence of these half-measures, focusing on refining the process rather than the combination of how to do it all.

Integration with other products
Power Apps products is part of the broader Microsoft ecosystem, facilitating integration with other tools and services from the company, such as Microsoft 365 (previously Office 365), Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, or Power BI.
Unified Platform
Power Apps offers a unified platform, meaning different modules with Dynamics 365 already work with our consideration from the start. This further facilitates data and process management. New processes and applications created with Power Platform are an integral part of the system along with Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.
Intelligent AI Features
Power Apps utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) features, aiding in data analysis, forecasting sales trends, and providing more personalized recommendations for user actions. It also supports operational work as a Copilot.
Extended Functionality in Data Analysis
Power Apps offers advanced data analysis tools, essential for companies interested in a thorough understanding of their customers and markets. It fully integrates with Power BI.
Centralized Identity and Permissions Management
Microsoft products use a single user and permissions directory. The process of onboarding and offboarding employees is incredibly simplified when an administrator has all systems available in one panel.

Summary

“Half-measures” in IT, meaning choosing siloed applications dedicated to one process, may work at times. Choosing from among so many available solutions on the market sometimes makes sense. However, in most cases, selecting the right application for business process management should stem from the simplicity of integration with the rest of the corporate environment. With benefits for deployment speed, data security, and even support costs.