New Report Reveals Significant Software Gaps for Operations Departments

A new survey of 200 operations executives found that 62 percent have wanted to submit an application request to IT but have decided against it because they know IT departments are under-resourced and the request would take too long. The survey also showed that an inability to work with IT leaves them doing nothing or turning to other options, which often create additional problems for the employer.

According to the report from Denver-based TrackVia entitled, “Giving Up on Digitization Initiatives: A Survey of Operations Executives,” 50 percent of operations executives say that it takes six months or more for IT to consider their request for an application. Of those projects that get approved, 58 percent say it takes an additional six months for IT to develop, test, and deploy their application, and 3-4 weeks (52 percent) for subsequent changes to be made.

This year-long wait for the software needed to digitize manual processes has left operations without viable alternatives. The survey found 58 percent continued manual processes in the absence of working with IT, preventing them from accelerating performance and controlling costs.

Forty-six percent of operations executives decided to digitize without IT, creating yet another set of problems, such as compromised security and inability to access, use, and share data across departments. Of those who chose off-the-shelf solutions, one-third were disappointed by additional professional services costs, lack of customization, and a shortfall of mobile capabilities.

“Common digitization projects are laden with roadblocks, driving most right back to where they started – [with] manual processes,” said Walker Fenton, senior vice president of product at Trackvia. “We call the frustration that exists between manual processes and solutions like off-the-shelf software and legacy systems the ‘I Give Up Gap.’”

Sixty-two percent of operations executives say their core systems make it difficult to digitize processes. The report shows 90 percent of operations executives have to augment their core systems by turning to manual methods, such as downloading data to spreadsheets in order to manipulate, analyze and share the data.

Channel Impact^®
The survey shows the impact of under-resourced IT departments and legacy systems on digitization.