Frequently Asked Questions
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Human Capital Building
- Deep understanding of the business from beyond just a myopic field of view – an exposure to how various businesses operate across the industry is invaluable
- When an external consultant is involved, there would naturally be a need to prioritize and scope out the various requirements in a concrete manner – this might not happen without a concerted effort by all parties
- Interruption to the usual social dynamics could be key to a successful change management implementation – familiarity breeds contempt
- While the journey is never always the same in a real business environment, a seasoned consultant coupling real expertise with a structured system would always notice how it rhymes
- Beyond just the business solution, we understand the deep, fundamental need for change management. This requires intangible expertise that can only come through experience
- Newton’s law states that an object at rest will not move without an external stimulus. We believe that applies to people too, a strong and direct coach would be needed to change the mindset and processes for a sustained benefit to the business
- It is common for people to remark that people are documenting things solely for the sake of audits, their bosses, or even to score points. An experienced consultant with true expertise can instil an understanding of the big picture – it is an expansion of processes refinement and business continuity. You can even advertise your documentations with regards to your robust processes as a strong USP, effectively reimagining it as a marketing tool
- After relevant mindset change efforts are embarked on, the benefits of the changes must be made clear to the staff – more so than from simply a business productivity standpoint. The team must understand how they too can benefit from it, buy into the change, and carry it out
- Most companies always experience in-house change that kicks off with strong fanfare, however, without constant oversight from the bosses and champions, it simply fizzles off. This is usually due to a poor implementation, and understanding of how buy in can and should be instilled
- Having an experienced consultant who understands the critical success factor with a strong track record of instilling an intrinsic whole of organization change is crucial in the long run
- Personalized service wherein the vendor demonstrated a concerted effort to understand your business as opposed to “copy and paste mass market”. IT is to support the business
- Long-term support for the service offering provided, even if it is as simple as being constantly available to address concerns, especially given the rapid pace of technology
- Provide an extended, reliable service offering beyond just the usual “hit-and-run” one off services as seen from grant farms
- Expertise and in depth knowledge of the product offering, its application to the business, as well as understanding of the current and historical trends of such offerings
- Simply contact us at enquiries@kwtechsolutions.com.sg. Set aside time for us to meet, be prepared to lay all cards on the table with no reservation. Honesty is important to get what your business deserves. Black is black, white is white.
- Reliability of the vendor in terms of their turnaround from first hearing of the issue, to responding, to resolving it
- Consistency of the assigned staff in charge of providing the relevant support and services. Frequent changes are a poor sign of the company’s internal capabilities and management
- Proactiveness of the service provider in terms of constantly updating the product offered. It is easy to update a version of a support piece of underlying software powering the service
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
- An enterprise resource planning software simply refers to software that organizations use to manage and plan their resources. However, it usually implies significant process re-engineering or documentation.
- Despite many providers promising to integrate all solutions, most businesses are not matured and complex enough to require a fully integrated solution. Most businesses employ only parts of an ERP, such as the accounting or payroll system. This is entirely dependent on their business requirements.
- Easy and accurate data retrieval – as businesses get more complex. This allows for a faster response time, and the ability to transfer data easily.
- A proper implementation would unlock the ability to integrate technology such as robotic process automation and business intelligence.
- Lasting records via digitalizing paper and pen, significantly reducing storage and paper costs.
- Increasingly complex business logic. Essentially, when excel is not enough.
- Excessive amounts of repetitive, unthinking, computer work.
- Ever growing amount of paper documents.
- A frequently need to check multiple separate processes, especially if they are not from a centralized location.
- Business process or documentation which are excessively complex, and frequently used.
- Business which requires accurate and immediate data, coupled with deep analytical interpretation. Usually, required for quick managerial decisions.
- When work processes are extremely menial, and extremely repetitive, bogging down business efficiency.
- Firstly, it is important to determine a trustworthy and reliable partner who you can trust in the long run, especially since you would be trusting your business infrastructure to someone else.
- It is also important to find a vendor that demonstrates a deep understanding or willingness to understand your industry. Software is not magic. It can only encapsulate what the programmer understands.
- Usually, if the above two requirements are met, there should be no further requirements apart from following their trusted advice. No two businesses are the same, no advice can be given that fits every business.
Websites
Why do I need my own digital solutions such as website as opposed to solely relying on social media?
- Track and analyse the demographics (age, gender, interests, location) of users who visit the site, inclusive of people search for to discover your business
- Send out email through own domain (sales@yourbusiness.com vs sales@gmail.com), to reduce phishing/impersonation attempts, boosting business brand and credibility
- Easy point of contact with both existing and potential customers, allowing for better brand awareness and recall
- Data collection tools such as newsletter subscription form, allowing for the business to develop other means of staying in the top of the customer’s mind
- Asynchronous marketing efforts and user funnels, allowing for a semi-passive return on investment once marketing materials have been published
- Unlock the ability to utilize advertising tools that might not be available on a specific social media platform
- Control over how your product offering is displayed, the associated brand identity, and backend technologies to allow for seamless integration efforts with supporting tools
- Websites built on such free tools would often appear unprofessional, due to various forms of watermarks imposed by such platforms, damaging your business image
- Control over what can be done on your platform, as such free tools often restrict or block the ability to implement any form of third party customization
- Free yourself from ecosystem lock in, unique to the various free platforms. An example of which would be extracting years of data from Gmail when moving to your own email domain
- A free solutions provider has to make money too. If you are not paying them, you are the product
- Landing page for various forms of newsletter or email marketing, allowing for clear analytics, enabling effective marketing A/B testing
- Educational funnels can be created and published on the website (with clear call of actions), allowing for asynchronously equipping viewers with knowledge of your brand
- Platform to distribute efforts such as blog posts, educational articles, or any other form of content marketing
- Track customer interaction to understand the appeal of your product from a quantitative lens, allowing for informed product management decisions
- Expand the potential sales channel of your business through implementing E-Commerce functions on the website
- A/B testing can done on the digital platform, prior to twinning it in person, significantly cutting down on the potential costs of implementation
- Trustworthiness of the vendor providing the service to be honest and accountable. We have seen people charge SGD 2,000 to create Google accounts for ~5 pax
- Personalized service wherein the vendor demonstrated a concerted effort to understand your business as opposed to “copy and paste mass market”. IT is to support the business
- Long-term support for the service offering provided, even if it is as simple as being constantly available to address concerns, especially given the rapid pace of technology
- Provide an extended, reliable service offering beyond just the usual “hit-and-run” one off services as seen from grant farms
- Expertise and in depth knowledge of the product offering, its application to the business, as well as understanding of the current and historical trends of such offerings
- Transparency in the approach to providing relevant maintenance services. We have seen a famous IT company provide individual maintenance contracts per equipment, which happens to conveniently break down despite their class having a reputation of being robust
- Reliability of the vendor in terms of their turnaround from first hearing of the issue, to responding, to resolving it
- Consistency of the assigned staff in charge of providing the relevant support and services. Frequent changes are a poor sign of the company’s internal capabilities and management
- Proactivity of the service provider in terms of constantly updating the product offered. It is easy to update a version of a support piece of underlying software powering the service
- Mass mailing services that would track information such as the percentage of people who open the email sent to them
- Content marketing services, such as guest posting for publicity on news distribution site such as Yahoo news, and Forbes
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the site, to target specific keywords the business intends to associate their brand/service with
- Ability to implement targeted advertising for the business, by creating specific landing pages for the various advertising services
- Backend systems such as Point Of Sales (POS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), that are well integrated to support the business planning (Business Intelligence)
- Managed IT services to ensure a smooth business continuity, especially from a technical standpoint. Examples of which would include
- Network Attached Storages, with relevant automated backups for the business data
- Cybersecurity implementation such as introducing VPCs, VPNs, and containerization
Self-Hosted Infrastructure
- Vendor lock-in is usually built into solutions that provide “convenience” in exchange for “control”. This means that eventually, you will be paying for it at whatever price is set, forever
- As your business grows and changes over time, its needs would change. However, you cannot control and extend a system that is not within your control, resulting in a disconnect
- There is a graveyard of solutions that are no longer being maintained – what if a product that is core to your business processes is discontinued?
- Almost all digital solutions can be controlled by the business, either directly through purchasing relevant infrastructure, or, via trusted vendors who can handle it on your behalf
- Some examples of common digital solutions
- GDrive could be replaced by a Network Attached Storage
- Gmail could be replaced with a standard webmail hosted on your servers
- Start examining your business processes that resulted in such vendor lock in, and start by changing that. More often than not, SaaS products has a multitude of alternatives
- Endure a temporary increase in workload to create parallel processes, to allow for familiarity with new systems that are not being held hostage by your SaaS vendor
- Reach out to a trusted IT specialist, who understands both technology, and your business. A recommendation made without the context of your business requirements can be poisonous
- Understand the business philosophy that allowed the vendors to hold you hostage — was it due to the low upfront cost associated?
- Take a step back to realize that there is no free lunch — a SaaS company offering products for free would still need to be profitable
- Engage a trusted IT consultant with real expertise and have your best interest at heart to be your retainer. A system which you control, and have trusted people managing would be the best choice for the business’ long term planning
