Tag: planning

  • Leveraging AI Technology

    Leveraging AI Technology

    It is hard to find any article about artificial technology that does not talk about it as a game-changer. Thus, leveraging AI technology is going to be a big part of business as we step into the years ahead. I have to admit I was a bit slow to really examine how it will impact us. That is because my career has seen countless times that AI under-delivered. Even now, it is roughly the next advancement in search technology. The results are rarely novel. However, how often is that our experience with human interaction as well? How many times has a common topic suddenly sparked innovation due to a slightly different perspective or even phrasing of a problem?

    Leveraging AI Technology as a Worker

    The simplest (and potentially most powerful) case for AI is to use it to scale ourselves. The virtual assistant industry has become what it is (almost $20 billion in 2025) because high achievers can do more when they draw on others to do the things that slow them down. The cost-effectiveness of VAs has been one factor in growing that industry. While AI is being adopted to keep those companies relevant, I think AI will end up killing that industry. We now have a VA at our fingertips via tools like ChatGPT and the integration of AI into tools like “Hey Google”, Siri, and Alexa. 

    The low-hanging fruit aspect of using AI as a VA makes it the perfect place to take your first steps into using it. There are skills that are required to leverage tools like this properly, but they can be learned. Skills like delegation, clear command and communication, reviewing results, and adjusting to the audience are not magical. They just require practice.Fortunately, trial and error is not a bad way to delve into finding out how to command AI in a productive way.

    Leveraging AI Technology as a Sounding Board

    While there is a danger of creating your own personal echo chamber, AI makes an excellent sounding board. This is where I am seeing many thought leaders take it. We learn more by discussing our thoughts with others. We can use AI tools to increase the velocity of discussions and even create an environment to test out our ideas. However, that is far easier said than done. I see that challenge in the rise of project requests that boil down to, “Create the environment where I can learn from AI.” This opportunity takes practice and developing skills that some of us (yes, particularly the younger ones among us) have been working on for years via searches and interacting with technology via natural language rather than code. 

    I see that experience in “talking” to computers as the most valuable asset we will have moving forward. It is a new kind of leadership that ignores EQ but requires us to build EQ into the results. A computer doesn’t really care emotionally how you ask a question. On the other hand, the details are critical. The output of a request is going to be lifeless, as we see in content that is purely AI-generated. Those who will find the greatest success in the future are the ones who can breathe life into what AI builds. While science and technology will create faster, the need for the “artists” that can turn it into something “human” will grow exponentially. 

    Start Today

    There are many conversations I have had where people talk about learning AI as something they plan on doing in the future. It may be next month, quarter, or year. This is not a case where you can spend a weekend and be ready to embrace the next wave. It is going to take time, and for many of us, will require a retraining of how we think. Start today, start small, if needed. The “youngsters” among us have switched from search engines to AI tools for their search engine. Try that out. Then start to ask follow-up questions in your searches. Practice refining your request. Build that habit. See where it takes you because the next wave is upon us.

  • How To Leverage Technology

    How To Leverage Technology

    The modern world of business is flooded with technology. Whether it is the basics like an email client or complex ERP systems, every company out there is going to have to leverage technology. That is a good thing. We can use technology to spend more time on our business instead of in it. That means better customer service, improved response times, and happier employees. Better yet, those returns do not require an investment that is equivalent to betting the farm on it.

    Not all of us are “tech gurus,” and often we do not know where to begin. I am going to give you a crash course in improving your business and steps that can get you going today. These are steps you can take even if you do not know the first thing about technology. They start where you do, your business and what you do best.

    Technology gives us ways to do more faster and at a lower cost. However, that is not beneficial if we make mistakes faster, produce more errors, or do any of that at the expense of our customers. Thus, we start with what we are currently doing. Before you can leverage technology, you need to be able to describe what you do in a way that your technical solution will understand. Computers understand black and white, well-defined steps that include all the details you can provide. That is where we begin. There is no cost to taking this first step. You can do it with technology that is no more advanced than a pencil and sheet of paper. 

    Getting Started

    The most important thing a business does is where we will find the biggest “bang for our buck.” Start by describing your most crucial business task in a sentence or two. This is your primary product and what it provides to your customer. Think of it as why your business is in business and why it generates revenue. As an example, my company would start with, “Help companies assess where they can leverage technology best and build a plan to do so.” Your answer doesn’t need to be flashy or polished. The goal is to start with the process that means the most to your business.

    Now you need to go down a level and create a list of steps that takes you through the customer’s journey. This list will likely be several steps and may be dozens. Here is an example that can help you get started. Your steps will look different, but maybe the thought process will help you build out yours.

    1. Identify potential customers
    2. Contact customers
    3. Send/provide a pitch that tells a prospect how we will provide them value
    4. Confirm a sale
    5. Schedule product/service delivery
    6. Fulfill order
    7. Follow up with the customer to confirm successful delivery.

    Those steps may seem a bit vague and general. That is ok. We want to keep this at a higher level for now. The next steps are to take one of those identified above and make it our focus. When you list out the steps for your business process, there will likely be one or two that give you the most trouble or cost the most to execute (or both). That is where you want to begin. Take another step down in detail with that step. I will use step 3 above to provide an example. These are the steps we take to send a pitch to a customer.

    1. Research the customer industry/background and find where the most likely needs are.
    2. Build out a custom pitch from our core offering.
    3. Add details to the pitch that personalize it and let them know this is not some inhuman automation.
    4. Add a proposal and call to action.
    5. Send the pitch
    6. Follow up

    We are now at a point where we can start leveraging technology. While each of the above steps will have another layer or more of detail, we can take some steps with minimal technology cost. The easiest way to begin is to turn the above into a checklist. You can create a list of prospects. Then, for each one have a checkbox for each of the above steps. You can do this in a spreadsheet or similar tool. Check out Asana or Trello for free options that can help you.

    Now you have something that can leverage technology. There are plenty of ways to set up your list so that you have a dashboard of where prospects are, what is the next step, and reminders to ensure no one falls through the cracks. There are plenty of tools available that can provide those features. They can save you time, help avoid mistakes, and get you on a track to an easily reproducible process. That is where you can further automate a process or scale it by handing it off to another employee. 

  • Migrating And Upgrading Systems

    Migrating And Upgrading Systems

    One of the challenges of software solutions is that, sooner or later, you end up migrating and upgrading systems. The two activities may seem separate, but often, you must do both. A good solution provides an easy path, whether to a new version of the solution or one created by another vendor. However, there are often some expectations on the part of the customer for smooth upgrades. That includes limited customizations and timely updates. It is unrealistic to expect a vendor to build a product you can easily migrate off of ten or more years in the future. Technology changes too quickly.

    Migrating And Upgrading Systems Are The Same

    The difference between a migration and an upgrade is in expectations more than reality. An upgrade almost always requires some amount of migration. That is due to modern systems working with and storing so much data. A smooth upgrade will provide a migration path that is invisible to the administrators and users. Unfortunately, that is often challenging to accomplish. At times, new features and even performance improvements or tuning can require substantial architectural changes.

    Your phone applications and the simpler forms of desktop applications tend to stick with solving less complex problems. That allows for a less complicated solution and easier upgrades. On the other hand, Software As A Service (SAAS) solutions are often very complex, and even the abstracted SAAS approach can require a migration or upgrade that impacts users. In particular, you will run into this when the solution integrates with other systems or allows for imports and exports of data.

    Architecture Is Critical

    One way that software is like a building is that the foundation is an essential part of how it handles the passage of time. Software architecture gives us a foundation we can assess to help determine how easy (or difficult) migrating and upgrading will be. It is a facet that often requires a highly technical eye to evaluate it. On the other hand, some intelligent questions can often quickly unearth architectural weaknesses. Think of them as ways to take it for a test drive. The bonus for us is that the requirements we want from an assessment are also a way to examine an upgrade.

    Questions To Answer For Your Solution

    The following list provides some questions to ask about a solution you are considering and the ones you need to answer for a successful migration or upgrade.

    • How do we back up our data and settings for the system?
    •  Can users and their environments be transferred/maintained?
    •  What integrations will require an update or reset? (Do I need to find that old user ID and password?)
    •  How are the users handled during a migration? (Training? Online Help?)
    •  Can a migration be done in steps or all at once?
    •  Can the migration be done in parallel with the old system?
    •  What happens to historical/past transaction data?
    •  How hard or easy is it to “swap out” the platform? (Operating System, Database, Core Frameworks)

    These questions are an essential part of planning for any form of migration or upgrade. Thus, they are also an excellent way to assess a product before performing one of those actions. It is hard to think about future upgrades during the selection process. However, that is the best time to educate yourself on the effort you will need when that day comes.

    Next Steps

    If the questions above have you stumped, then now is the time for you to get answers. Migrating and upgrading systems is one of those tasks where you are better off forewarned than finding out amid the activity where the risks are. You can avoid critical issues with some planning and adjustments. If nothing else, you can plan for the worst and minimize the costs and risks of a troublesome upgrade.

    About RB Consulting

    Please schedule a time to discuss your next project with us and see if we are your perfect partner. We take these relationships seriously and are happy to point you in the right direction if we are not a good fit. Years of being on both sides of these relationships have taught us a lot. That initial call is free, and there are no obligations. You have nothing to lose. 

    Our experience has taught us a lot about the pitfalls and challenges of custom software. Likewise, we have an e-book that can help you explore all the steps in building software, including a few templates. However, we ask that you share an e-mail address so we can send you a copy. We will add you to our monthly newsletter, but you can unsubscribe anytime. Your data is not shared with anyone else. Learn more about our book here.