Who should I bring to the dance – vendor that is!

I am not a big fan of using the word “vendor” as it pertains to finding a company that sell and services automation software. I believe that if you do accounting automation correctly as a provider you will be more than someone who simply sells software. That’s why I call automation software vendor, “Service Providers”.

Now, onto the dance and which service provider you should bring. This series of posts is related to the definition of automation. I wrote about creating a definition that was more suited to the outcome and impact of automation, rather than the software that drives the automation. If you buy into the idea that automation is only as good as the people, time, and effort that is freed up, than selecting a service provider will be much easier.

What makes choosing a service easy comes from the idea that there is an amount of time… a physical number… a black and white measuring stick that can be used and benchmarked to know which service provider is right for you. I call this stick, “New Time”. New Time is the amount of time that is freed up by automation. If you have three service providers working for your business, and each provider can tell you how much time they will give back to your company, then the one with the most time wins! Easy huh?

Be warned, there is more to it than just the amount of time, however time is the driving factor… time is the thing that separates service providers. You do need to pay attention to time combined with return (ROI) and the ROI needs to accommodate for the price the service provider is charging, but (still) the provider with the most time wins!

Last thing to think about are the two buckets that time shows up in… that’s my next post… stay tuned.

Buy the book – The Argument to Automate – How Innovation Can INSPIRE Not Fire – click here to buy

(Also) To get your copy of The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation – click here to buy