10 Reasons Why Enterprise Software Doesn’t Meet Employee Expectations

Enterprise software is still way behind the expectations of many employees. Here’s why today’s enterprise software is still hindering employee adoption.

Let’s start with legacy, on-premises software. Enterprises spend $3.5 trillion on enterprise software annually, according to Gartner Research, but much of that budget is allocated to the support and maintenance of the legacy systems they already have in place. The upkeep behind existing solutions accounts for a large portion of the budget, leaving little room to implement and train staff on new systems.

Legacy business systems are notoriously sticky and difficult to replace. When the possibility of replacing old software comes up, several factors cause most IT teams to not bother. First is the data: The data in these systems are business critical and need to be migrated to a new platform. Second is the workflows: These workflows run the business and must be transitioned carefully to ensure that no activities get missed. Then there is a laundry list of other factors, such as training staff on new systems, ensuring employee productivity during the transition, retraining employees and customizing the product to fit their needs. All of these challenges make it a lot easier for IT to just stick with what they’ve got.

Sticking with what you have, though, can mean painfully slow data access. In organizations with siloed software systems, it can take weeks to pull (or get access to) a simple report. For example, when marketing or sales teams can’t easily analyze campaign or customer data, or when HR can’t get a quick glance at performance reviews, it presents challenges for making business decisions. Employees with a deep understanding of the data applicable to their work are empowered to create better business outcomes.

If accessing data at a company office is difficult, remote access is downright frustrating. Employees need to have access to company data from anywhere to make informed decisions quickly, but most systems don’t allow for that sort of access. Getting critical data into the hands of employees is important, but old, siloed systems make it a non-starter for many organizations, especially those with a mobile workforce.

Sales, customer service, marketing, finance and HR departments all use different tools to do their jobs. The sheer number of enterprise systems available makes it difficult for employees to collaborate and share information effectively, and it’s even more difficult to get a 360-degree view into data across multiple systems. To make matters worse, employees must remember multiple account credentials to gain access to different systems. The reality is, employees will either forgo accessing systems when they forget their credentials or they will submit IT tickets to recover their passwords, resulting in valuable data being ignored or limited IT resources being spent on account recovery.

Upgrading legacy software is expensive and time-consuming. In a worst-case scenario, it can mean a complete overhaul of hardware and software in a company’s data center. Best case, it means a few bugs in new functions and/or the loss of a few commonly used features. Many thought software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions would solve the upgrade problem, but SaaS upgrades also can be challenging. Although SaaS upgrades typically are done overnight and are included in the subscription fee, they have many of the same issues as on-premises systems.

Enterprise applications are clunky and difficult to maneuver without the proper know-how. When applications are upgraded, employees’ interactions with those applications likely will change. This challenge is magnified with SaaS, because more dynamic upgrades means SaaS solutions can add functionality and customization quickly. Unfortunately, without proper training, many employees won’t know how to use the new applications.

According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report, three in four Millennials believe the right technology makes them more effective at their jobs. With digital-first Millennials making up the largest workplace demographic, it should be just as easy to issue a work order on enterprise software as it is to find a friend on Facebook or buy a product on Amazon. In fact, managers are likely to change jobs if their employer’s corporate software is too difficult to use. Meanwhile, most SaaS or on-premises software interfaces haven’t changed much since the 1990s, while consumer apps are fast, intuitive and deliver an amazing experience.

Many enterprises are working to increase mobility so employees can work how and where they would prefer. But that is presenting security challenges. In fact, it has been reported that 95 percent of IT departments battle with security challenges in an attempt to increase employee mobility in their organizations.

A recent DZone survey revealed that the biggest challenges for mobile app development are building native apps for multiple platforms, testing efficiently and a lack of skilled mobile developers. Most enterprises believe they’ve checked the mobile app development box, but delivering great, native apps that offer employees a great mobile experience is still a challenge.