Meet your Owner's Rep
It’s 2023, and your company is undoubtedly investing in software at some level. As you delve deeper into the world of technology and expand your investments, the uncertainties proliferate at an unrelenting pace. Faced with mounting decisions, many people decide to outsource part of their technology investment. While this can ease the load on your team, it presents a new problem: how do you effectively oversee this investment? How can you be certain you're working with the right partners and, if you already have an outsourced team, do you know how it is going?
To deal with the unknown, you ask for references and research the latest industry trends. Your references confirm the risks and provide tips that hardly instill confidence. There are stories of large overruns in both time and budget, coupled with end solutions that simply do not work. Your research consists of sifting through sterile blog posts and technical jargon that do not map to your business.
The current model of engaging with outsourced software teams is missing a key component. The discomfort of investing outside your expertise is not unique to software. Fortunately, the world of construction has encountered this issue and developed a way to help mitigate the risks.
You need an Owner’s Rep.
You need someone who can speak the language of both your business and the engineers writing the code, who has been down this path numerous times, knows the questions to ask, and recognizes the typical warning signs. Your business problem and your vision for the solution must be translated and properly conveyed to the team that is doing the implementation.
You need someone who looks at the world from a technology perspective and has your best interest in mind. The purpose of the investment that you are making is not technology for the sake of using technology, but instead leveraging technology to advance your business. If the implementation is not pushing your business forward, it is not worth the investment.
What is an Owner’s Rep?
An Owner’s Rep is:
Focused on your unique business
A translator between your business and technology
Incentivized to provide immediate value to your business
Equipped with best practices acquired through hands-on experience
An Owner’s Rep is not:
The decision maker; only you as the owner can be the decision maker for your business
Dictating the technology used in the implementation
Writing the software; proper incentive alignment is extremely difficult
You’re investing in technology and you need someone who works alongside you to manage that investment. Someone who sits on your side of the table and has experience delivering the outcome that you are looking to achieve.
An Owner’s Rep provides value in a variety of ways, from simply acting as a sounding board when you need a different perspective, to standing by your side through every phase of the project, overseeing your investment in detail. An Owner’s Rep is the person who operates to protect the technology investments that will drive your business forward.
If you are leveraging third-party development resources, having an Owner's Rep is not a luxury; it's a necessity. Reach out on X @EncodedInsight or email logan@encodedinsight.com to start experiencing the immediate benefits an Owner’s Rep can provide.