Today, no business can succeed without the use of software solutions. Using the software is increasingly essential if your business plans go beyond merely surviving, regardless of whether you run a small, midsize, or large corporation.
According to a 2019 survey, although large companies used an average of 129 applications in 2018, small and medium firms used an average of 73 apps. This doesn’t imply that you should increase the amount of software you purchase to keep up with your competitors, but you could certainly look at a small number of solutions to streamline operations and eliminate waste. Your company’s technology stack, or tech stack in short, will be made up of this mixture. But selecting your preferred software tools and using them is not all there is to build an efficient tech stack. Which software tools does your company require? You must determine. Which operations will gain from automation? Will the equipment end up being the best option for you? And last but not least, will the tools function nicely together?
Simply put, you can’t start searching for apps for your stack right once; you need to plan and develop a strategy. To be of assistance, we have written this post in which we outline a plan for developing a tech stack. We’ll also go over some important considerations for choosing the appropriate tools for your company.
Table of Contents
Describe the Tech Stack
A tech stack is a collection of cloud-based software applications that cooperate to accomplish a single business objective. These tools may function well together without any integration, or they may be directly integrated with one another (such as with Microsoft Excel and SpreadsheetWeb).
Additionally, your company can make use of various tech stacks, such as a marketing tech stack for your marketing procedure and an app development tech stack for your app development procedure.
Let’s now examine the procedures needed to create the ideal tech stack.
Step 1: Determine which procedures you should automate in
Take your main business processes and deconstruct them into separate steps to find procedures that are ready for automation. Write down each step in a straight line or on sticky notes, then arrange them in a linear fashion.
Now examine the steps and note how they interact with one another and with other processes within the process. Next, look for areas of inefficiency. To do this, try to determine:
- Exist any points where a process is sluggish?
- Do the processes include several sign-offs, approvals, or hand-offs?
- Is a procedure that has more than 10 phases excessively drawn-out? Can it be made simpler?
- Exist any stages that are unnecessary or merely provide minimal benefit to a process?
You’ll be able to spot places where your operations are losing efficiency by responding to these questions. Every inefficient location you point out offers a chance for automation.
Pro tip
When looking for tasks to automate, keep operational considerations in mind. For instance, procedures that depend on current documentation for transparency and use outdated systems that are now too expensive to maintain may have a high cost of error and higher risks of human error due to their complexity.
Step 2: Select the appropriate tools for your sector and procedure.
You can be undecided about whether to use a process-specific or industry-specific tool while creating your tech stack. Process-specific tools are simpler to set up and use than industry-specific ones because they are created in accordance with industry best practices. While process-specific tools are frequently off-the-shelf solutions and may not have significant customization possibilities, industry-specific tools are typically more expensive.
Process-specific tools include things like invoicing, marketing automation, and CRM software, whereas industry-specific tools include eCommerce, banking, or construction software. Consider your primary business difficulty and whether it is particular to your industry before selecting the appropriate instrument. For instance, if you work in the banking industry and are having significant difficulties with loan origination, you should consider using a loan origination tool. In contrast, if you’re having trouble with a process that is common across all industries, like lead generation or invoice administration, you should use a product designed for that process.
Pro tip
When choosing an app, keep in mind the distinctions between off-the-shelf tools and custom software development, as well as between all-in-one software platforms and specialized tools. Your primary business challenge will not be as important to consider when deciding between them as the operational duties (such as project deadlines, resource availability, and
Step 3: Review user comments to learn what other people think.
According to the results of our 2018 poll, small and midsize firms who looked at software evaluations and catalogs before choosing one spent money five months less than those who looked at social media or online searches (22 months vs. 27 months).
Here’s how to utilize reviews to your advantage in your search:
- Look for reviews of the program that are particular to your sector or procedure because they will address your worries.
- Look for reviews that discuss the software’s strong and weak points. They could also discuss crucial features the tool ought to have but doesn’t.
- Look for reoccurring complaints or praises about a particular feature or other common themes in the reviews.
You may also take a look at these four suggestions for how to utilize reviews effectively.
Pro tip
Look for references (known users). They may assist you in removing doubts as well as teaching you about their first-hand experience. You can ask questions about the item (Did you have to modify the solution? If so, why? ), how it was put into practice (What duties did you have to carry out during the process? ), or any other pertinent questions you may have. Here is a list of 25 such inquiries that would be helpful when speaking with references.
Step 4: Make long-term plans.
In order to avoid problems as your firm expands, you should consider future needs when creating your IT stack. Let’s use Stacy Caprio, the creator of Growth Marketing, as an example to better grasp this. The business of Stacy chose a well-known software program to control email marketing automation. However, the pricing structure of their tool proved unsustainable once their subscription count reached 2,000. They were ultimately forced to stop using the tool and start looking for another.
Here are some indicators to watch out for to prevent switching software vendors midway through your journey:
- Customization: A software platform that allows for customization will enable you to modify the product to meet your business’s needs. You might require more features, for instance, if you expand your company to offer more goods or services. You can adapt the instrument to meet these needs with the use of a platform that is modifiable.
- Scalability: As your company expands geographically and in terms of size, you’ll have more data to manage. The program you use should be scalable to handle the expanding data.
- Integration: Your tech stack’s tools should make third-party integration easy. This will enable the stack to operate cohesively and facilitate seamless data interchange between the layers.
- Affordability: If we saw in Stacy’s example, as business requirements evolve, some products may become prohibitively expensive to support. Make sure you talk with the seller about both current and potential future pricing alternatives.
Pro tip
Include the teams that will be most impacted by the tools in your tech stack while discussing all of these factors. When using process-specific technologies, locating these teams will be simple. Look at the main business challenge(s) and determine which teams are most impacted by them when considering tools that are industry-specific.
Consult these teams about the issues since they would have valuable process knowledge. The marketing team, for instance, will be well aware of how their requirements will change over time and how the marketing tools will be used.
Conclusion
It’s time to make a decision once you’ve resolved any outstanding issues with the vendor and assessed the performance of the tools. Discuss the contract conditions with the vendor before buying the tools, see whether you qualify for discounts, confirm payment arrangements, and outline the vendor’s obligations after the sale.
When you’ve finally made the purchase, congratulate yourself and know that you’ve created a tech stack you can be proud of. Your thorough pre-purchase study will pay off in higher efficiency and lower costs.
