Top Management Story

Writen by Matthew Steffen

Choosing The Right Business Path

Technology advances at such a rapid rate that with each passing day it seems to only go faster. Business professionals strive to choose the best tools to efficiently manage and execute projects. With technology moving so fast, there is no time to go down the wrong path. Once on a familiar path, one can continue with confidence. The biggest fear is starting off on the wrong path. There is a simple guideline for determining the correct path and it is this – empowering the end user. End users are their own experts, so the more ability you give them to control their tools the more they will feel comfortable with any given product.

The Current Situation

We live in a time of technology when access to tools has exceeded political boundaries. The Internet and the World Wide Web are part of a user-driven force that is affecting everything in society. Entertainment has become decentralized. We can download songs, which means we do not have to go to the concerts; we can download a movie, which means we do not have to go to the theater. We are in fact becoming a world of Do It Yourselfers who expect user-driven tools. The last thing we want is for our tools to drive us.

Technology is always somewhere between the center point and the perimeter. End users towards the perimeter have greater control over their tools and the systems they use, whereas end users towards the center have little or no input. They must follow the dictates of the tool's designer.

Some History

In the past, when you wanted to place a call you gave the operator the number and the call was put through for you. Today we dial directly. We still purchase newspapers and read what the editor laid out for us. But now we can go to Digg.com and see what the readers think should be on the front page. Technology seems to be moving us away from the center and out towards the perimeter. Kodak built a business on developing film, whereas the digital camera allows us as many shots as we want followed by all the manipulation of the image cared for.

Design For The Perimeter

By its nature, technology is moving away from the center towards the perimeter. End users are empowered to not only do more things, but to have those things feed back into the system and affect end results. The success of a new piece of technology or business is based on a wide number of factors, but empowering your users rather than trying to overpower them truly provides the best foundation.

Project Management Software that empowers the end user.

In the realm of project management software, systems such as Interneer Intellect are built around empowering end users. These types of systems allow the administrative user to actually design the templates and workflows that project executers see. The entire project management process is guided and designed by the project managers themselves, without hard coding. This is a major breakthrough for project management software.

Most systems trap the end user into attempting to execute unique and often complicated projects with the limited functionality of pre-designed templates. If the business then wants to change the program to reflect the types of projects they run the system must be programmed, costing unnecessary amounts of time and money.

Effective software must empower the end users to design, manage and execute every project in the most effective way possible.

This invaluable feature has convinced enterprises like Bose, Boeing, Verizon and Harman International to turn to tools that allow user-control for their project management needs.

Matthew Steffen serves as the Marketing Coordinator for Interneer, Inc. His experience utilizing Interneer Intellect to manage marketing projects has convinced him that web-based user-defined tools are the most effective. He can be reached at (800) 558-6832. Mr. Steffen recommends visiting http://www.interneer.com to view white papers or demos of Interneer Intellect. Lawrence Calmus also contributed to this article. Mr. Calmus is a sales representative for Interneer, Inc. He can be reached at lcalmus@interneer.com.