There is no way around it, transitioning Print MIS systems is highly complex and risky. It requires interruption, disruption, and automatically results in and requires some chaos. All of this has to happen while businesses continue to run, customers have to stay satisfied and we need to treat them like a “Do Not Disturb” sign is on the door while we are renovating our technology stacks. Not easy, not quick or not cheap – but so very important. The reason we do it is to help us and our customers move forward in this ever changing technology world.

How do we simplify this complication? How do we confidently and steadily move forward without getting overwhelmed or distracted? These are my critical guiding points that help me simplify what can be incredibly complex implementations:

It is so important to allow ourselves to think very big picture when we have a shiny new, powerful Print MIS available to us. However, the overwhelming opportunities can be endless and if you spend too much time “dreaming” about how you can re-invent everything within your business, you may start the implementation but it is unlikely you will ever finish it. Your “phase 1” should be what Jennifer Matt always calls the “Minimum Viable Product”. What is the minimum functionality you need to get your company launched? This essentially has to be current critical workflows and functions with any current major gaps and/or showstoppers resolved that led you to buy the new software in the first place. Beyond that, anything should be defined as phase 2 or even subsequent phases. An easy way to start to capture subsequent phases is to develop a parking lot list