Olive’s platform gives contractors unbiased advice on IT decisions
BY NICK FORTUNA
Digitizing the operations of one of North America’s largest roofing and building-envelope contractors is no simple task, but at the Flynn Group of Companies, those efforts are ripening on the branch, so to speak, thanks in part to Olive.
Over the past four years, Flynn, an AGC of Idaho member, has used Olive’s online platform to procure a number of key software programs, including systems for human resources, learning management and expense management. Alan Zych, vice president of information technology for Flynn, said Olive’s unbiased IT advice will guide several more software upgrades this year.
“You need to purchase a lot of software to successfully digitize your business, and frankly, it can be difficult and timeconsuming, so it makes a lot of sense to avail yourself of tools that make it easier,” Zych said.
Seven out of 10 digital transformations fall short of their objectives, typically at considerable expense to companies, according to Boston Consulting Group. One of the biggest reasons is that companies often settle for software that doesn’t fully address their particular needs, said Chris Heard, chief executive of Vancouver-based Olive.
Engaging internally with multiple stakeholders to determine their requirements, conveying those needs to multiple software vendors, answering their questions and evaluating their proposals all takes considerable time, and that’s before the difficult tasks of implementation and employee training, Heard said.
Even seasoned IT professionals may struggle to choose the best vendor. In fact, IT leaders who are under pressure to deliver transformative change to their companies often will stick with the same handful of large software vendors, even if lesser-known vendors offer a superior product at a better price. For IT decision makers, there’s simply too much professional risk in choosing an upstart vendor over the industry’s dominant names, Heard said.
“A lot of out-of-the-box technology doesn’t really fit well for construction companies because the industry is so specialized, so there tends to be a lot of compromising,” he said. “Construction is a very challenging industry in which to run requests for proposals and find the right vendors. That’s why our ability to perform broader due diligence, get the process done faster and find those needles in the haystack has been really useful.”
Olive’s platform streamlines the RFP process, reducing the time it takes to identify, evaluate and secure software solutions. It provides a centralized place to collect requirements and input from internal stakeholders, eliminating the need for meetings. Stakeholders can fill out surveys within the platform whenever it’s convenient for them to establish their software requirements, and IT professionals can use Olive’s artificial intelligence features to further refine those requirements, Heard said.
The platform also gives IT leaders a one-stop shop for interacting with vendors. IT professionals can encourage vendor engagement even before all requirements are specified and anonymously invite leading vendors to respond to those requirements.
Olive’s vendor-comparison matrix scores vendors based on clients’ needs, enabling companies to create a shortlist of prospective vendors to invite in for demos. The matrix weighs each vendor’s pros, cons and differentiators, automatically identifies best-fit vendors and disqualifies those that don’t meet clients’ business needs.
Zych said Olive helps Flynn to convey its contract preferences to vendors, saving time by allowing vendors that aren’t a good fit to withdraw from consideration. A contractor might not want to pay a monthly fee per user, for example, so vendors using only that sales model will know not to submit a proposal.
“If you’re not going to provide basic support in the contract, we’re not interested,” Zych said. “We don’t want to pay for premium support for a brand-new product, so by stipulating that in Olive, we’re saving time by not engaging with those vendors. The vendor can say, ‘This is clearly what the customer wants, so I’m not a good fit.’”
Zych said Olive continues to improve its platform, taking into account suggestions from clients to deliver new features. “We’ve seen a bunch of our requests wind up in the app,” he said.
Streamlining the RFP process allows contractors to cast a wider net and evaluate solutions far more quickly than with manual processes, Heard said. Going back and forth with internal stakeholders and vendors about essential software programs can take six to nine months in some instances, but Olive can reduce that timeframe to weeks, he said.
Instead of choosing from among three or four vendors, contractors can evaluate several dozen without extra effort, making it easier to obtain the best fit for their companies, Heard said. Based on the software choices and reviews of other clients, Olive continuously updates its rankings of the top software providers for each business function, accelerating the decision-making process even further.
“Essentially, we’re trying to get to innovation and implementation faster,” he said.
Contractors have several pricing options to access the Olive platform. For $5,000, they can quickly turn around a single sourcing project with unlimited internal users and prospective vendors. The $12,000 package allows clients to source three programs within a year. Contractors also can contact Olive about unlimited plans that provide dedicated support, transforming the way they manage IT sourcing and RFPs, Heard said.
Given the considerable cost of software and the even greater cost of failed implementation, Olive can save contractors money by connecting them with the right software solutions. The thorough RFP review process ensures that clients get products that meet their needs at a fair price, Heard said. Companies also will spend less money customizing their software solutions after purchase because vendors know upfront what clients need.
“Making the wrong IT decisions is incredibly costly, and if you’re able to drive that due diligence in a much more efficient way, your likelihood of success is much higher,” Heard said. “If you’re rolling out an [enterprise resource planning] platform, for example, and you get it wrong, you might be stuck with that ERP contractually for four to five years. Typically, you’re not signing an ERP contract for a year.
“A lot of the integration work that typically has to happen could be avoided by spending a bit more time upfront performing due diligence,” he added. “Olive speeds up the decision-making process and reduces the risk for contractors.”