7 Proven Ways to Maximize ROI From Software Suite

It’s a challenging balancing act keeping production and operating expenses within profit margins. A report by Standish Group revealed that out of 100% of newly developed software apps, a meager 4% of the systems are successful in the market. Subsequently, businesses lose millions for software projects that are inefficient or less useful to users. The cause of this may vary. But primarily, organizations often don’t maximize ROI from Software Suite or overlook calculating ROI for software investments.

Return on investment or ROI isn’t just about a number reflecting the net profit or loss. It is more than that.

In simpler terms, imagine that if your ROI is positive, it means that the software development services are generating enough revenue or cost savings to justify the costs. However, a negative ROI implies that the software investment is not returning the expected benefits and may need to be reevaluated or modified. So, which factor decides the ROI of software? How to optimize the existing software suite? In this blog, we’ll discuss different ways you can maximize ROI from Software Suite. Additionally, we’ll also share a few metrics for ROI software corresponding to five popular types of software development.

Let’s get started!

Optimize Existing Software Suite in 2024: 7 Key Steps

Not only measuring the ROI of your software stack but it’s equally important that you understand what steps that can help you to maximize ROI from software suite. This helps you in identifying areas where the software is not fully utilized, and hidden costs and gives you a clear picture as to whether your software investments are delivering the desired returns or not.

So, let’s understand how to calculate ROI for software investments. Remember, your software ROI is the result of:

• Subtracting profits from your costs
• Dividing the total by your costs
• Multiplying the result by 100

Step By Step Process Of Optimizing Existing Software Suite

Now move next to look at key best practices that can maximize ROI from software suite. These are:

Step 1: Comprehensive Assessment

Begin with assessing your current software suites with comprehensive and relevant criteria. This is to understand their effectiveness, software end cycle, and capability in meeting your business objectives. This also helps in tracing redundant features and functionalities that may lead to the detection of some underutilized features or areas that are hindering overall efficiency and need replacement. From there on, you can set up a plan for strategic improvements or repair, thus reducing expenses.

Step 2: Check Contracts & Pricing Structure

This is essential to ensure that you make an accurate picture in forecasting costs. Therefore, establish an organization-wide process for welcoming new tech into your stack. Before you go for any subscription or purchase, check the contracts and pricing structures of each of them. It helps in avoiding tool redundancy, hidden or additional fees that kick in after a certain period or if usage exceeds thresholds.

Step 3: Customization for Your Workflow

Personalize your existing software suite to seamlessly integrate with your unique business processes. Identify software that helps activate and unify existing data that are enabled to align with specific workflows. As you understand the limitations of your software’s customizability, this ensures that a sudden or need-basis customization enhances your operational efficiencies, rather than disrupting it.

Step 4: Regular Updates and Optimization

Routine bug fixes are essential but prioritize regular reviews and updates to optimize software performance. Doing so, lets you explore new features, adapt configurations to changing business needs, and ensure compatibility with other tools in your tech stack. Remember, when you do proactive maintenance, it preserves the software as a dynamic asset.

Also Read: Manage Software Maintenance Effectively

Step 5: User Training and Engagement

Move over basic training and invest in comprehensive programs that enable your users to gain in-depth knowledge of the software’s functionalities. Getting hands-on sessions and resources creates a culture of continuous learning as engaged users are more likely to use the software to the fullest extent of its capabilities.

Step 6: Implement Automated Workflows:

This is a simpler way to boost the ROI of your software stack. Streamlining and automating workflows within your existing software helps in improving efficiency. So, find manual processes that can be automated, this reduces the risk of errors and saves valuable time and costs in fixing the issues occurring later. In addition, automated workflows are good for your overall organizational productivity. As it allows your team to focus on more strategic tasks, ultimately maximizing the ROI of your software.

Step 7: Incorporate User Feedback Loops:

When you set up a continuous feedback loop with the software users, it plays a crucial role in an ongoing software optimization process. Therefore, create an encouraging environment where users can share their experiences and insights with the software or digital product development. Doing so, not only helps you identify pain points, and uncover new use cases, but it does more. Feedback loops ensure that software updates align with user needs, and enhance user experience and the overall effectiveness of your software suite.

Read More: Software Maintenance Guide

Factors that Impact Software Suite ROI

Software ROI will be measured by a combination of these factors:

• Hours saved for the teams/roles across your company
• Increased opportunity to win more business (becoming more efficient at sales)
• Improved customer service so increased likelihood of retaining, growing, or gaining net new clients
• Anticipating or offering bug-free digital products leads to less chance of spending more on post-launch maintenance or support.
• The kind of quality the software development services project offers, use AI or machine learning in performance engineering for high-quality product.

Also Read: Build Vs Buy Software Solution

Top Benefits When You Maximize ROI from Software Suite

It’s an essential move for any business to get the most value out of its existing software suite. Doing so helps them in reducing costs, boosting efficiency, and achieving better results. Here are 4 major advantages when you optimize existing software suite:

• Performance: Don’t discard your current software, it probably has more potential than you realize. Utilize its features to the fullest to simplify your workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and enable your team to work more effectively. When you maximize its potential, as a result, it increases performance, leading to higher revenue and better customer satisfaction.
• Savings: Focus on boosting quality assurance of your existing software, to avoid the expenses of buying new software. Getting new software can be costly, as it includes not only software licenses but also training and integration costs. So, use your budget for other vital areas of your business rather than unnecessary expenditures.
• Data Flow: When you maximize ROI from software suite, you often connect different software applications that don’t always work well together. This ensures easier data transfer and analysis and can help you make more informed decisions.
• Adaptability: Existing software offers familiarity, you don’t need to spend on training or integration costs to get your team used to it. In addition, you already spend time and resources tailoring it to your specific needs. Therefore, rather than starting over with new software, you can adjust your current solutions to changing business needs, ensuring consistency and minimizing disruptions.

Wrapping Up

It’s an indisputable fact that calculating the ROI of your software spend isn’t an easy task with so many factors involved. However, if it’s necessary to calculate the ROI of physical spaces or shared luxuries like computers or desks and even employees hired, it’s equally important that you know how to maximize ROI from software suite. In addition to that, as a software outsourcing companies what changes can you implement to optimize existing software suite? As a business when you know the value of your investment and how to maximize it, you can avoid wasted resources, increase productivity, and reap the benefits from the business process created because of it.

Hopefully, this blog has given you insight into how to optimize ROI on your software suites. Moreover, it equips you with the right metrics to have much more fruitful conversations with stakeholders regarding how a particular investment will be worth it in the long run. If all of this sounds overwhelming or a tedious task, consult a software development company. With their expertise and strategic and informed decisions, you can achieve your software product development services goals and drive long-term growth.

Author

Arun Kumar Sharma

AVP - Technology