Updated November, 2024
Almost every company shares a common problem of using disjointed systems and disparate applications. It can be a considerable struggle to juggle everything and run a modern architecture or engineering firm. There are so many software options, and apps for specific tasks. Many people have subscription fatigue, and others have so many that they don't even know what they are paying for.
A term for this is, “App Overload.” And it is a challenge facing businesses across the globe, and costing them billions of dollars a year. Investing in technology and new tools is a great way to improve your business efficiency and enable your team to be more effective, but it is important to invest wisely, and have a system that documents what apps you are using, what apps you are paying for, and a process to review these on a regular basis to make sure you are spending you dollars wisely.
What Is Application Overload and How Does It Happen?
The simplest definition of application overload is “using a wide variety of independent business applications to get work done.” The result is a bunch of disparate workplace applications that have a detrimental impact on productivity.
When starting out, most companies tend to solve problems in the quickest and cheapest ways possible. This means that they end up relying on multiple systems, not all of which communicate with each other. While these independent software applications might solve pressing needs, connecting these disparate systems isn’t always easy and cheap.
The result: leaders have trouble getting a clear view of their business. This creates operational inefficiencies that can be detrimental to the bottom line and impede the company’s ability to reach its full potential.
Understanding the Negative Impact of App Overload
A recent research study conducted by the CITE (Center for Information Technology in Education) shows that a surplus of apps is causing a great deal of confusion in the workplace. Among the 2,000 workers from the US, UK, and Australia surveyed, 69% wasted up to an hour a day navigating between apps. That’s up to 32 days a year wasted!
The same research—titled From Work Chaos to Zen: How Application Overload Redefines the Digital Workplace—reveals the biggest problem is with communication apps and channels. On average, a single worker juggles four communication apps every day, which is pretty much like holding four conversations at once. It’s even worse for 19% of the respondents, who said they use six or more communicate apps at one time.
Not only does navigating between apps waste productivity and billable hours, but it also costs companies heaps of money to maintain multiple apps. This not only has an impact on time and money lost, but it has a negative psychological impact on your staff. Switching between apps causes disruption.
The average worker flips between apps as frequently as ten times per hour. Not only does this waste time, but 56% of respondents felt that searching for information stored across different apps was disruptive, while 31% said it caused them to lose their train of thought.
And if you need more reasons to say no to using multiple apps, here they are.
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Combined, they cost more than a single system.
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Artificial intelligence integration is difficult.
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Digital plumbing is expensive and not reliable.
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Multiple vendors are required to debug and solve problems.
Honestly, if you really want to do your staff a favor and ease their pain points, look into integrated software that avoids independent siloed applications. No one enjoys trying to juggle everything at once.
Benefits of Integrated Software
Integrated software reduces redundancy and increases efficiency. According to a recent study, more than 80% of executives believe that AI leads to a competitive advantage, and 79% believe it will increase their company’s productivity. It does this by reducing your need to open apps and find information because AI (machine learning) does it for you.
Other benefits of integrated software and a united platform, include:
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54% time savings
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52% increased organization
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51% better communication with colleagues
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51% increased productivity
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31% increased feeling of control over their work
When your staff only has to deal with one application, they’ll feel less chaotic and like they can get work done.
5 Steps to Relieve App Overload
So, the question is, “how can you get started on implementing one single integrated software?”
Step 1: Analyze All of Your Different Apps
While it’s tempting to see each individual app as a problem-solver, when looking at the bigger picture, it could be causing problems. You need to analyze all of your apps, what they do, and how important they are for your business. Then, get rid of anything that doesn’t improve how you work.
Step 2: Perform a Cost-Benefit Analysis of Unified Systems
Next, perform a cost-benefit analysis. Make a spreadsheet where you can note down for every app how much you are paying each month. Don’t worry about the full cost, just the monthly software cost. Then, compare that total cost with the cost of a unified system.
You should also keep in mind that a unified system may come out at a higher cost. However, that cost comes with increased productivity, fewer disruptions, and more money saved. And by dealing with just one vendor, you gain access to all of your data more easily, which will give you a real-time picture of your business.
Step 3: Check to see if it is Cloud-Based and Mobile
The world is going cloud-based and mobile. So, if you are looking for a unified system, make sure it at least has a mobile app and works in the cloud.
Step 4: Determine What Features You Need Now and in the Future
Do not make decisions based only on what you need now. If your business is growing, you don’t want to have to change your application after five years. So, make sure that you look into the future and choose a system that can work for where you want to be as well.
Step 5: Embrace Change
Lastly, we all know that change is difficult. However, it is necessary to survive and plays an active role in your success. Don’t be afraid to embrace change.
How Does BQE CORE Relieve App Overload?
BQE CORE brings every part of your business into one system (and on mobile). The idea is to negate the need to switch between systems by providing everything under one roof, including:
So, how exactly does CORE help your business run more efficiently and avoid app overload? There are three areas, in particular, where CORE shines.
Real-time Visibility
When software systems are not integrated, you have multiple overlapping databases and cannot easily get a view of business performance. Reports showing performance across different departments are crucial to giving an integrated view of a company’s operations.
Most companies simply give up on acquiring this information on a regular basis because of the amount of time it takes to source, extract, and analyze this data. For those that can acquire this information, countless hours are wasted trying to tie unrelated, error-prone, and out-of-date information together. Consequently, businesses end up making critical decisions slowly based on inaccurate information, or they make hasty and risky decisions off of gut instinct.
CORE offers real-time visibility on every aspect of your business. You can see your full financial health on one screen, review billing, check time and expenses, and more. We can handle even your most complex requirements and give you visibility.
Fewer Non-Value-Added Activities
If your employees are bogged down navigating inefficient and disjointed processes, it increases errors and takes time away from their more important core duties. Such labor-intensive and manual tasks steal away time that could be otherwise spent on helping the company grow and innovate.
CORE uses machine learning and simplified/automatic processes to reduce manual tasks. In this way, you can gain access to the data, processes, and reports that you need as quickly and easily as possible.
Decreased Integration Complexity and Cost
With so many disparate applications, IT wastes an enormous amount of time and money on integrating, maintaining, upgrading, and acquiring new versions of these applications. Once new versions are purchased, more integration and maintenance needs to be performed for all the different versions of software to work together. Consequently, valuable IT time that could be used to make the business more productive is wasted, while maintenance costs skyrocket.
CORE is a single, unified system, which means you don’t have to worry about updating multiple platforms. You also don’t have to worry about multiple siloed systems that restrict management. Instead, you gain access to one interface and touchpoint, which decreases your potential for data integrity issues and debugging.
