At the highest level, a digital adoption platform (DAP) overlays an organization’s enterprise applications (ERP, CRM and/or SCM, for example) and serves to guide application users through complex processes in real-time. Ultimately, by making the application usage process much easier and more intuitive, DAPs can overcome user resistance to change, promote proper enterprise application use and ultimately pave the way to more meaningful user adoption and higher ROI from enterprise software investments. For these reasons, DAPs are becoming increasingly popular — according to Gartner, by the year 2026, approximately 70 percent of organizations will incorporate digital adoption platforms (DAPs) into their technology stacks.
We believe that it would benefit IT resellers greatly to offer a DAP as part of their product and service portfolio. By offering DAPs, resellers can help their customers maximize their hefty enterprise software investments. In the long run, this could incentivize customers to purchase more enterprise application software from their reseller partners, as new modules are rolled out.
Why Resellers Should Offer DAPs
There are a host of reasons why resellers should consider adding DAPs to their core product and services offerings.
First, DAPs help enterprise customers achieve and demonstrate return on investment (ROI) from software investments faster and more conclusively. More than 80 percent of senior executives, including CFOs, say their biggest challenge is convincing staff to use new software. This makes user resistance one of the chief drivers of a poor ROI on software investments. This tendency to reject change is not a negative reflection on users; rather, it is a simple reality of life. People tend to prefer to stick to the tools that are familiar to them, and conversely, put off those which are unfamiliar – no matter how useful the new tools may be. In fact, the introduction of new enterprise software within an organization has been compared to the stages of grief, complete with avoidance, confusion, frustration, irritation and more, before ultimately making way to the acceptance stage.
By providing real-time, interactive in-app guidance that serves to accelerate user adoption while also reducing training costs, DAPs enable users to become proficient in new software faster, thus hastening their adoption and helping accelerate the realization of benefits from the customer’s software investments.
Going a step further, advanced analytics in DAPs provide data-driven insights to help organizational leaders ensure that enterprise software is being used effectively, and that its value is maximized. For example, DAPs can clearly show usage trends as well as common trouble spots where users may be dropping off, giving the enterprise an opportunity to proactively address these areas by supplementing them with more on-demand training.
Second, DAPs helps resellers demonstrate their unwavering commitment to an enterprise customer’s long-term success. By proactively offering DAPs as an invaluable support mechanism, resellers essentially are making a pledge to the success of the customer’s entire product journey; they’re saying, “we have skin in your game.” This also showcases a deep understanding of customer needs above and beyond the standard software evaluation and purchasing process, and positions resellers as strategic partners offering informed guidance for optimizing technology use.
Third, ultimately, DAPs can help resellers increase their revenue streams — not just from the DAP, but from enterprise software. When your customers are more satisfied with their software investments, chances are they will want to buy more from you in the long run – in terms of more modules as they become available.
Moreover, enterprise software is being rolled out faster than ever before. Studies show that successful software implementations often involve well-planned, phased rollouts that prioritize core functionalities first and gradually introduce additional modules. DAPs can support this rollout method by offering bespoke and unique training options for every user, across various roles and functions within an organization.
Ultimately, DAPs ensure users are seamlessly trained on the best, most efficient ways to use new software, reducing resistance, the learning curve and increasing user engagement. This improved user experience enhances adoption, increases ROI and elevates customer satisfaction. That, in turn, increases the likelihood of customers making repeat purchases from resellers. For some resellers, adding a DAP to their toolkit can be as easy as bundling it with current enterprise software, and it is likely well worth the effort for the opportunity to underscore value to customers.
