Businesses are under increasing pressure to adopt the latest and best technology in order to remain competitive and attract and retain ever-more discerning customers. For example, the world is abuzz with artificial intelligence (AI) hype, culminating most recently in massive shockwaves in the US in response to the release of China’s DeepSeek.
This all adds to the rush and scramble for the latest and best technology, but, especially in current economic conditions, the key to any implementation, including AI, is being able to clearly demonstrate return on investment (ROI), says Heath Huxtable, CEO of Microsoft specialist partner Braintree.
Huxtable points out when Microsoft launched its AI-powered Copilot toolset, “there was a big push for organisations to adopt the tool, yet I found myself struggling with the concept of trying to find what the value proposition is for an organisation that starts with the intention of investing in AI before finding a compelling use case,” explains Huxtable.
“Technology adoption, even for transformative AI tools, needs to be grounded in tangible ROI. And let’s be clear, ROI is not just about the money. There are also intrinsic benefits that can be measured, such as efficiencies, performance, sales and so forth,” he says.
“There needs to be a disciplined, ROI-focused approach to all technology decisions,” explains Huxtable. “By clearly defining the value proposition upfront, and then having a plan to track both financial and non-financial metrics, businesses can make smarter investments that drive lasting, positive change. And this is precisely what Braintree does as a business, and why it has grown substantially over the past decade from just project implementations to a hybrid of projects and software services.”
Partnership for growth
Huxtable says organisations should also look for a partner whose core business involves helping customers of all sizes to improve their operations through technology, and ultimately grow. Apart from having the necessary expertise and making use of best-in-class solutions, companies should look to work with an organisation that has the success stories demonstrating ROI from technology investments.
Huxtable adds that enduring partnerships have been the key to success at Braintree. By way of analogy he points to some of the company’s first customers from the 1990s, before Braintree built its current identity, that remain with the business today. He says: “Our culture is retention… We want people to have the freedom of choice.” He says key team members have been together since the 1990s, and even team members who have left, have since returned. “This is testament to our focus on strong relationships.”
He says a commitment to relationships goes beyond just retention. He says personality profiling can ensure the right team fit for each client, recognising that successful implementations depend on more than just technical skills. “We do personality profiling to see where an individual would be best placed, taking into consideration what the customer’s expectations are of the team they’ll be working with on an implementation. We do this precisely to ensure ROI.”
Achieving real ROI through strategic implementation
Reflecting on the current news cycle, Huxtable says technology is far more broad, with use cases across entire organisations. “While the world focuses on the latest and greatest next-best-thing, it is important to understand that unlocking value from technology spans the width and breadth of an organisation from enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, productivity tools, voice and video, and cloud-based solutions.”
Huxtable explains that in order to unlock real ROI, implementation partners and software service providers need to have an uncompromising approach to implementations. He says, “You can’t do project failures. This is both strategic and tactical because you can’t take a good reputation for granted. A business is only ever known by the success or failure of its last project and I genuinely believe this dedication to project success has been a key factor in Braintree’s success and strong reputation.”
