Over on the eZine, Health Data Management there is a poll asking whether or not your software vendor was upfront about the hidden costs of implementing their software. Guess which way the poll is leaning?

Over two-thirds of respondents state that no, their software vendor was not upfront about hidden costs!

At first, one may be appalled at such a percentage, but it is not that surprising. First, it is not always apparent for anyone, vendor or customer, as to what the full costs will be to implement a given software solution. There are “hidden costs” related to customization of workflow for a given facility, there is training, there is that ever sticky issue of adoption and use, and there is the productivity drop while users familiarize themselves with the new software. I am sure others can list their own hidden costs that they have had to address as well. Thus, it may be unreasonable to put complete blame on the vendor as many parties are culpable.

Within the IT space and among industry analysts, it is fairly common knowledge that the total costs to implement any solution is typically about 10x the cost of the software itself. Yes, this can be a very big number but few would ever get the go ahead from management if they told them what would ultimately be the sunk costs to adopt a new software package.