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Communication and collaboration between franchisor and franchisee is critical to both the health and the growth of the brand.

The business unit manager understands the requirements. The IT guy understands how the software works. Ideally, the manager and the IT guy would work together to translate the requirements.

Make good decisions on technology. Save your business money and improve the results you get from technology investments.

For a franchise system with different technologies at both the franchisor and franchisee level, the result can be a long list of failed projects. This is why the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is so critical.

CTO Nation, provider of part-time Chief Technology Officer resources, has launched its Franchise CTO service line. Franchise CTO will provide significant value to franchisors and their franchisees by addressing the need for technology leadership in small businesses.

Let’s do a quick count of technology-related products, software, and services that most businesses use. The list would include phone, Internet, website hosting, CRM, email marketing, accounting, supply chain, payment processing, etc.

The technology-related failures listed below were collected from a variety of companies. We hope you can learn from their cringe-inducing experiences. All company names and employee references have been removed to protect the innocent (and embarrassed).

When performing technology assessments, I like to ask the following basic question: “How many spreadsheets do you depend on to run your business?”

When you consider the true cost of technology, the importance of experienced technology leadership is clear. Financial statements don’t accurately reflect the cost of a failed software implementation, poor end-user adoption, or system downtime. Recovering from a data breach or other business interruptions can cost a business significant time and money.