Skipping Stone, a global energy markets consulting and technology services firm, announced the release of a free whitepaper: Avoiding the Technology Trap. The paper examines the common technology traps companies fall into and offers practical strategies for avoiding these traps as well as strategies and tactics on how to address the trap if a company is in one. 

"We analyzed a significant number of software technology engagements across multiple energy clients we have worked with," said author John Brown, Partner, Skipping Stone. "Too often we find clients are not happy with their software solutions and they aren't delivering the value that was expected nor required. What we found are some very common traps that companies fall into that are the primary causes of dissatisfaction. I wrote the paper to share the lessons we have learned and to hopefully provide some guidance on our experience in helping clients either avoid or get out of these common technology traps." 

The white paper examines the experiences companies have when trapped, for example, reliance on spreadsheets and work arounds instead of using systems. The paper also provides a step process involving people, processes, and technology that Skipping Stone has used successfully on numerous client engagements. 

"Before Skipping Stone, I was the CEO of a large energy retailer," said Skipping Stone Chairman and CEO Peter Weigand. "When I took that job, I was shocked at how ineffective our systems were and how many people the company had doing manual or spreadsheet work. We did an overhaul using a similar step process as described in the white paper. The impact was dramatic in terms of ability to reduce cost, profitability and enabled us to realign the business so that it could grow."  

Skipping Stone | www.skippingstone.com