One of the most maddening aspects of marketing is when a buzzword becomes so overused that it loses its real meaning somewhere along the line. This is often the case with the term ‘turnkey.’ It has been used so much, and in so many ways, that the true definition of a turnkey solution has become lost in the hype. This is never more apparent than when referring to platforms like NetSuite and more than 700 connectors from a company like Celigo that make for some of the web’s most innovative turnkey solutions.
Instead of looking at it as a dreaded buzzword, you should think of a turnkey solution as a way to save time and money, all the while negating your desire to pull your hair out by the handful. You can be told that it is possible to accelerate sales through integration between Magento 2 and NetSuite with a turnkey connector, but what this really means to your business might not sink in until you explore the benefits of utilizing turnkey technology.
Realistic Budget
Most business owners find that turnkey solutions are among the most cost effective solutions simply because they are typically out-of-the-box solutions, to some extent. However, this means that every turnkey solution or platform you choose should also have the capability of being tailored to your needs. What you need as a distributor of fine wines, for example, will almost certainly be different than a retailer of children’s clothing and toys.
Don’t be put off by the term turnkey because you are thinking it won’t suit your company because of proprietary needs because the best technology of our times can be easily customized to suit businesses large and small and in all industries. It’s a matter of getting that bit of technology integrated into your main backend (operational) platform. This is all possible with the right connecter that provides channels for connectivity. Even so, a word of caution is advised here. In regards to staying within your budget, bear in mind that the cheapest connector may not always be the most cost effective because you will need to spend countless manpower hours setting commands and tailoring it to your needs.
Time Is Money
Speaking of those manpower hours, remember that time is money. Just because a solution is marketed to be a turnkey solution doesn’t mean, as mentioned above, that it is a one-size-fits-all solution. Many apps, for example, need you to spend countless hours making the connection between your operating system and an app which may have been originally developed for another OS.
Now when it comes to trying to connect front end with back end operations, nothing is more frustrating than trying to iron out compatibility issues. For instance, take a look at Magento 2. If you are using this platform for your CRM, customer relationship management, which entails all that is involved on the customer side of your business, you will want it to work seamlessly with NetSuite. Both of these reside in the cloud so that’s where they need to be integrated. Some connectors are anything but turnkey because you can’t simply run the program and hope that front and back end platforms meet in the middle. It takes highly sophisticated coding to make that happen.
Although time is money, you can’t expect instant results, it isn’t realistic. But you can expect to have the ability to spend a minimal amount of time with a turnkey solution. It is supposed to be a ready-made solution, but even those take a bit of time setting controls and commands.
Mitigation of Risk
How many times have you purchased software only to find that it wasn’t compatible with your OS or even with your hardware? Over the years, this had been a huge issue with graphics cards and modems. What you should be able to rely on with a turnkey product is the ability to ‘plug and play.’ Nonetheless, even plug and play products need some amount of programming so they know what is expected of them!
You will almost always need to define databases and how data is to be stored. Also, you will need to set pre-selected times for such things as backup and updates or patches if they become necessary. A turnkey solution doesn’t mean that it is a totally risk-free solution, but used in the right manner, it can mitigate the bulk of risk inherent in any out-of-the-box business solution.
A Reduction in the Number of Puzzle Pieces
Many techies like to look at turnkey solutions such as iPaaS connectors as being puzzles with few pieces. The old way of getting platforms and software to be compatible was like putting together a 1000 piece puzzle but with the right turnkey connector you are working with a toddler puzzle that might only contain a dozen or so pieces which are easy to work with because they cover so much area. They are big pieces all put together for you so there are fewer of them!
In fact, choosing the right turnkey solution for your business may be a bit like putting a puzzle together as well. First, you need to think about what it is you are trying to accomplish in terms of running your business, then you need to think about the customer end and everything from marketing to sales and customer satisfaction. Getting your operating platform to work happily with your front end platform may present a bit of a problem unless you seek the right turnkey technology that is designed to make your puzzle pieces fit together and stick together.
After all, you need to find a way to reshape and resize those puzzle pieces to get them to work together. That’s really what the buzzword ‘turnkey’ is all about anyway in the end. It is technology that literally does the thinking and seeking for you so that you can just step in and tell it to do its thing. That’s the turnkey technology you need for your business and the right solution has all the above benefits and more. You’ll know it when you see it.