If you're responsible for a small manufacturing or distribution company, you've thought about implementing or upgrading your information systems.

Has this been your experience?

• You get the sense that the sales rep you're talking to understands technology, but doesn't grasp business processes.
• The acronyms and buzzwords in the material you're reviewing are so dense you can't tell what the benefits of the product are.
• A new solution doesn't perform as expected, and you aren't sure if it's the result of poor communication or unethical behavior.

Those are the kinds of things that make a CFO's blood run cold. Enterprise software solutions represent a significant investment, but the specialized knowledge and skills needed to select the right solution are very different than the skills needed by most executives. The unsettling feeling that you misspent that investment - or worse yet, that your vendor sold you a bill of goods - is something that no business executive wishes to experience.

All too often there's a gap between your clear vision of what the company needs, and the solutions your vendor ends up providing. At MIS Technology, we don't believe that you should pay for a product that doesn't perform as expected. We adhere to three core principles to implement this philosophy.

• We understand business. Because we have a dual focus on business and technology, we're able to anticipate questions during development that will prevent the need for fixes down the road.
• We speak your language. The features available for today's software solutions can make your head spin - but being dizzy doesn't make business decisions easier. We clear away the buzzwords and the jargon so that you understand the benefits any particular feature may bring to your company. Instead of dazzling you with technical details, we provide them to you in a business context.
• We are ethical to a fault. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that there are unethical business people in the world. Commitment to ethics permeates MIS Technology from top to bottom. When we quote you a price, that's the price you will pay. When we promise continuing support, we deliver. We don't charge you for our learning opportunities. We stand behind what we say and do - it's really that simple.

Whether your company is considering an overhaul of an existing system or a first-time implementation, it's a decision which will have long-lasting effects. The impact on the bottom line is both direct and indirect. Consider this: has your company culture adapted to your existing system, instead of the other way around? Do your employees find inaccurate shortcuts to avoid overly-complicated data entry procedures? Is system compatibility an overarching concern when evaluating supply chain partners?