{"id":1807,"date":"2020-12-10T02:27:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T02:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/functionpoint.com\/?p=1807"},"modified":"2022-05-26T21:44:49","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T21:44:49","slug":"evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s not easy to choose the right tech stack for your creative agency. Marketers alone have over 5,000 software options to choose from. That doesn\u2019t even begin to cover the other areas of your creative agency such as productivity, project management, and operations, each of which have their own plethora of software solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/austin-distel-744oGeqpxPQ-unsplash-1024x683-2.jpg\" alt=\"tech stack\" class=\"wp-image-15845\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Because there are so many different solutions available, it\u2019s easy for your tech stack to grow bloated. Maybe you\u2019ve looked at your expenses recently and wondered why you\u2019re spending so much money on these services. Surely some of these subscriptions are unnecessary, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s likely that some are. But how do you know which ones are essential to your business and which are burning money?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this blog we\u2019ll show you how to identify the software that drives your company\u2019s success, which ones are causing inefficiencies and errors, and how-to find software solutions that help your agency reach its goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3 Questions When Evaluating Agency Software<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You need to have set criteria for evaluating each software. Thee questions to ask are:Does this software make my agency more efficient?Does this software integrate with other tools?Does this software help reach more goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does this software make my agency more efficient?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tim-gouw-1K9T5YiZ2WU-unsplash-1024x684-2.jpg\" alt=\"tech stack efficiency \" class=\"wp-image-15846\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br>One reason we purchase software is because our old processes were either inefficient, unsustainable, or a combination of the two. Why would we pay for something that slows down our workflows?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, many agencies do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not intentional. Maybe the tools served a purpose when it was first bought, but no longer make sense within the structure of the agency today. Or maybe their user interface isn\u2019t easy to understand, leading to mistakes that later need fixing. Whatever the reason, an inefficient solution is hardly a solution at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does this software integrate with our other tools?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s hard to overstate how important communication is between teams in creative agencies. Designers, writers, and project managers all collaborate to complete projects. If the communication breaks down between teams, the whole project begins to crumble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of your software solutions in the same way. Does your&nbsp;<a href=\"\/inspire-creative-teams-to-track-time-with-these-4-tips\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">time tracking<\/a>&nbsp;app work efficiently with your project management software? If they\u2019re not properly integrated, you may be collecting incomplete data on your agency\u2019s productivity, efficiency, and, ultimately, profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the benefits of&nbsp;<a href=\"\/5-features-to-get-you-started-with-function-point\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">all-in-one software<\/a>&nbsp;is that all the tools are built to talk to each other. When the same software manages time tracking, invoicing, and project management, it\u2019s hard for data to get lost and easy to spot where any mistakes are being made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does this software help us reach our goals?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/unnamed.jpg\" alt=\"agency tech stack\" class=\"wp-image-15847\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Software is purchased for one of two reasons: to solve a problem or achieve a goal. Often, it\u2019s purchased for both reasons. If your agency\u2019s goal is higher profitability, you may try to reach that goal by solving the problem of inefficient processes. To address this problem, you start using&nbsp;<a href=\"\/product\/agency-project-management-software\">project management software<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But is the software helping?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Occasionally you\u2019ll purchase software that gets thrown to the wayside by your team. Perhaps it\u2019s got a steep learning curve, has frustrating features, or your staff found a better solution within pre-existing software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever the reason, you end up paying for a software that is being heavily underutilized. Your staff may use it for one or two tasks, but likely you\u2019re overpaying for what you need. It\u2019s like buying a sports car only to drive it to the grocery store. Sure, it performs well, but perhaps your money would be better spent on a vehicle more fit for purpose, and the savings could be invested elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend asking your staff about which software they already use effectively. Sometimes the answer isn\u2019t to purchase yet another&nbsp;<a href=\"\/software-silos\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">siloed software<\/a>, but to invest deeper in the tech stack you already have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many agency softwares have different tiers of membership that unlock additional features. Moving up a tier or two can prevent many of the pains of forcing your staff to learn an entirely&nbsp;<a href=\"\/5-features-to-get-you-started-with-function-point\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new software and workflow<\/a>, which can be a major obstacle when purchasing new software. This approach also decreases the overall cost of your tech stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, if you find that several of your siloed software solutions aren\u2019t performing as you hoped, consider moving to an&nbsp;<a href=\"\/\">all-in-one agency management software<\/a>. One reason siloed software can fail to have an impact on agencies is that having multiple software becomes hard to keep track of. Instead of having everything in one tab, staff have to open multiple software and remember the layout of each. Eventually, the software that they don\u2019t enjoy using ends up being neglected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As individuals, we\u2019re all guilty of spending more than is strictly necessary on streaming services. It\u2019s likely this trend carries into our professional lives too, and that we spend more money than we need to on subscriptions to software solutions for our businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Identifying which software solutions are helping move your agency forward and which are just an expensive line item in your budget is an important piece of housekeeping. Doing so allows you to free up resources and streamline your processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/is-your-agency-ready-for-a-project-management-software\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Take-the-Software-Readiness-Test-1024x554-2.png\" alt=\"Take the Software Readiness Test\" class=\"wp-image-15092\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s not easy to choose the right tech stack for your creative agency. Marketers alone have over 5,000 software options to choose from. That doesn\u2019t even begin to cover the other areas of your creative agency such as productivity, project management, and operations, each of which have their own plethora of software solutions. Because there [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agency-management"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s not easy to choose the right tech stack for your creative agency. Marketers alone have over 5,000 software options to choose from. That doesn\u2019t even begin to cover the other areas of your creative agency such as productivity, project management, and operations, each of which have their own plethora of software solutions. Because there [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Function Point\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FP-Blog-Header-08Dec2020.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Function Point\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Function Point\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Function Point\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/331e9aa5322179a2ec3cf6c6791e82dd\"},\"headline\":\"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\"},\"wordCount\":885,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Agency management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\",\"name\":\"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/\",\"name\":\"Function Point\",\"description\":\"Creative agency management software &amp; tools | All-in-one Agency Software\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Function Point\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/FP_logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/FP_logo.svg\",\"width\":203,\"height\":49,\"caption\":\"Function Point\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/331e9aa5322179a2ec3cf6c6791e82dd\",\"name\":\"Function Point\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e28c4cd078b772e9a75ced1e278796f72ab74ca335383358db75d4567538e31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e28c4cd078b772e9a75ced1e278796f72ab74ca335383358db75d4567538e31?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Function Point\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/author\/pavlo\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point","og_description":"It\u2019s not easy to choose the right tech stack for your creative agency. Marketers alone have over 5,000 software options to choose from. That doesn\u2019t even begin to cover the other areas of your creative agency such as productivity, project management, and operations, each of which have their own plethora of software solutions. Because there [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","og_site_name":"Function Point","article_published_time":"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/FP-Blog-Header-08Dec2020.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Function Point","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Function Point","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack"},"author":{"name":"Function Point","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/331e9aa5322179a2ec3cf6c6791e82dd"},"headline":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack","datePublished":"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack"},"wordCount":885,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Agency management"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack","name":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack | Function Point","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-12-10T02:27:24+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-26T21:44:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/blog\/evaluating-your-agencys-tech-stack#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Evaluating Your Agency\u2019s Tech Stack"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/","name":"Function Point","description":"Creative agency management software &amp; tools | All-in-one Agency Software","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#organization","name":"Function Point","url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/FP_logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/FP_logo.svg","width":203,"height":49,"caption":"Function Point"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/331e9aa5322179a2ec3cf6c6791e82dd","name":"Function Point","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e28c4cd078b772e9a75ced1e278796f72ab74ca335383358db75d4567538e31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e28c4cd078b772e9a75ced1e278796f72ab74ca335383358db75d4567538e31?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Function Point"},"url":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/author\/pavlo"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4372,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807\/revisions\/4372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/functionpoint.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}