10 S tepS to IT Success BY SUSAN L. HODGES AN E XCITING DE VELOPMENT IS TAKING PL ACE in the equipment finance HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SUCCESSFUL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT industry. The industry is embracing technology in new ways to solve problems and create opportunity—and making a solid business case for the investment. “More companies than ever are using technology for competitive advantage,” explains Dan O’Malley, Chair of ELFA’s Operations & Technology Committee. “It used to be that companies used technology to make small improvements that lessened operational strain,” O’Malley adds. “Now companies are starting to innovate and find ways to offer new financial products—and that’s exciting.” To find examples of this trend, look no farther than the winners of this year’s ELFA Operations & Technology Excellence Award. The two winners, Quick Bridge Funding, LLC and Element Financial Corp., are small companies that realized major achievements through software development projects. Not only did both firms apply razorlike focus to complete their projects early or on sched-ule, they also used cutting-edge technology to improve the customer experience and their own processes, and came in on or under budget to do so. SHUTTERSTOCK