The Real ROI of Technology Lies in People Who Use It: How Alesia Dvorkina Is Enforcing Proper Technological Integration

In today's business environment, technology is ubiquitous, yet despite the proliferation of tools, proper adoption is seldom found. Companies invest heavily in CRM systems, analytics tools, internal platforms, and cloud infrastructure, only to watch them sit underutilized or bypassed entirely by the very teams that they were meant to empower.

According to Alesia Dvorkina, founder of Hmara Solutions, a technology consultancy that helps organizations deploy CRM and cloud-based systems, the root of the issue doesn't lie in technology, but in human tendencies.

"The problem isn't a lack of tools or their functionality," she says. "It's the lack of clarity in implementation, poor change management, and too little attention on the people side of technology. If a team doesn't understand the value of what's been introduced, they're simply not going to use it."

In an age where every business wants to be more efficient, more automated, and more connected, the tools themselves are only one part of the equation. The bigger challenge lies in how teams experience those tools, and whether they have the support, communication, and trust required to embrace them.

Dvorkina built Hmara Solutions around this very insight. While the firm is known for its cloud infrastructure expertise, its real differentiator lies in how it helps businesses strategically integrate technology in a way that keeps people at the center of everything. Businesses often over-rely on tools, expecting them to solve deep operational challenges by default, but in reality, Dvorkina argues, tools only amplify what's already working, or conversely, they highlight what's not working.

"They think technology will fix process issues, but often the real problem is misalignment within the team, undefined workflows, or absence of a shared vision," Dvorkina explains.

Executives tend to be time-stretched, and many implementation consultants rely on them to enforce rudimentary operations. Dvorkina has seen this firsthand, where consultants only act on direct instructions, delaying progress when internal stakeholders are occupied with other matters to lead the charge.

Hmara's approach flips that dynamic at every stage. Her team steps in as proactive partners, providing logical and straightforward recommendations, outlining practical options, and enabling faster, more informed decision-making.

"We understand our clients are always hard-pressed," she explains. "So we take ownership, structure the process, and relay information as scannable and actionable as possible. Even our follow-up emails are engineered for efficiency."

For Dvorkina, a successful tech integration is less defined by what was built, but rather how it's adopted. She emphasizes that user experience, internal communication, and training must be considered core parts of any deployment strategy. "There's often this assumption that employees will use whatever they're told to use," she says. "But if the system is clunky, confusing, or hasn't been explained well, they'll find a workaround, or worse, they'll revert to the old, inefficient ways of doing things."

The concept of 'change overload' is also central to her initiatives. She notes that many teams are already operating with heavy cognitive load, switching between apps, adjusting to shifting roles, or navigating organizational changes like mergers and acquisitions.

Adding new technology on top of such foundational changes can easily become overwhelming if it's not handled strategically and empathetically. "Just because a system is technically better doesn't mean it's the right time to implement it," Dvorkina says. "It's about finding the balance, what do we keep, what do we change, and how do we communicate those choices so that everyone is on board?"

At Hmara, that process begins with evaluation. When a client debates replacing current systems or optimizing them, the company performs strategic assessments based on three core criteria: adoption, technical debt, and processes. "If a system has decent adoption and the team likes it, that's a strong sign we should explore optimizing rather than replacing," Dvorkina says. "But if the backend is a mess or the tools can't scale with the company's requirements, replacement may be the better long-term investment."

Importantly, Dvorkina says many companies underestimate the power of clearing up their processes before targeting the platform. "Most of the time, it's not actually the system that's failing. It's the fact that there are no consistent processes in place, or the existing ones aren't aligning with business goals. In some cases, even a well-organized spreadsheet could be effective if the team is trained and the process is solid."

Whether companies choose to adopt a new system or refine an existing one, the real challenge remains the same. And that is, ensuring people actually use the technology.

And Dvorkina believes the solution to that challenge is embedded in a company's willingness to communicate clearly, involve teams early, and focus on the user experience. In doing so, technology can become an enabler, not a burden. "If we're not making teams more excited and efficient at their job, then what's the point of another expensive CRM?" she says.

Dvorkina's advice to leaders is as straightforward as her work at Hmara: don't rush into a decision without understanding the full picture. Whether it's cleaning up processes, fixing technical issues, or starting from scratch, what matters most is that the people who rely on the technology are set up to succeed, and that's the ultimate metric.