Selecting the Right Software Vendor For Your Business
Selecting software, be it an Order Management System (OMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP), E-Commerce solution, or some other system, is a challenging task. The process normally begins by documenting a set of requirements, constructing a Request For Proposal (RFP), identifying vendors, viewing web demos, and conducting site visits and reference checks. Recently a trend appears to be emerging to select vendors based on word of mouth recommendations and two-hour web demos. Is that really the right approach? Selecting the right vendor is critical to the success of your company. The choices in the software marketplace are overwhelming, and if the software solution meets your requirements, how do you determine if a vendor is the right vendor for your business? Here are a few points to consider.
No matter how many times I’ve heard businesses claim that cost is not the primary factor in the selection process, in actuality it always becomes a prime factor after RFP responses are returned. But is enough information provided in the RFP to ensure the vendor’s pricing is accurate? Does the pricing include the software, hardware, number of user licenses, transactional volumes, upgrades, maintenance, training, integrations, modifications, conversions and implementation services? I’ve seen instances where clients developed what they thought was a good RFP, which the vendor responded to appropriately with an initial cost based on the defined requirements—but after due diligence determined the real cost was more than double the original. The best course of action is to have an RFP that not only covers all the requirements but also identifies any and all unique business processes. The more detail provided to the vendor, the more likely the pricing will be closer to actual. Key areas that affect pricing are data conversions, integrations and implementation services.
Tweet This 
Delicious 
Digg 
Facebook 
StumbleUpon
Related posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
