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Advanced
How To Guide
Choosing eBusiness vendors and software
3.1 Selecting eBusiness Software - Other Requirements
| 3. |
Comprehensively
review what is available in the marketplace.
If you are going to spend money on a new system,
you should at least make sure that you get the
best system possible within your financial constraints.
It is important, for example, that you familiarise
yourself with the licence terms for any software
that is installed on your equipment because it
sets the legal parameters for the use of this
software within your enterprise Finding what is
available can be done by using the Internet ,
looking at advertisements in trade magazines,
finding out what other companies are using or
using consultants. If you do use consultants,
make absolutely sure that they can offer independent
advice. Many consultants have implementation or
re-seller agreements with software companies,
and despite their protestations to the contrary,
can never really be objective in a review of competitor
products. Also, don't forget to look in detail
at the applications you already use - more than
one company has been surprised to find that when
they decided to buy an inventory control application
for example, it already existed unused within
their suite of financial software.
Remember
different software applications within your enterprise
could have different licence structures. |
| 4. |
Review
prospective systems against the requirements.
Having gone to the trouble of writing down the
requirements, once it comes to physically looking
at shortlisted systems prior to a purchasing decision,
companies often ignore them. The sales demonstration
of the product takes control, and references to
the requirements tend to be arbitrary at best.
Don't be seduced by the sales demonstration; check
what you are being shown rigorously against the
requirements and ask to see functionality contained
in the requirements, but not shown as part of
the standard demonstration. |
| 5. |
Look
for reference sites before finalising on a new
system and vendor. Once you have selected a preferred
system, make sure that you visit, or at the very
least talk to, one or more reference sites (this
step is very similar to the Due Diligence step
described in Selecting an eBusiness Vendor). Ideally
these should be as similar as possible to your
own business. Many people feel that reference
site checking is not worthwhile, since a vendor
is unlikely to recommend a site that is not a
good one from their point of view. This is a mistake,
since much useful information can be gleaned from
talking to most sites, for example, depth of /lack
of system functionality in key areas, maintenance
charges, vendor performance in terms of providing
support and fee rates and consultants used during
the implementation. As with other stages of the
selection process, it pays to prepare properly
beforehand, in this case by establishing a list
of key areas where information is required. If
the level of feedback from the site is not satisfactory,
tell the vendor this and request another site.
Finally, if the feedback you do receive is in
any way worrying or at odds with what the vendor
told you, discuss this with the vendor, and don't
be afraid to walk away and look at another option.
Companies often get carried away in the momentum
of the selection process and are slow to take
a backward step. Remember that a backward step
now is better than committing to something that
may cause heartache for years to come. |
The level of detail and the length of time spent at
each of the steps will obviously depend on the importance
of the purchasing decision to the business. Following
each step will ensure that the most effective use is
made of management time and that the system with the
best fit for the business is the one that is purchased.
Once
a final decision has been made on the preferred system
and vendor, most of the same principles apply to negotiating
a contract as those described previously for negotiating
an eBusiness Vendor contract.
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