Choosing a Software Vendor – the Final Analysis

Most often, when software vendors are evaluated against requirements, all get eliminated except for just one or two that really stand out. When it’s a really close call, what criteria do you use to select one over the other? Here’s my list of considerations:

1. If not cost then value. If one solution’s TCO isn’t out of the ballpark, then you have to compare relative value. Is the best feature of Solution A worth more to your company than the best feature of Solution B? Do this for the top five features and you’ll know whether you’ve grounded in your business needs or you’ve been bedazzled by cool bells and whistles that don’t really add a lot of value.
2. Vendor as business partner. If the service wasn’t great before the sale, you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think it’s going to get better after you’ve signed on the dotted line, regardless of what you negotiate into the contract. Business is ultimately about personal wins for individuals involved. You each have to know, like and trust the other in order to consider him/her a business partner, and so you must be willing to find the win-win, the personal wins in the negotiation, for each of you. If the software licensing cost is small compared to integrator services, then consider the integrator services your business partner.
3. Vendor’s product roadmap aligns with your corporate objectives. It is so easy to forget to ask your vendor this question: what does your 18-month product roadmap look like? The incremental functionality your vendor is planning should align with what you’d want to build out in the solution if it were your decision. And if your vendor can’t answer this question, then his roadmap is that he’s going to respond to whichever clients/prospects request loudest and most persistently.
4. Vendor’s product durability aligns with anticipated lifespan needs. This is about product architecture. If you’re a committed Java house and the app you like is migrating to .NET, you can be certain you know where all meaningful future development will be focused.
5. User interface and usability. User interface preferences are very personal choices. What one company or individual finds acceptable another may not. Present your best solutions to a broad range of your users and see what they have to say. Frequent users can adapt to less than stellar interfaces if the solution brings other compelling benefits, but casual users may have difficulty.