I've been involved in many software selection projects in various roles and on different sides of the process. I know selecting the right software could be a challenging and potentially complex process. So when you are planning on making a significant software purchase and before you start your software selection process think of the following challenges:
1- Software selection can be a time consuming process
Remember there is requirements gathering, making RFIs, doing research to select your candidates, detailed evaluation of products and technologies, and analysis of your evaluation results. Besides, someone has to manage and coordinate all these activities with multiple vendors and all the organizations that are involved in the selection process.
2- You need to verify the information provided to you in RFIs
Vendors are naturally biased about their products. A lot of times vendors may claim to meet all your requirements. But you need to go one step further and determine what capabilities are in fact supported. The approach to get to this information depends on many circumstances, but it is nevertheless possible to do so. This may save you a lot of grief when it comes to implementation time.
3- Identifying product weaknesses
Product demos may not be exposing important product weaknesses. How can I say this in a politically correct way? You sometimes need to look under the hood.
4- Trial version of the software may be unavailable to you
For the more complex software systems, vendors are reluctant to provide trial versions of their software to potential end users. A simple reason for this is that without the right system configuration and proper training users may not be able to access desired features, and this may lead users to incorrect conclusions about the suitability of the product. At the same time lack of direct access to the product makes the evaluation process more challenging and less accurate. For many reasons, vendors are less reluctant to share such evaluation copies with third party consultants, putting the consultants in a much better position to make the right choice.
5- Wrong selection may have serious consequences
I have seen companies lose millions of dollars and waste years of effort because of poor software purchasing decisions. A modest investment to bring in experts into the selection process could have prevented such losses.
Finally, Software selection does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. Yes, I have seen some of the high price tags on this type of service offered by larger IT consulting firms. But it doesn't have to be that way. A smaller firm experienced in this process can be just as effective in managing your selection process at a much lower cost.
