SOFTWARE SELECTION
Software selection, like facilities planning is a critical infrastructure effort that companies do not do every day. This is complicated by the fact that assessing software is much more ambiguous that looking assessing a facility or a production machine.
Our approach to run a structured process applying these principles.
- Control the process
Software salespeople are good at the art of illusion – Sell the vision, deliver what you can, promise the rest. To make a good decision we tightly control the agenda and ask for specific details for the software provider to present. - Define criteria
The process must us well defined criteria based on business requirements. This will make the best fit stand out. - Defined gaps and assumptions
There are gaps between any solution and how your company operates. These need to be explicitly defined, so there are no misunderstandings down the road. - Consider Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Software people like to focus on the licensing cost and the maintenance costs if asked, but they rarely consider other costs needed to make the solution operational. We cost out Hardware, Integration and Support staff needed to make the solution operational and sustain it.
