Software Selection

The software selection process

When the direction of your Enterprise architecture is clear, one or more new solutions might be needed. The selection of a new software solution might seem like a daunting task. The software-market is a crowded place, and a lot of misinformation is being spread. We help you to filter the noise and make an informed decision in a structured and proven process.

Your requirements for the software selection

The first step is to outline your requirements. When your needs are clear, you can save yourself and the software vendors, a lot of time. In this phase, it is essential to get all the crucial members of your team involved. To do this efficiently, we use online surveys and group techniques to make sure that we make optimal use of the wisdom of your organization. We pay special attention that the limitations of the old system do not form the basis for the requirements for the new solution.

Research the market for your software selection

Before you reach out to software vendors with your request for a proposal (RFP), it is useful to do your homework. We will help you with our knowledge base of research materials. Our free digitalization shortlist tool will help to select the right vendors out of our database containing more than 160 solution providers. Next to that, we will use our extensive network to get a practical background to check overenthusiastic claims of vendors or analysts.

Determine the budget for your software solution

Next to the requirements, your budget is essential for an efficient selection process. We make sure you include all components in your budget. Of course, we include license fees or cloud subscriptions, but also any additional software, implementation costs, support fees, and transaction fees. As a basis for our analysis, we also plot the cost of the current solution(s). This insight can help to build the business case for the project.

Engaging with the software vendors

Now that we worked on requirements, market research, and budget, it is time to reach out to the market. A request for proposal (you can download a free editable word template here) is a clean and simple way to invite selected parties to show how they can add value to your organization. We base vendor demonstrations on a detailed script or just a set of key features. Attendance of key stakeholders from your organization is crucial, so timely planning is a prerequisite.

Wrapping up the software selection

After we finished all the steps, it is time to make choices. We help you with decision-support models that weigh the scores. Based on these scores, you determine your order of preference. This order is the input for the negotiations that lead to a final selection. During negotiations, options might come up that we help you consider. After the final agreement, it is time to prepare for implementation.