By Chip Hayden, MCPS, MCNPS
Director of Information Technology Consulting Services
SN Business Solutions

Selecting a new enterprise software package for an organization can be a daunting process filled with significant risks and rewards.  Here are some beneficial steps to help you navigate the software evaluation and selection maze:

1. Perform an initial feasibility study to determine the costs, identify driving forces to justify the change in software and the restraining forces in preventing a successful implementation of new software or achieving an acceptable return on investment. 

2. Review and research information on vendors' products that appear to meet your general software requirements and industry. Utilize Internet resources such as, www.findaccountingsoftware.com, www.softwarelibrary.com, www.technologyevaluation.com, and www.ctsguides.com, to help obtain a short list of possible vendors.

3. Perform a needs assessment including interviews with key users, copies of sample forms and reports required in order to document key functional requirements. Also, during the needs assessment phase look for process improvement opportunities.

4. For smaller investments in software and implementation, follow the above tasks in a general manner and consider installing a trial version of software or have an initial web demo from a reseller of the software. For larger investments a more detailed approach is recommended, including the preparation of a functional requirements checklist that should be completed by your vendor short list and returned to you for a technical and cost review within about a two week period. 

Remember, if you have a business with annual revenues of $300,000 you should consider products that cost a few hundred dollars. If you are a business with $10 million in annual revenues then you need to do a more detailed and thorough evaluation.

5. After a review of the vendor's response to the functional requirements checklist and initial pricing, it is important to attempt to narrow the vendor field down to at least two or three finalists.

6. For software investments that are in the 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars it is recommended that a demonstration agenda/script be provided to each vendor finalist and a detailed demonstration and presentation be held with attendance of all key departmental users and key management team members.

7. After the detailed demonstration and updated pricing proposal are provided, it is important to meet with the software selection team and work on narrowing down the vendor finalist(s) to one or two.

8. Vendor references should be contacted and a telephone reference questionnaire should be used to document the references' responses. Also, we strongly recommend that you search for companies using the software you have selected as a finalist, that are not provided by the vendor.

9. Consider on-site reference visits to a customer of the finalist and possibly have a final demonstration with question and answer period to clarify any open items.

10. Be prepared to negotiate terms, conditions, and pricing with the finalist without letting them know that they are the only vendor standing. Once they know you have selected them, your leverage in negotiations has diminished.

The professionals at SN Business Solutions have helped hundreds of small and medium businesses evaluate and select new software systems. Should your business be considering changing software, please give Chip a call to meet for an initial consultation at no charge. You can reach Chip at 717-757-6999 or 800-745-8233 or by sending the email form below. You can also review our technology services on our website.