June 16, 2021
I have preached this so many times - when evaluating and selecting new technology or a new business system, the process must be comprehensive and objective. Avoid making any decisions (e.g., “leaning” towards a solution) or negotiating too early in the process. You need to do the due diligence to ensure the solution is the best fit for your needs. To wrap up this series of articles on Technology Selection, let me share advice on how to ensure your process is thorough and unbiased.
While you can easily find How-Tos for conducting a Request For Proposal (RFP), I like to adhere to the basic ten steps outlined below. For each of the steps outlined, I have included tips (not full-blown instructions), for each step. These tips represent the most impactful practices that lead to the best selection decisions for your company.
Tips for Ten Steps:
- Identify Potential Solutions Providers (4-8)
The number of solutions or providers can be as large as you like but keep in mind that if you send an RFP to many providers, you are expected to carefully read and assess all responses which is time consuming. Ensure your initial pool includes the most obvious candidates but also a few outliers. Talk to colleagues across your industry to find out who is using what, do your research, consider reviewing Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for additional providers.
- Create and Distribute RFP
Again, you can find guides for organizing and constructing an RFP which I will not get into, but the most important part of this effort is defining the requirements. Keep in mind that the same requirements in the RFP reflect what you need to assess in your scorecard evaluation later in the process. Consider how you will measure vendor’s responses and how much weight you will assign each requirement. Thinking about this proactively, will help ensure you frame your requirements in a way that can be quantified, measured, and compared across the various solutions later.
To get focused, I recommend defining the business processes that are in scope for the solution. Think through your current processes and identify the gaps and improvements you need along with elements that you want to retain. This effort will help define the functional requirements.
Request information about the corporation (e.g., financials, market information, etc.), Professional Services, Partners, Support, and, of course, Pricing. IT is typically well versed in defining the technical requirements. Typically, they include requests pertaining to Architecture, System Administration, Integration, Technology Roadmap, Information Security, etc.
- Live Q&A
The RFP process distributed should include a date by which all vendors can submit their questions in writing. It is strongly recommended that you receive them in writing rather than having individual conversations with providers that can cover details unavailable to other candidates and swing the evaluation unfairly. Invite all vendors to a live, virtual Q&A where all questions will be answered. Again, this helps keep the process objective and will result in a better decision for your company.
- Read RFP Responses & Down Select
It is likely that a few vendors will opt out of the evaluation for a variety of reasons which will reduce the candidate pool. The evaluation team is expected to read and review all responses.
If you received several responses, it is recommended to down select to a manageable few (3-5) that you believe are the best fit. This will save time going through a detailed evaluation of solutions that you are confident are not a good choice for you. If your IT organization requires all new vendors to complete a vulnerability assessment, this is a good time to send your assessment questionnaire to ensure the remaining candidates meet expectations and avoid issues later.
- Virtual Vendor Demonstrations
Not a sales demonstration. Schedule vendor demonstrations with each candidate but dictate what Use-Cases you want to see. This will help avoid canned sales demonstrations that may not cover the details you want to “see.”
- Customer References
Customer references are a must. Define your questions and arrange a call. If possible, visit the customer. It is not expected that every experience is perfect but how the vendor responds to the issues is important. Find out what the vendor is good at and what areas of improvements the customer noted.
- Onsite Vendor Presentation
Although not always possible, have the vendor demonstrate the solution with your data. This helps you better visual how it will fit within your business. Keep in mind, how willingly and easily each vendor can satisfy this request. You may combine this request with the Use-Cases outlined in step 5 above.
- Complete Evaluation Scorecard
Each member of the evaluation team should independently complete the scorecard for all solutions. The evaluation should include the vendor’s responses to the RFP, the demonstrations you requested, customer reference information, pricing considerations, etc. The team should then collaborate and achieve consensus on vendor ratings. If the evaluation team cannot come to consensus, it will be difficult to convince the steering team to accept your recommendation with a high level of confidence. Prepare and present recommendation to Steering Team.
- Negotiate
If it is possible, you may want to negotiate with your top two choices. This doesn’t have to be elaborate, detailed or excessively long. It might be as basic as requesting each to make their “best offer” and then proceeding with the one you like best. Finalize negotiations and execute contracts.
Keep in mind that a contract for Software as a Service (SaaS) should include a variety of additional considerations such as who owns the data, what happens to the data at the end of the relationship, do you need to pay to get your data back, can the number of licenses reduce over time, how will change management occur, how much will fees increase year over year, etc.
- Complete Close Down and Start-up Activities
While this is not article on project management best practices, I feel strongly that Evaluating and Selecting a new system/solution is a completely different initiative then implementing the new system/solution. A different methodology is followed, different people are needed to be involved, etc. Close out the first project and begin the start-up activities for the implementation project.
To ensure a successful implementation, the start-up activities should start with reviewing, updating, and finalizing the business case in detail to quantify the benefits and expected returns. It is also important to define all the Success Criteria for the project. For example, if productivity improvements are expected, define how they will be measured, what the current baseline is, what is the target, and when will future measurements be taken. Finding the best solution and then having the ability to measure success is the ultimate win-win.
Executing the basic steps outlined and incorporating these tips, will support a thorough evaluation and bring confidence to your decision. Finding the best solution for your needs is critical for success. If you need assistance or guidance with your evaluation and selection process, then let us talk about how ITechrity Exec Consulting can help.
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Additional Reading:
https://itechrityexec.com/how-to-organize-to-select-new-technology/
https://itechrityexec.com/four-ingredients-for-a-successful-technology-implementation/
https://rfp360.com/rfp-process-guide/
https://www.bmc.com/blogs/rfp-process/
https://project-management.com/project-management-phases/
https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/project-management-methodologies-made-simple/