Systems tailored to support small enterprises-Pt XIV

We will often tell a client that the relationship between his or her organization and a software implementation partner is like a marriage—you want to end up with a partner who is committed for the long run and will support you through the inevitable ups and downs of a long-term relationship. And as with choosing a partner for life, it’s important to be selective when deciding upon a job card software solution and a software implementation partner for that solution.

How to best approach this important decision? Researching and interacting with your shortlist of implementation partners are key to the selection process—and the earlier in the process these happen, the better.

Here are a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind when choosing a hvac service software implementation partner:

Dos

DO get the inside scoop on each partner by digging a little deeper

There’s a lot of information available online about ehs software implementation partners. Be sure to go beyond the partners’ own websites, which will likely offer marketing-oriented collateral, to sites like Hoovers that offer financial and historical profiles of companies, peer review sites such as IT ToolBox, and community groups like those on LinkedIn that provide a way to get in touch with previous clients of the partners you’re considering working with. For smaller partners, information may not be as readily available on the Internet, so a direct approach—contacting the partners directly and asking specific questions—may be the only way to learn more about prospective partners.

DO protect your right to compare partners

Many major ngo accounting software vendors have more than one partner available for each of their products.  Software vendors may try to impose a preferred partner on you, but you should ask if you can compare the available partners according to specializations such as experience in specific industries and/or regions. In our software selection projects at TEC, vendors themselves sometimes include more than one partner early in the process. This has proven very useful for customers, who gain multiple options, one of which may be better suited for their needs than the “default” partner chosen by the vendor.

DO evaluate partners on an “apples-to-apples” basis

Create a list of criteria so you can evaluate partners on an apples-to-apples basis throughout your software selection project, including during the field service management software demonstrations and negotiations. Getting an impartial third-party evaluator on board can speed up and simplify an objective partner evaluation, while making sure the comparison is as comprehensive as needed. For example, at TEC, we provide our clients with standard evaluation criteria for market data (to assess the business viability of the company, its ability to deliver projects , install and maintain technology, etc.), reference checks on the partner, and scripted scenarios that go beyond features and functions to evaluate qualities such as performance and professionalism. Our decision support system, TEC Advisor, is then used to roll up the scores so clients can assess the performance of each partner in a head-to-head fashion.

Don’ts

DON’T select the partner before the solution

Some partners sell and/or implement several solutions from different vendors, so it may be tempting to choose a partner you like and then try to see which of the solutions they offer is best for you. This obviously eliminates solutions the partner isn’t selling, which can put unnecessary limitations on your ERP software options right from the start by eliminating solutions that could be a good fit. The key is to keep your options open, remain objective, and make justifiable decisions that speak to your business needs throughout your software selection process.

DON’T equate the vendor offering to the partner offering

Partners that have an in-house development team may offer custom functionality, add-ons, or integration with third-party solutions that the CRM software vendor doesn’t provide. When you distribute your request for information (RFI), RFQ (request for quotation), and/or RFP (request for proposal), make sure each partner you’d be working with completes these requests, not just the vendor. This helps you identify how each feature is delivered—by whom and at what cost—so you can better understand what the partners themselves are bringing to the table and better compare different partners of the same vendor.

These tips on choosing the right software implementation partner apply to any software provider who offers implementation services, even smaller vendors that do the implementation themselves.

Ideally, in your software selection process you should compare the potential software products’ features and functions, the implementation and support services available for each product, and the pricing, so you can form an overall picture of each offering from a functional, performance, and financial perspective.

Using a decision support system provides an easier way to factor in all the necessary criteria for an objective, apples-to-apples comparison of ERPNext software solutions and services.