Software Selections

As with any project, the first step is to plan. The basic steps I use in a software selection project are:

1. Initiating & Planning
2. Define List of Requirements
3. Develop Business Scenarios
4. Vendor List
5. Request for Proposal
6. Vendor Short List
7. Develop Decision Criteria
8. Vendor Demonstrations
9. Product Analysis (a.k.a. scorecard) and Reference Checks
10. Negotiations
11. Plan implementation

In my experience, the key to a successful selection project is a carefully defined list of requirements and detailed business scenarios. Gathering the requirements can be daunting but it is a critical step. Involve users at your company. This will get your better requirements and help you to garner buy-in from the users. The requirements should be detailed and sorted into logical groups (e.g. Accounts Payable). List the requirements and identify them by level of importance, such as critical, important, and nice to have.

Well drafted business scenarios are instrumental because they allow you to see the differences between products and show you how the software is going to execute and improve your business processes. I usually write a story board of a process like the purchasing process. I'll explain how the company does it, what they would like to do differently and I give an example. The requirements should tie to the scenarios. If a critical requirements is to have an on-site manager enter a purchase order (PO) and that PO be approved by a VP based on a dollar amount then I would create a scenario with such an example and list that requirement.

Insist that the software vendors demonstrate to your scenarios and requirements. This ensures that you see how the software fulfills your list of requirements rather than watching demonstrations that only show you what the sales reps want to show you. For example, if you have a requirement for an accounting system to "process payments by EFT," all of the accounting systems are going to respond with a "yes we do that." But how they do it is what you want to know. For instance, the JD Edwards system utilizes transaction codes to denote the type of payment (e.g., check, wire, etc.), whereas Microsoft Dynamics - GP has a free form text field where the user can enter the type of transaction. Both methods work, but you may have a preference for one over the other.

And don't let the software sales representative make or break the deal. I have nothing against software sales people but I have seen clients try to not pick a solution because they didn't like the sales person. Don't buy or not buy based on the sales person. Be objective and let the software selection process help you make the right decision.

Remember: plan and then execute the plan!

Don Wood is a PMP with over 25 years of experience in project management, business process improvement, and information technology for the real estate industry. Please visit www.dbrw.com for more information.