Software Selection Tools

"How could this have happened?"
"Why didn't we buy the right software solution?"
"Why are people not using the software we just bought for them?"

A Story To Meditate On:

A wild boar stood under a tree and rubbed his tusks against the trunk.

A Fox passing by asked him why he thus sharpened his teeth when there was no danger threatening from either huntsman or hound.

He replied, "I do it advisedly; for it would never do to have to sharpen my weapons just at the time I ought to be using them."

Moral: You need to prepare yourself before danger strikes. Like for software selection?
 
-- Aesop (620-560 BCE),
   The Wild Boar and the Fox,
   excerpt from Aesop's Fables

Should you want to avoid such remarks and, eventually, getting fired for lack of judgment because you were the person in charge of the software selection process, adopt a formal software selection process for any future acquisition.

A bullet-proof software selection process is generally cumbersome. But they are tools available automating this software selection process, allowing you to accelerate your decision cycle while keeping all the benefits of a cost- and time-effective, reliable process.
 

Software Selection Tools

Thus, you need at least one of the following tools to manage the ideal (i.e. fair, open, and impartial) enterprise software selection process for better return on investment (ROI), i.e. lower risk and overall cost, less time needed, and better accuracy and impartiality:

1. Perform your software selection on-line, allowing you to identify, evaluate, and compare a variety of enterprise software solutions;
2. Get at once software rating reports, which are RFI/RFP already responded by software vendors; 
3. Leverage requests for proposals (RFP) templates, which are already written requirements for myriads of different technologies. 

Software Selection Tools: Compared Benefits

Software selection tools allow you to shorten the whole software selection process, or only parts of it. The table below presents the benefits of each tool relatively to each step of the software selection process.

major benefit significant benefit moderate benefit	Software Selection Tools
Steps of the Software Selection Process	On-line Selection Tools	RFP Templates
Software Selection Process - Step 1: Identify your needs and available solutions from the market
Identify stakeholders
Interview stakeholders
Gather and prioritize requirements
Create the hierarchy of criteria
Research solutions
Identify relevant solutions
Build the long list of potential solutions
Issue an RFI to the long list of vendors
Gather responses from vendors
Software Selection Process - Step 2: Evaluate available solutions against your requirements
Build a decision matrix
Rate each solution
Analyze strengths and weaknesses
Rank solutions & keep top 10 (shortlist)
Notify rejected vendors
Handle disputes
Issue an RFP to the shortlist of vendors
Build a scripted scenario of functionality
Invite vendors to on-site demonstrations
Rate demonstrations
Gather RFP responses from vendors
Revisit analyses
Software Selection Process - Step 3: Compare solutions and select the best-matching option
Select the solution best fitting needs
Notify rejected vendors
Handle disputes
Final approval
Solution award
Negotiate prices (e.g. licenses, services)
Sign contract