Online Software SelectionAlso known as: software evaluation tools, software comparison tools.
Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) is currently offering a two-hour free trial of its online software evaluation tool.
The Benefits of a Software Selection ToolSo you need to select a software solution. Easy, right? Well, no. With hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake—to say nothing of your job—there’s no such thing as easy. Or more accurately, if it’s easy, something has gone terribly wrong. Sadly, all too often the process does go wrong: collectively, organizations lose billions of dollars each year, thanks to misperceptions, insufficient information, and poor data about the selection and implementation process. That doesn’t mean the selection process has to be hit-or-miss. Software selection guides do exist, after all. And it also doesn’t mean you need to be cautious to the point of paralysis. It simply means that you need to exercise due diligence. But what does due diligence really mean? In the context of software evaluation, due diligence involves the performance of investigation with an accepted standard of care. Simple enough. But here’s a dirty little secret: The appearance of due diligence is as important as due diligence itself. That’s where auditability comes into play. It’s all very well to find a solution which seems to meet organizational needs, but what happens when the reality is very different? What if the solution is an utter failure? Will management conclude that the selection process itself was at fault? When fingers are being pointed, it is vital to be able to demonstrate that due diligence was followed at every step. In this respect, an online software selection tool can be invaluable, as it provides a formal, automated selection process which is traceable from any point in the decision cycle.
What Is an Online Selection Tool, Anyway?By definition, an online selection tool uses an algorithm to automate knowledge-gathering and decision-making. Ideally, the software selection tool should also provide advanced features such as what-if scenarios, robustness analysis, and sensitivity analysis, making it possible to determine which criteria are the least and the most sensitive in the final decision. Any selection tool worth its salt has been honed and fine-tuned based on industry-wide input. To let you see what such a tool looks like—and what it can do—a free trial is available from Technology Evaluation Centers. This will let you get a feel for how an online software evaluation tool can streamline the selection process—whether defining organizational needs, comparing shortlisted solutions, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the various solutions, or generating reports to bolster your decision. The best tools frame a formal process which incorporates accepted best selection practices—and in a competitive landscape, when you talk about best practices, you’re sometimes talking about the only practices. Faced with a very limited amount of data, such a tool may not be necessary—in fact, it may be overkill. You don’t invest in an online selection tool to decide what to eat for supper. That’s because stakeholder requirements are self-evident (we’re hungry), the data pool is relatively small (what’s in the fridge?), and the implementation methodology is clear-cut (what does it say on the box?). Besides, the consequences of poor selection are easily rectified, more or less (let’s order take-out). However, when faced with the need to acquire an ERP software solution, for example, or a BPM application, the data pool is immense. You create and prioritize requirements. You capture decision research and data. You analyze which solutions meet requirements, evaluate performance with respect to the evolution of business needs, and document and report decision processes in order to justify selections. That’s a lot of information. In fact, it’s an inhuman amount of information, which is why an automated process can reduce risk, by eliminating errors associated with manual processing, for instance. Sounds good, problem solved, let’s go. No need to consult the software selection guides. Wait. You may have a hammer, but that doesn’t mean every problem is a nail.
How Not to Use This ToolDon’t fall into the trap of thinking that the tool alone will award the solution. It allows you to make an enlightened decision, but it doesn’t make it for you. It is an intelligent means of extracting meaning from a sometimes bewildering mass of data. But where does the data come from? Some of this data comes from vendors—who, let’s face it, have a vested interest in presenting their products in the best possible light. Furthermore, in entirely good faith, they may claim functionality for their product—functionality you have specifically requested—which turns out to be non-existent at the worst possible moment, after implementation. In the meat processing industry, there is the famous example of the company which asked the salesman if the ERP solution had catchweight functionality. The salesman said “no problem.” It later transpired that the salesman thought catchweight was a simple pricing issue. The meat processor did not probe into the details, was satisfied that catchweight was “no problem,” and signed a contract. The result: the ERP project overran the budget and missed the schedule significantly. This is also known as the “if I see blue, do you see blue?” dilemma. And it’s true that online selection tools can help gather, organize, and analyze this kind of data objectively. But the most essential data comes from your stakeholders. An online software selection tool can’t help you there. You identify your stakeholders, you interview them: Who is going to use the solution? How are they going to use it? How can conflicting user needs be resolved?
Why Use an Online Selection Tool at all, then?It saves time. Naturally, there is a tangible cost associated with time—time is money, as they say in some parts of the world. And let’s not forget that when more time is spent on a task, there is also more opportunity for human error. For this reason, organizations often assume that reducing the resources and time spent collecting and gathering information may be the best approach. After all, they are mitigating the risk, aren’t they? But in doing so, they actually compromise their ultimate objective—which isn’t to own an enterprise system, but to remedy their problems. By reducing or skipping the research step, organizations risk working with biased information, and may lose out on solutions that are applicable to their industry or vertical. In the end, they will have a system that does not satisfy organizational goals. Without taking this self-defeating step, it is possible to save time meaningfully. A smart selection tool will allow you to shorten the software selection process, or parts of it, by accelerating the decision cycle, while exploiting the benefits of a cost-effective, impartial approach. Naturally, it helps if you can “play” a little with the tool, to see if its analysis corresponds to your gut feeling about a software package you may already have in mind. The free trial offered by Technology Evaluation Centers will allow you to do that, with the added benefit that you’ll come away with a report you can use to back up your decision. Most importantly—the bottom line—online evaluation tools provide a traceable, auditable approach to software selection. After all, you can’t audit a gut feeling. But by using such tools, you won’t find yourself having to justify the decision four years down the road: the process is the justification.
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