Enterprise technology encompasses many tools, software, and systems that businesses utilize to streamline and enhance their operations. While companies often deploy numerous technologies, the average employee typically has limited experience in selecting new systems. The most important people in any technology selection decision are the users of the new systems. These people tend to be experts in their domain but are rightly focused on their specific jobs and unlikely to have a good grasp of the technology marketplace and the technology options that are available to them.
This blog offers a guide to selecting new enterprise software for those about to embark on the technology selection journey. We discuss how to uncover the different technology options; how to conduct a market assessment; the best way to work with vendor sales teams; and how to assess and shortlist.
Where To Find Your Technology Options
Perhaps the most challenging part of selecting a new piece of technology is knowing where to start and which companies might be able to help. If the team is not looking externally, it can be quite a shock to start the market assessment from scratch—after all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
Viewpoint Analysis helps companies find and select new enterprise technology. Our Technology List is continuously growing and has over 4,000 vendors from all corners of the world and in every technology sector. Without this comprehensive list of technology options, where do you start? It can be easier said than done but there are some obvious places to look.
Analyst & Market Commentators
A good place to start is with analysts and market commentators. Companies like Gartner, Forrester, G2, and others offer their perspective on the market. Our ‘Technology Matchmaker’ is another option as we bring a range of technology vendors to present how they can help with your specific need.
Team Members
You might be surprised at the knowledge possessed inside your team or the wider business. Invariably, your team members have worked in various companies - some within your sector and some outside. They will have some really interesting feedback about the systems they used along the way, and this can be a really helpful place to start.
Industry Experts
If your team is entirely new to the technology, it may be appropriate to hire a consultant or a full-time employee with the necessary skills and knowledge. This is generally an expensive approach, but those people can bring extensive knowledge of the market and understand the dos and don’ts - saving time and money along the way.
What Do Your Competitors Use?
If you want to keep up with the market and need a safe pair of hands, you may look at what your competitors or peers use. It does not harm to include these companies on your initial longlist of options. However, if you want to transform your business and market - finding new technology is the best way to create a differentiated offering.
Market Assessment Approaches
Once the initial research has been conducted and the size and variety of options are clear, the next step is to perform the market assessment or Longlist phase. This is a crucial step as it highlights the difference between good, bad, and average.
How Many To Include?
As the name suggests, a longlist is meant to be quite extensive. It is a 'first pass' of the market. If you have some guidance, you may dismiss a few options and have a list of maybe 6 or 7. But if you are unaware of the technology, why not cast your net wide and look at 10 to 12 vendors? The key is to be in listening mode at this point as you are trying to understand all the options that are available. You shouldn't be going deep with any vendor and therefore the time and cost associated with a wider-net approach shouldn't be prohibitive.
How Diverse Should The List Be?
It is tempting to only look at the market leaders. This is not a suitable approach at the longlist stage. Even the most minor technology vendors have customers who are likely happy. The key is to understand why that is. When you build a longlist, our recommendation would be to include vendors of all shapes and sizes - large, small, successful, and niche.
Activate Listening Mode
When conducting an early market assessment, you should be in 'listen-mode'. It's really important to explain your issue to the vendor - and ask them how they would solve your problem. Too many procurement teams ask the vendor for a specific solution. This only compresses the likely options that are available. The reason for casting the net wide is that you and your team can hear all the options available to you. Some you will like, some perhaps will not work for you. The only way to find out is to pose the challenge to the vendor and let them use their complete toolbox of capabilities to solve your issue. Let them wow you!
Selling To The Sales Team
Arguably the most challenging role within an initial market assessment is getting the time and attention of the vendor. If you are a major international business, perhaps this isn't an issue you face, but for most businesses, they need to 'sell to the sales team'.
The vendor's (no matter the size) sales and pre-sales teams are limited and understandably they naturally focus on the most pressing or most important customer requirements. At the longlist stage, your project (and technology spend) is likely to be some way down the track. It's therefore important that you make life easy for the vendor's sales team to 'qualify in' to the process. Try to make this stage as easy as possible. Perhaps a remote call rather than a 400-mile round trip? Or a 1-hour presentation rather than the completion of a 500-question spreadsheet. The process (and detailed efforts) will come later - right now, it's about learning all your options.
Best Practices For Working With The Vendors
There are some golden rules when working with the technology sales community if you want to form a strong and professional relationship:
It is essential to create a level playing field. This means avoiding giving additional time to one team over another or giving special access.
Let the team know your plans and if paperwork is to be issued (e.g. an RFP), make sure they know it is coming ahead of time or you may lose them from your process. It is also critical to issue to all vendors simultaneously.
The sales team will try to do their best to help you find the very most appropriate solution. It is important to be open and transparent with them throughout the process, just like you would hope they would be with you.
Most sales teams are working numerous customer engagements at the same time. Be respectful of their time and try to be flexible if at all possible. Note that every sales engagement costs the selling company in both time and expenses - and they always lose more projects than they win.
Customers often find it difficult to deliver bad news, but it is important to share any bad news (and any news that will impact them) early and frequently. They understand that processes and attitudes change - and much prefer to hear bad news, than no news at all.
Let the vendors know the challenge you are experiencing and what you are looking to address - make this a priority rather than issuing closed questions that limit the vendors’ ability to provide creative solutions.
Key Areas To Consider When Scoring and Selecting Enterprise Technology
How do you decide what good looks like as you go through the market assessment phase (longlist) and the subsequent shortlist of vendors? There are different approaches but our viewpoint is to pay attention to the following areas:
Solution Fit
Let's start with one of the most obvious ones. Which of the vendors offers you the closest fit to your need? Which one ticks most or all of the boxes? Importantly, which one can do this 'out of the box' as opposed to making tweaks to their standard platform?
Gut Feel
A little difficult to accurately measure, but maybe the most important factor. Based upon your gut feel, which vendor is most likely to deliver you a successful project outcome? If you had to put your money on it (and you will in many cases!) - from what you know of them today, who understands your requirement and is demonstrating that they can hit the mark?
Cultural Fit
Which vendor (and their extended sales team) would be easier to work with? Which do you like working with? Do you and your team gel will one more than the others? Remember, most projects have ups and downs, when things get tough. Which vendor do you think will pull through for you?
Cost
Often the most focused-upon selection criteria - is the cost. We think it is important, but it should not be the standout reason to select your preferred vendor. When you look at cost, think about cost in different ways. How much is it going to cost you to acquire the solution today - and how much is it going to cost to keep the lights on over the coming years? Do you need to upgrade it? Do you need to hire extra staff?
Business Stability
An area that is often overlooked is the stability of the business that you are looking to buy from. Are they making a profit? How long have they been profitable? Are they
acquisitive or are they potentially at risk of being acquired? What can you find out about them in the press? When you buy a piece of enterprise technology, you are generally buying for the medium to long-term - your vendor needs to stay the course with you.
Customer Support
How would you rate their customer support team and processes? This is one area which you may not think too much about right now, but you will very soon. Once the contract is signed, the support team is going to be a crucial part of the equation and an extension of your project team. How many resources do they have in this area? How much do they spend on it? How does the balance between support team and sales/marketing look? Are they investing in the area? Do they have solid plans for your onboarding, and long-term engagement?
R&D Investment
Which vendor is investing in your future? Research and development (R&D) costs are not as exciting as marketing and sales spend - but it is the lifeblood of the vendor and the products and services that you are about to acquire. Where are they investing the money? Where do they see the market moving? Is it where you expect your business needs to be?
Peer Feedback
Have you polled members of your team (employees in the wider company) to see if they have worked with the technology before? You might be shocked how many have some experience with one of your shortlisted partners. Again, you will likely hear good and bad feedback - but at this stage, that's just what you need to add to the pot and make an overall assessment. Take the opportunity to contact your peers in different businesses and ex-employees that may have moved to other companies.
Customer References
Have you asked the vendor for customer references? Have you spoken to those references? More importantly, have you conducted your own independent reference calls by reaching out to known customers or to your external network?
Who Do You Trust?
Any technology decision can have wide-ranging consequences if it goes wrong or can be transformational if it goes well. At the end of the day, having run many technology selection processes, we find it comes down to this one thing—who do you trust the most? You will always have a winner in this category. It is that one sales team that has demonstrated time and time again that they are trustworthy and with whom you feel right.
Investment Case
Have you thoroughly assessed the investment case? Of the vendors that are being assessed, how does the business case stack up? In this specific area, we are not just talking about the cost of the product or service - it is much more than that. In the round, which vendor brings the biggest bang for your buck? Does one move the needle more than another. When the finance team assesses the options, they will focus on this area and therefore it’s an important one to fully consider.
Conclusion - How to find and select enterprise technology
A new technology investment can be daunting, even to seasoned IT leaders and procurement professionals. For those without as much experience, following the steps outlined above should be a real help. Cast the net wide - look at all the potential options, but then focus on a small shortlist and invest time getting to know those vendors and allowing them to get to know you, your culture, and the goals of your project.
Going down the RFP route? If you need more help, take a look at our RFP Template and our whitepaper explaining what to include in your RFP