Technology Vendor Selection Strategies
Once a company decides to embark on an IT project, assigns team members, and evaluates its requirements, the next step is the technology vendor selection.
Make no mistake, making the right choice is vital.
A trusted advisor plays a critical role in the project and is the difference between a successful XaaS implementation and failure. The right technology advisor will build you a model, help you adjust assumptions, take actuals, and deliver back a plan. The impact they have will last beyond the duration of the initial project.
Your trusted advisor will have an impact through maintenance, additional services, and even future IT projects related to the original. With so much at stake, it’s worth reviewing strategies for a technology vendor selection.
1. How Many Companies Does a Technology Advisor Represent?
It may be tempting to select a technology vendor that directly sells its own products or a VAR (value-added reseller) that exclusively represents a provider. After all, they are the expert in their products. The reality isn’t quite so simple. If you choose to go this route, your selection of products and services is limited and you can end up with a solution that doesn’t fit your needs.
Instead, select a technology vendor representing all industry-leading providers, giving you more options. A trusted advisor will deliver a vendor-neutral perspective, without the objective of selling you hardware and software. These types of vendors will find the solution best suited to your requirements.
2. Look at Total Cost, Not Just Initial Cost
It can be tempting to focus on the initial cost of an IT project. This is a mistake because there are always ongoing costs that reach beyond the initial cost. These can include licensing fees, add-on components, maintenance and amongst other costs, the potential cost of a poor implementation if the wrong technology vendor is selected.
When they drill past initial costs to include ongoing expenses, companies discover that cloud-based IT solutions deliver significant savings. Long-term affordability are significantly lower with a cloud-based solution, including equipment, maintenance, and support costs.
3. Anticipate Future Needs
Picking a trusted advisor based solely on your current IT project is another mistake. Instead, consider a firm positioned to help your company with future projects as well. Ultimately, you don’t want your IT initiatives to be a series of one-off projects.
Partnering with a trusted advisor who helps you to anticipate future needs means making more rational long-term choices while ensuring your various systems are integrated instead of running as standalone processes.
How You Should Choose Your IT Trusted Advisor
Find a company that represents a range of XaaS providers, so no matter what business you’re in, they provide a solution that’s ideal for your needs. Find a team of experienced IT professionals that is ready to listen, to help you develop an effective and long-term strategy, and most importantly, to commit to your success.
CIO published an article on successful vendor relationships and one of the key points made was this:
“A good vendor invests in learning the customer’s business drivers and challenges. The vendor focuses not just on its needs but also understands and respects its customer’s requirements.”
Whoever you decide to choose, they should have a way to conduct an exhaustive and unbiased evaluation of potential solutions. For example, ACLIVITI’s proprietary APEX technology value rationalization (TVR) framework efficiently and effectively provides that all-important TVR Index that identifies the optimal solution and its business case.
Partnering with the right IT trusted advisor means not only having the ideal cloud-based solution for your business, it also ensures your project and expenditures are tracked through every stage of the project. Your trusted advisor representatives must work closely with your team to ensure the project stays on track.
Ultimately, choosing the right trusted technology advisor means you are making the choice to have your IT project succeed. Who will you choose and how will you choose them?
