This document discusses best practices for software vendor selection. It begins by introducing Advantiv Solutions, which provides tools to help with complex procurement projects. The document then outlines lessons learned from past vendor selection projects, emphasizing that they should be business-driven projects with clear requirements and stakeholder involvement. It also discusses the vendor perspective and common mistakes made during selections. The document concludes by highlighting emerging practices like increased due diligence and stakeholder education, as well as advice from industry peers.

1. Best Practices in
Software Vendor
Selection
Dan Miller, Advantiv Solutions
www.advantiv.com
Providing Plan-to-Procure® solutions since 1997

2. About Advantiv
 Started in 1996
 Product: DecisionDirector® - Cloud-based Plan-to-Procure™
platform for complex procurements, including stakeholder
collaboration and RFP response collection and analysis tools
 Mission: Reduce the time, cost, and risk of technology and
services planning and procurement while increasing
stakeholder satisfaction with the process and the outcome
 Experience: 300+ projects in Higher Ed, State & Local, DoD,
and Healthcare involving 250+ entities, 250,000 stakeholders,
300+ vendors, and dozens of consulting firms

3. Agenda
• Lessons Learned in Vendor Selections
– Best Practices
– Vendor Perspective
– Common Mistakes
– Great Advice from Peers
• Emerging Practices

4. Lessons Learned
• Vendor Selections are like family vacations (with
in-laws – all of them)
– A lot of people are affected, most won’t want to go
– Some will be happy and some won’t be
– You probably don’t want to be in charge, but knowing
you, you will be
• The best selections are well-planned IT-enabled
business projects that yield much more than a
chosen vendor
• There are good techniques but no good short-
cuts

5. So, How Did The Selection Go?

6. These are Business, not IT, Projects
• Gartner CIO Agenda Survey – Since 2005, #1
senior management expectation of IT is “Improving
Business Processes”
• The most successful projects are “Business-
driven/IT-enabled”
• Clear support of strategic objectives and a strong
business case for the investment is a must

7. Begin at the Beginning
• Establish a clear across-the-board understanding of
the business need
– Create functional and IT partnerships
– Prepare the preliminary business case and presentation
– Gain necessary executive sponsorship and support
– Educate the troops – good communication is essential
• Create a project charter
– What will be achieved and who will be responsible
– How team will be organized and decisions will be made
– Criteria and requirements for success
– Risk factors and risk mitigation
– Establish a game plan

8. Begin at the Beginning
• Identify affected business processes
– At a minimum, name and define them and then
evaluate and prioritize them
– Ideally, collaboratively document key processes
– Understanding your existing business processes will
help in many ways
• First time for many to see the process “from above”
• Reveal immediate opportunities to improve
• Shared/validated sense of process priority
• Guide requirements and vendor demos
• Key to Fit/Gap analysis and implementation
planning

9. Requirements, Solicitations, and Demos
• Identify business and technical requirements
– Should tie to business processes
– High level reqs are easier to write / hard to measure
– Detailed reqs are harder to write, but easier to measure
• Prepare solicitation (RFP, RFI, etc)
– Many good examples available – strive for quality
• Prepare for demonstrations
– Scripts based on most important and realistic scenarios
– Tie scripts to requirements for easy cross-referencing
– Establish clear expectations, but allow vendors time to
highlight their strengths

10. Due Diligence
• Early due diligence to determine potential suitability
– Market focus, technology platform
• Subsequent due diligence
– Financial stability and future direction
– Reference checks – their list and yours
– Demonstrations based on your key scenarios
– Beyond the sales team – management, product
development, implementation, training, support
– Total cost of ownership (TCO) over reasonable life of
product
– Contractual terms and conditions

11. Due Diligence – Don’t Forget Yourself
• Is your organization ready for this project?
– Executive sponsorship and support
– Financial commitment
– Stakeholder commitment
– Project organization and governance
• Do you have or can you obtain the necessary skill
and experience sets?
– SMEs, technical, project mgmt and administration
• Do you have sufficient resources?
– Staffing backfill, project work space

12. The Vendor Perspective
• Technology sales is hard, expensive, and risky
– Big opportunities can cost $500k to chase, win or lose
– Lots of people, hoops, and pressure to pursue a sale
– Successful sales people personally invest in their
prospects
• Process vacuums will be filled
– If you aren’t providing information, vendors will seek it
– If you don’t establish a protocol, vendors will
• Credibility is something you can lose, too
– Don’t ask vendors to do something that you would not
be willing to do, e.g. fly a team out… next week
• The partnership mindset begins with you

13. Common Vendor Selection Mistakes
• Not Enough/Too Much Time
• Not Enough Research
• RFP is a Surprise / Poor Quality / Scoring Unclear
• No Plan for Demos
• Insufficient Due Diligence
• Insufficient Education and Buy-In
• No Rules of Engagement
• Fool Me Once…
• Entering Negotiations Alone, Naked, and Cold

14. We’ve Seen Them All…
Pre-RFP Planning
• Limited Stakeholder Involvement
• Poor Requirements
• Purchasing, Finance, and Legal
involved late
• Vendors gain access and
information however possible
RFP
• Borrowed
• Re-purposed
• Confusing to vendors
/ addenda
• Timing may surprise
or put-off some
Vendor Evaluation
• Vendor Canned Demos
• Limited Due Diligence
• Unclear Decision and
Project Governance Models
• Weak Contract Negotiations
Pre-RFP Planning
• Stakeholder Involvement Req’d
• Excellent Requirements
• Purchasing, Finance, and Legal
involved from the beginning
• Vendors provided controlled
access with rules of engagement
RFP
• Written to suit
purpose
• Clear and impressive
to vendors
• No surprises
Vendor Evaluation
• Good, scripted demos
• Solid Due Diligence
• Clear Decision and
Governance Models
• Highly-Effective Contract
Negotiations with Win/Win
Much Better Selection Process
Poor Selection Process

15. Great Advice from Peers
• “It’s the Design, Not the Features”
– Jim Ritchey and Phil Hill of Delta Initiative
– Features are important but the application design (monolithic
vs component) must be right for you
• “Leverage the custom requirements – internally
and with the vendors”
– Charlie Moran, Moran Technology
– Vendors can’t do everything, so use their scope and rough
pricing information from the RFP response to challenge or
confirm unique stakeholder requirements and get down to
what is really worth paying for

16. Great Advice from Peers
• “Remember, it’s a people problem”
– Ed Cornelius, President, Collegiate Project Services
– Without an enterprise-wide engagement process it’s often difficult
to get consensus going forward
• “While several vendors may provide solutions that meet your
needs, all vendors are not alike.”
– Vicki Tambellini, General Manager, The Tambellini Group
– The differences between vendors can be great. The software you
select is a small part of successfully meeting your requirements.
– Vendor differences include various approaches to training,
implementation support, help desk, upgrades and new releases,
business policies and legal risks.
– It’s worth the time to understand all of the details behind the
differences in the vendors and their solutions and approaches in
order to make the best “fit” decision for your institution.

17. What We Are Seeing More Of
• Heightened due diligence – internal and external
• Open, transparent, intentionally well-managed
selections
• Commitment to stakeholder education and
participation
• Strong business cases
• Cross-discipline teams
• Business process documentation and management
– Faster, better, easier tools make this possible
• Vendors engaged earlier and more effectively

18. Contact Info
Dan Miller, Advantiv Solutions
dan.miller@advantiv.com
866.966.2911 x101
www.advantiv.com
View our other presentations:
o Simplifying Complex Procurements
o Extending the Value of e-Procurement
o System Replacement Projects Simplified
o Best Practices in Software Vendor Selection
Providing Plan-to-Procure® solutions since 1997

19. Thank You
Dan Miller, Advantiv Solutions
dan.miller@advantiv.com
866.966.2911 x101
www.advantiv.com
Providing Plan-to-Procure® solutions since 1997