Analytic Software Selection - A Checklist of Do’s and Don’ts

Selecting a software package as part of your enterprise analytics solution can be a time consuming task fraught with risk.  We suggest a structured process designed to avoid many of the common pitfalls. These pitfalls include failure to:

• Identify total cost of ownership
• Perform reference checks
• Build a through functional specification document
• Realize the importance of training and documentation
• Set success metrics
• Perform vendor due diligence
• Qualify and quantify business purposes
• Make the package selection a part of an overall BI strategy
• Interact in the selection process
• Realize the effects of customization
• Understand that people are more important than technology
• Appreciate that the project must be delivered on time
• Include the right people on the selection team
• Understand license and service agreements
• Appreciate system compatibility issues
• Understand the constraints of features and functions

 A Five Step Process:

A concise project plan detailing deliverables and responsibilities should be created which includes these considerations:

Key Metrics & Vision

Requirements & Data Collection

RFP & Response Analysis

Vendor Demonstrations

Select Analytic Application

Step 1 Key Metrics & Vision – The project manager works with management to understand management’s business objectives and confirm strategic requirements

Project Activities

• Organize the Project
• Develop Project Work plan
• Align Organization/Project Strategic Vision

Key Issues to be Addressed

• Can your current vendor best meet your strategic requirements?
• Which vendors should be considered?
• Are there any key considerations/limitations which should be addressed (e.g., technology platform, database, remote access)?
• What are the expressed/implied project benefits?

Step 2 Requirements & Data Collection – The project manager works with the SME team to define your critical and unique requirements including industry standard practices

Project Activities

• Validate To Be Process Model
• Validate Business Requirements
• Validate Technical Requirements
• Develop Decision Model

Key Issues to be Addressed

• Verifying the general Analytics needs, while drilling down into critical and/or unique needs in process areas
• Identifying client’s specialists who know how the business process are performed and who can articulate the complex, unique or intricate processes
• Utilize template requirements documents to craft a client specific solution
• Formulate a decision approach

Step 3 RFP & Response Analysis – The project manager assists the SME team in creating an RFP based on the critical business and IT requirements and aids in short list selection

Project Activities

• Develop and Issue RFP
• Evaluate Vendor Responses

Key Issues to be Addressed

• Understanding and compiling response data from multiple vendors
• Focusing short vendor sessions on major selection criteria
• Ensuring vendors respond in a timely manner
• Coordinating responses to vendor questions
• Selecting vendor finalists for demonstration

Step 4 Vendor Demonstrations – Vendor candidates are invited to do scripted demonstrations to give SME team information for management who will rate them against requirements

Project Activities

• Develop Demo Script
• Vendor Demo Preparation
• Facilitate Vendor Functional Demos

Key Issues to be Addressed

• Making demonstration scripts comprehensive
• Coordinating schedules between vendors and client personnel
• Compiling questions for vendors
• Identifying potential system modifications
• Providing timely detail and summary demo information for analysis
• Using the information from reference checks

Step 5 Select Analytic Application – The project manager teams with the SME team to review the data compiled and validate the vendor finalist

 Project Activities

• Facilitate Final Vendor Selection
• Final Software Solution Presentation

 Key Issues to be Addressed

• Client staff works past all issues and gaps to validate one vendor
• Establishing and agreeing upon assumptions about overall implementation cost, issues, and implementation strategy
• Getting buy-in for benefits and implementation goals, including resource requirements
• Working with selected vendor on price

Leading Practice Conclusion:

A well-defined and documented partnership between the project manager and the SME team is an imperative. Such documentation helps to ensure that management’s expectation of obtaining a tool which can leverage the organization’s data to provide both increased profits and improved shareholder value is met.