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Presented By:
Pamela Ettien, Manager, SoftResources LLC
David W. Krout, CPA & PrincipalClientFirst Consulting Group, LLC
Glenn Mathes, Account Executive, Agresso
Perspectives on Successful Financial System Selection:
A Practical Approach
Palm Springs CSMFO ConferenceFebruary 24, 2006
Agenda Introduction Presentation: Is Your Software RFP a Request for Punishment? by Pamela Ettien, SoftResources LLC
Presentation: Risk Mitigation Strategies, by David Krout, ClientFirst Consulting Group
Presentation: Budgeting and RFP for Software: A Vendor Perspective, by Glenn Mathes, Account Executive, Agresso
Questions and Answers
By
Pamela Ettien, Manager
SoftResources LLC2517 Eastlake Avenue East, Suite 100
RFP - Request for Punishment?Contributing factors: Too detailed, hard to read. Often copied from other entities (meaningless
filler). No initial weighting of requirements or complex
weighting. Keep it simple (i.e. Required, Important, or Nice to have).
The right vendors do not respond – time constraints. The wrong vendors respond to a sub-set of criteria. Vendors do not provide the information needed. All responses come back with “yes” answers, but no
detail on “how”. The many meanings of “yes”, i.e. “yes, in 6 months;
in a future release; using a 3rd Party interface”, etc.
Potential contract issues are not flushed out. Difficult for project team to make a good decision –
too much data to sort through. They are often a “Request for Punishment” for the
Optimal RFP DevelopmentMake it easy for the vendor to read & understand the format. Clearly define:
What the scope of the project entails. Your current environment. Your desired environment and objectives. What software or type of vendor you are interested in or are not interested in.
What they need to do to submit a qualified response.
Your selection timeline. Your evaluation process. Your evaluation criteria – how RFP’s will be “scored”.
RFP Design TipsMake it easier for your team to evaluate the vendors:
Use a structured proposal format. Structured requirements information gathering. Structured vendor information gathering. Use a structured pricing format/template, and identify unique vendor cost elements (equalization).
Ask vendors for a list of exceptions to the RFP.
Get electronic copies of “Requirements” section for side-by-side comparison.
Ask for boilerplate copies of Software License, Service Contracts and Maintenance Agreements.
How to Get the Right Vendors to Respond: Provide specific information on critical requirements and constraints: packaged software (not custom development), operating budget, database/platform, project budget, etc.
Keep requirements list concise. Create a long list of potential vendors; notify and/or distribute your RFP to them.
If using a consultant, focus on unbiased process and approach.
Be honest and fair with the vendors. Do not use a vendor’s functional template for your requirements document; build to meet specific needs.
• Current and future technology direction (five year horizon minimum)
• Core product dependence on 3rd party vendors
• Understand the long-term plan and strategy of vendors with multiple product lines
• Annual investment in new product development
• Company financial viability
• Both Product Stability and Vendor Stability are key!
Plan for Today…..and Tomorrow
• Many RFP’s are a snapshot of today’s needs
• Include questions regarding product design and flexibility in order to meet tomorrow’s new challenges and requirements
• Ask for minimum hardware specs
• Evaluate long term cost of ownership considering hardware costs, internal cost to support, internal report generation, etc., not just license and services fees
Goals of a good RFP
• To understand how the vendor can meet your functional needs today, and how easily they can adapt to change to meet tomorrow’s requirements
• To understand the technical composition of their offering today as well as their future direction
• To calculate true cost of ownership over a minimum 5 year horizon.
• To identify which vendors represent the highest possible value, and the lowest possible risk
• Questions and Answers for: Pam Ettien, SoftResources