The Ultimate Software Selection Guide of 2023

You're purchasing enterprise software, then? Congrats!

Greetings from the world of specifying hundreds or even thousands of criteria and sifting through software selection advice left and right.

Dealing with a dozen or more people who can influence your decision, an ocean of financial and legal issues, an overwhelming amount of software review/evaluation websites, persistent vendor reps, and more are all part of the process. It should be simple and enjoyable. 

We've included nine key suggestions that Zoftware helps you get ready for this important task. Choosing among two or three alternatives that most closely match the requirements of your business is the ultimate goal of this process.

To make use of these best practices, review these software selection hints and our software selection platform.

Establishing Your Software Needs

The ideal way to choose a new software program for your company is to treat the process like choosing to expand your senior management team.

The emphasis is on how well the applicants can contribute and increase your company's capacity to achieve its objectives before recruiting a new C-level executive, VP, or director.

Additionally, there are concerns about cultural fit, teamwork skills, industry experience, and how quickly a candidate can learn the ropes and integrate themselves into your company. 

When choosing any new software program, the same is true.

The best selection procedures are based on clear business objectives that specify the application's intended value contribution. The most effective selection procedures take into account how well a suggested application would integrate with the current business processes and methods used by your firm.

Excellent software will be flexible enough to change to fit the way you and your organization operate, rather than imposing changes on you.

Third, be sure to contact customer references and, if the application will involve a significant capital outlay, pay references a personal visit. Similar diligence should be used while examining any enterprise software program as you would when hiring a new senior leader.

Most importantly, both the new app and the new senior management employee need an executive champion who can work to remove obstacles and offer direction.

All of these qualities are present in the majority of software options, and a strong senior management advocate is working to ensure that the use and implementation go smoothly.

• ​Establish the Project's Scope 

Consider the features and how they fit with the objectives of your organization when starting your search for software.

• ​Cost/Benefit Evaluation 

You can determine the true impact on the company by doing a cost/benefit analysis of the project, particularly a software procurement project.

• ​Analysis of Risk Assessment 

A responsible component of any smart software move is carrying out a risk assessment analysis. Consider using a category method to determine how risk may be tied to purchasing and implementing new technology and evaluate associated concerns like insurance, sector compliance, and more.

• ​Create a Budget 

Consider the potential costs associated with each element (such as licensing, implementation costs, training, and change management) as well as the funding sources for any procurement.

It will be easier to have many future conversations if you know in advance what you can afford.

Determine the percentage improvement and turnaround time for your estimated ROI. Return on investment analysis is a practical technique to assess the long-term financial effects of the new service.

Calculate your ROI expectations and the time it will take you to reach them.

• ​Establish a schedule and milestones. 

Everything goes more easily if you establish clear milestones and a timetable inside your project charter.

These tools will also assist you in forecasting the operation of new software and its effects on the company over a specified time frame.

Timelines and milestones also ensure that things move forward quickly and according to plan.

Collaboration with Team on Selection

• Establish a committee for selecting software
  

Nowadays, businesses frequently use internal employees referred to as "champions" to communicate with vendors and oversee sales. A champion, however, is unable to select the ideal software by themselves.

We advise you to make a software selection team investment. The following individuals make up these teams: 

Project Manager: ​An IT professional, a CFO, manager, COO, or another individual that assembles this team and makes sure everyone on the committee says their piece in what they require from a new ERP is typically the project manager. 

Department Leaders: ​Gather the heads of the various departments inside your business, including accounting, human resources, customer relationship management (CRM), marketing, and more. 

Power Users: ​These are the users who are already using the program you're thinking of. 

​Internal Stakeholders: ​Investors, staff, customers, and vendors are examples of internal stakeholders. 

External Stakeholders: ​This category typically includes clients, service providers, accountants, nonprofit organizations, bankers, and more.

A Representative from the Final Decision-Makers Team: ​A member of the team that makes the final decisions, such as the CEO, COO, CFO, or another executive board member who will approve the decision and provide funding for it.

We firmly advise you to analyze a vendor's contract with a lawyer or legal team to better understand it or spot any red flags.

• Research

For particular categories, Research Reviews typical feature sets.

Assess which features are required by consulting departmental executives. Comparing and thoroughly examining what each vendor alternative does and doesn't do will help you choose.

To examine the offerings' differences and compare them to each other to discover the greatest fit, you can utilize a convenient software selection platform.

A buyer's guide functions similarly to a summary by outlining the key elements and assisting you in visualizing the potential benefits and drawbacks of a product. Review our buyer's guide and product directory for manufacturing for the most recent features, advantages, fashions, and buying advice, for instance. 

Analyze the market leader. Look at analyst reports and leaderboards for the most well-liked software items in the subject area.

To help you make decisions about putting the appropriate tools in place, look at who is highly regarded by a variety of third-party websites (e.g., Gartner, Forrester). To ascertain how well-liked a specific platform is in its market, have a look at review ratings and user feedback. 

Define Software Requirements

The most time-consuming step in the software selection process is creating the requirements specification.

To choose the software that will provide the most value to the firm, a gap analysis based on a thorough requirements definition is necessary. Many people are unaware that users have little understanding of other requirements, even though they are acutely aware of their pain spots.

The features of various software products that can be purchased are examined, and those features are then rewritten as requirements, which is one of the greatest ways to flesh out requirements.

• Cloud or On-Premises? 

Understand the distinction between on-premises and cloud-based. Find out what your company may benefit from cloud technology by releasing 

server workloads from your on-site office space and delivering functionality online. 

• Mobility 

Determine the importance of mobile access to you. The future is not mobile. Right now.

When you can deliver information and functions to any device in the field, consider what kinds of information and features will enhance business processes.

• Implications 

Discuss the effects of incorporating new technologies into your stack with IT. Address any conceivable expenses and difficulties associated with integrating new platforms and technologies into your IT architecture, such as problems with data migration and security, among other things.

As needed, share this information with relevant parties to ensure that everyone is on the same page. 

• Customizations 

Determine whether you will need to customize vendor solutions to make them appropriate for your organization and whether this will have an impact on other factors, such as additional workloads, learning curves, and costs.

• Connect to Current Platforms 

To determine what you would need to link, make an inventory of your existing related technologies. Businesses are using application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect many types of software into a unified framework.

How you implement new services will depend on whether you can link vendor software with APIs using internal workers or outside consultants. Find out whether those options are available as well.

Many business-level solutions also include native connectors to other software categories.

• Documentation 

Make a list of all the considerations you should make when you choose the best course of action.

To manage your list of requirements, you can use a spreadsheet, read some articles, or—better yet—use a requirements template and tool. 

Define the conditions or standards. Any informal lists or punch lists should be formalized into a set of requirements that you can return to later. Have all stakeholders rate and order the criteria you've established.

It's critical to prioritize these demands after identifying them so that you can organize them throughout the negotiation process. 

Make a list of every potential vendor. To gain a sense of what is available, consult product directories and landscape visuals. Make a note of every vendor offering the particular kind of software you require so that you may compare all of your options before choosing.

Distribution

You should carefully investigate other vendors before narrowing them down to your top five options. You should also think about evaluating your current software or methodology for gathering and distributing information within your firm.

• Shortlisting 

List your top choices. Select the options from your shortlists that you believe will work best for your company's needs. As you proceed with the process, your shortlist will serve as a guide.

Since you won't be simply browsing the market but rather working from a list of carefully vetted suppliers who stand a greater chance of providing you with the best-fit goods and services, you'll have to put in less work. 

• Check the current system 

It's crucial to assess your present procedures or solution. How you decide to proceed with your selection process will depend on the results of this evaluation.

You can choose one of three possible conclusions using the matrix below: 

1. We are maintaining the system because it is on par with or better than those assessed. 
2. Although the system could want improvement in one or more areas, it is not practicable to buy a new one. Let's think about investigating reimplementation strategies or including more specialized modules. 
3. The system needs to be replaced because it is deficient in one or more areas. It doesn't fit with the goals of our company.

Justify Decision

Here, you’re justifying your decision from the previous step.

With your selection committee and executives, you discuss why these providers are prospective possibilities or why you're keeping with your present software.

Here, everyone is free to express their thoughts and consider how they wish to go.

Prove the Platform or Software

If you've reached this stage, you either have chosen to move forward with your vendor shortlist or are thinking about changing your current platform.

By using organized demos, use cases, or proof of concept, you want vendors to demonstrate that their products can meet your request requirements. 

• Demos

You can see straightforward procedures through demonstrations. You might ask vendors to demonstrate how to perform bank reconciliations if you're interested in an accounting system, for instance.

You ought to draught a screenplay for the demonstration that emphasizes the modules you want to see in action. Make scorecards while you watch these demos and compare the features of one set of suppliers to the features of the other vendors on your shortlist.

For their software, several businesses provide free trials. Even some of them offer online interactive demos. Spend some time using these items to have a better understanding of what they each perform and how to operate their unique user interfaces.

Later on in the procedure, these examinations will be required. This phase might be time-consuming, especially if you do a full-fledged trial, so you might want to save it for your shorter shortlist. 

• Case Studies

​Instead of just showcasing features, use cases emphasize certain procedures and tasks.

You can inquire about how to handle month-end reporting, manage your inventory, or check on the state of your shop floor equipment. Scripts can also be organized, and the scorecards can be adjusted accordingly.

• Research Strategies

​Examine case studies from your preferred vendors. Comprehensive case studies might help you understand how other businesses use these products.

​Case studies of businesses that are directly comparable to yours (e.g., in the same industry) are ideal because they will help you understand how the vendor will be able to meet your demands as well. 

Check out the shortlisted strategies. To be sure you're working with a reliable and viable company, read reviews and news that aren't from customers, such as financial performance and corporate information.

Another crucial stage in the process of identifying the best vendors—and not just anyone who would sell you software—is thoroughly investigating the business. Securing vendors should entail conducting background checks to ensure you'll be in good hands, much like in the employment process.

Final Decision

Following your evaluation and consultation with vendors, you'll make a final decision that can go one of two ways: 

The conditions are agreeable. You might wish to have a few details changed, or you might feel confident in every aspect and be prepared to sign. These are unacceptable terms. Instead, you would examine the other rated options on your list. 

Software Implementation

Recognize the implementation specifications of the solutions you have narrowed down.

Discuss the specifics of how you'll integrate the new product into your current architecture with your own IT employees or others. All of your research into APIs and other tools will become practical and concrete during the implementation stage.

Some sorts of combinations may be impossible due to issues with manual data entry or a lack of connectivity between platforms.

Final Words

Finally, exhale deeply. As you can see from the lengthy advice provided above, purchasing software involves many steps.

They don't have to be a hassle or a burden, though. The acquisition of technology that will advance your company should excite you and your team. 

Remember that your goal is to give your business the best opportunity to properly leverage its new capabilities and gain from a long-term, educated, profound, and thoughtful partnership with a third-party vendor.