PPM Software Selection Guide

Transcription

1 PPM Software Selection Guide

2 PPM Software Selection Guide PPM Software Selection Guide STEP 1: Business Pain clearly identify current needs and requirements What is the organization s commitment to solving the issues at hand? Is there an allocated budget? What is the business pain that needs to be solved? Which group needs to be addressed? PMO, end users, executives, clients? Is the required solution for your own personal use, departmental or enterprise pain? Is there a road map and timeline in place? Have you developed a strategy and plan for evaluation? STEP 2: Strategic Research leverage the best online and offline sources of information Have you developed a research strategy in mining the Web to identify potential vendors? Who can you consult in you internal network to provide referrals and/or recommendations? Have you built a framework for the process of elimination? Have you gathered requirements and began mapping your needs to the available options? STEP 3: Formal Evaluation - develop a formal approach to analyze and share vendor information Have you rated the vendor s response time and service during the evaluation engagement? Have you defined your engagement model and budget? Is there a good match with the vendor as a company and your organization? (Self-financed? Acquired by a bigger brand? Funded by VCs?) Have you established a strategy to validate the vendor capabilities? (technically and organizationally) Have you developed an in depth analysis between your needs and the possible products? STEP 4: Vendor Selection validate your analysis with vendor interactions Have you identified how you would test, pilot or validate the potential products? Have you established a process to evaluate services and support expectations? Have you developed a scripted demonstration so that you can establish an apple to apple comparison? Have you defined what you need to have in a proposal to make an informed decision? Have you determined what you need in terms of references and case studies to make your final decision? i

3 Step 1: Business Pain Clearly identify current needs and requirements Probably one of the most common mistakes buyers of enterprise software make is to take a reactive approach to the evaluation and selection of a new system. Based on partial requirements and/or possibly partial short term challenges they face, it is not uncommon for companies to launch a full blown evaluation project for a new system without fully understanding their needs and the long term impact of a newly acquired system. This reality is even more true for project-centric organizations that are looking for a portfolio and project management (PPM) system to assist them in their everyday tasks. Navigating the PPM marketplace can be very complex with a whole host of options ranging from basic project management tools delivered on-demand to full blown project portfolio management system aimed at meeting the enterprise needs of the project management office (PMO). In light of this, it is critical that organizations do their homework in assessing their own requirements before falling into an unguided PPM evaluation trap that can frankly leave them confused or led down the path of analysis paralysis with a lot of time and money wasted leading to poor results. To avoid an unsuccessful evaluation project, as a first step, PPM buyers need to clearly identify the relevant business pains, establish stakeholder buy-in and build a plan for the evaluation process. To get started, here are some questions you need to ask yourself: Q. What is the organization s commitment to solving the issues at hand? Is there an allocated budget? Tip: Buy-in to move forward for a new system must go beyond your own personal situation. Without the necessary buy-in financially and politically a lot of effort can be wasted on your part. Q. What is the business pain that needs to be solved? Tip: As much as it is important to identify all your pain points, it is as important to prioritize these pains so that you can accurately match your requirements based on a potential vendor s strengths. Q. Which group needs to be addressed? PMO, end users, executives, clients? Tip: Addressing the right group will assist in focusing your efforts and will better assess the vendor s alignment with your user end users and their roles. Q. Is the required solution for your own personal use, departmental or enterprise pain? Tip: Acknowledging where this evaluation stems from is critical in paring down the available solution options that best meet your current environment. Q. Is there a road map and timeline in place? Tip: Having a good understanding of your organizations maturity and ability to adopt a new PPM system will facilitate the filtering process and in some cases prevent an organization from launching an evaluation project prematurely. Q. Have you developed a strategy and plan for evaluation? Tip: Think of your evaluation of a new PPM system as a project in itself. Planning the evaluation process can uncover missing issues and will streamline the process so that you do not fall into an evaluation black hole. The key to successfully launching a PPM evaluation project is to be methodical and comprehensive in really taking stock of your current situation. Clarity of your own needs will start you off on the right foot in finding the best project and portfolio management solution to best suit your needs. 1

4 Step 2: Strategic Research Leverage the best online and offline sources of information When launching your software evaluation project in the hopes of finding that perfect solution to meet your needs, you will quickly discover that Googling keywords to help you find your software of choice will lead you down many paths. Although more than ever the internet has shortened the process in finding options, it can also complicate your research process by providing unfiltered information that can leave you confused and discouraged. The project portfolio management (PPM) software marketplace is continuously changing. As a new entrant looking for a solution it will you take time and the right strategy to understand the history, business models and capabilities of the possible options that will solve your current business pains. With this is mind, as much it is important to understand your business pain, it is as critical that you build a research strategy to tackle the PPM marketplace. Your research strategy needs to be effectively planned and executed in manner that is in line with you ultimate goals in acquiring a new PPM system. To continue on your successful software evaluation journey, PPM buyers need to develop an effective research plan that will help them identify a long list of 5-10 potential vendors that may meet their needs. To help you in your research strategy, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself: Q. Have you developed a research strategy in mining the Web to identify potential vendors? Tip: The Web has many valuable as well as misguided sources of information. Before searching for vendor information, it can be very effective to first begin your online research by indentifying credible media, analyst and review sources to help build you knowledge of the PPM vendor landscape. Q. Who can you consult in you internal network to provide referrals and/or recommendations? Tip: Consulting your network of peers can provide you with additional information about potential suppliers and their product capabilities, services and reliability. Discussing first hand experiences with real customers of a system will uncover strengths and weaknesses that are typically unavailable by third-party sources. Q. Have you built a framework for the process of elimination? Tip: Building a framework and the relevant criteria in your process of elimination will facilitate your development in a long list of vendors and ensure their financial, functional and cultural alignment with your business. Q. Have you gathered requirements and began mapping your needs to the available options? Tip: As part of your research strategy is essential to build a requirements list that can easily map to vendor capabilities in the form of an evaluation matrix, RFP or RFI. Developing a long list of 5-10 potential suppliers to meet your unique needs requires a well thought out and planned research strategy. Following a road map will point you in the right direction in evaluating the best project portfolio management solutions aligned with your business. 2

5 Step 3: Formal Evaluation Develop a formal approach to analyze and share vendor information At the end of the research process in your evaluation for a new solution, the real work begins to efficiently organize all your gathered information and effectively build a formal process to mapping your prioritized needs to the available options in the marketplace. Depending on the depth of your evaluation, building an evaluation matrix in the form of a Request for Information (RFI) of Request for Proposal (RFP) document can deliver the transparency required to guide you toward the best fit solution. The PPM marketplace is constantly evolving and demands a formal process to clearly assess the various products and the ability for vendors to deliver on their promises. Organizations need to establish a software evaluation and selection process for the project portfolio management (PPM) software marketplace that considers both functional capabilities and vendor viability. Formalizing the software evaluation and selection process should not be taken lightly. It is this process that will ensure the right choice is made and can save your organization time, money and grief that can occur when going down the wrong path. To ensure the successful evaluation and selection of a PPM solution, buyers need to establish a formalized software evaluation process that will allow them to determine and assess their shortlist of 2-3 vendors that will ultimately meet their needs. When developing a formalized software evaluation process, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself: Q. Have you rated the vendor s response time and service during the evaluation engagement? Tip: Rating a vendor s responsiveness to your queries prior to being a customer will provide you with a good indicator on how you can expect to be serviced should you move forward with their solution. After all, if you can t get decent service on answering basic pre-sales questions, what can you expect when the questions become more complex as a customer? Q. Have you defined your engagement model and budget? (i.e. lease or buy; SaaS or On- Premise) Tip: The PPM marketplace offers up many options to meet that varied needs of project-driven organizations. From basic project management solutions to complete enterprise PPM offerings, these software packages can be either purchased or leased. Defining what model works best for your organization will save you a lot of effort wasted in products that may not meet your financial constraints. Q. Is there a good match with the vendor as a company and your organization? (Self-financed? Acquired by a bigger brand? Funded by VCs?) Tip: Many buyers of enterprise software often neglect the non-functional aspects of the evaluation process. A product is only as good as the people/organization behind it. The last thing you want to do is acquire a solution from a company that cannot adequately service your needs or will not have the longevity to grow with you. Asking the right business questions can reveal a lot about your future vendor. Q. Have you established a strategy to validate the vendor capabilities? (technically and organizationally) Tip: Beyond feature and functions, vendors need to be assessed on the delivery of their offering. A successful product implementation will heavily rely on the vendor s domain expertise in your industry and technical capabilities to meet your unique project environment. Q. Have you developed an in depth analysis between your needs and the possible products? Tip: Having the mechanism to clearly evaluate product capabilities matched to your needs is a critical component in making sure the chosen solution will cover your existing needs and is scalable to grow with your future requirements. Evaluating your short list of 2-3 potential suppliers demands a well crafted plan of attack. Building the right processes and employing the right tools will provide the required transparency to the evaluation team in objectively reviewing project portfolio management solutions best suited to their needs. 3

6 Step 4: Vendor Selection Validate your analysis with vendor interactions Once a short list of vendors have been determined and all the necessary data has been gathered, the final step in the evaluation process of a new system is to dig deeper with the final candidates to validate your analysis and finalize the procurement process to move forward in your decision. As organizations get closer to their final decision, the procurement strategy comes to the forefront and stakeholder buy in must be validated. There are a number of strategies that facilitate the decision making process of selecting the best fit project and portfolio management (PPM) solution to meet your needs. From developing scripted demos to distributing Request for Quotations (RFQs) to short listed vendors, these final strategies will provide you with the necessary information to make the best informed decision possible. Incorporating key pricing, trial and demo details into a formalized software evaluation and selection process will not only provide complete information for analysis, but will also allow you and your organization to engage with your potential supplier. This interaction will also ensure that there is a cultural fit with your software provider. The final selection of a PPM package requires a methodical approach from the exploratory stage until final acquisition. As a last phase, the best fit solution will come on top based on how well a vendor has demonstrated their ability to meet the functional, cultural and financial needs of your organization. When finalizing the selection of your new PPM software, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself: Q. Have you identified how you would test, pilot or validate the potential products? Tip: Having a hand-on or in depth review will validate the information you already have gathered on your short listed vendors. Reviewing the usability and capabilities of the products will confirm or repeal the alignment and adoption of the proposed solutions. Q. Have you developed a scripted demonstration so that you can establish an apple to apple comparison? Tip: Scripted demos allow you to see an example of how the solution will be used in your organization. It will also ensure that there is a level playing field between potential products and that your decision will be made on facts and not flash. Q. Have you defined what you need to have in a proposal to make an informed decision? Tip: At the end of an evaluation process, many buyers will often make assumptions that may hurt the final product selection. Clearly communicating all the necessary information to the potential vendors that needs to be detailed and summarized in their final proposal will ensure that your expectations will be met. Q. Have you established a process to evaluate services and support expectations? Tip: In today s marketplace vendors needed to be treated equally as service providers to ensure success. As this is the cases, it is as equally as important to effectively incorporate these details in your final analysis and decision. Q. Have determine what you need in terms of references and case studies to make your final decision? Tip: Third-party and customer references can reveal any unforeseen obstacles with your chosen solution. Once again, you can never be too prepared when moving forward with your selected solution provider. In your final stage, selecting your vendor and product of choice should be a final validation of your analysis. At this stage it s the vendor s business to lose if they are not able to effectively demonstrate on their product and business information you have captured delivered at a fair market value. 4

7 About Genius Inside Genius Inside was founded in 1997 to address a need for project management software for the IBM Lotus Notes market. Genius Inside has also been offering its on demand solution since April With offices in Europe and North America, supported by a network of resellers worldwide, Genius Inside now has over 55,000 end users and over 600 customers worldwide. Genius Inside has been a recognized IBM Partner since its founding and has received numerous certifications. Genius Inside not only provides powerful project management software but also an expertise in project management best practices. Dedicated to Delivering the Best On-Demand and Lotus Notes Project Management Software Genius Inside s mission is to make project managers lives easier by improving project selection, planning, staffing, execution and tracking with our easy-to-use and powerful project management solutions. EUROPE Genius Inside SA Headquarters 17, Rue de Genève CH-1003 Lausanne Switzerland Phone: +41 (0) Fax: +41 (0) sales_europe@geniusinside.com UNITED STATES Genius Inside Inc. 445 Park Avenue New York City, NY United States Tel: Fax: sales_us@geniusinside.com CANADA Geniusinside Software Inc. 147 St-Paul West, Suite 240 Montréal, Québec H2Y 1Z5, Canada Tel: Tel (Intl): Fax: sales_ca@geniusinside.com GERMANY Genius Inside AG Niederlassung Deutschland Bregenzer Straße Lindau (Bodensee) Tel: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) sales_de@geniusinside.com Website: Blog: Linked-in: 5