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Crossing Party Lines

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Whether to buy tools for financial reporting and budgeting/forecasting from the incumbent vendor is a question increasingly raised by folks we work with. The real question should be -- "At what point do we buy the brand name that we have existing investments with?"

For us, the issue centers on the short/long term benefits and the costs of any selection. Certainly, a red flag should be raised when there is lack of functionality in key areas. However, functionality is sometimes centered in the pros/cons and always subject to personal opinion. At the same time, many companies ask their finance teams to "do more with less" in order to lessen perceived "total solution costs" and benefit from "future integration".

With any investment in business process, the vendor is a key question. We insist our clients ensure integration will occur. Buying software integrated only at the "brand name" can be a dangerous activity.

Posted by Scott Crow on Fri, Mar 21, 2008

COMMENTS

Is there a checklist that you have for the right things to consider regarding Performance Management vendor selection?

posted on Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 2:09 PM by Dan Tyre


We do. Strafford helps around a dozen companies a year make technology or vendor selections. What we have found is that 20% of the requirements are the critical ones that deserve focused attention.
That said, working our process can literally save time, yet get the key decisions made faster. That makes for the most successful of implementations -- no ugly surprises...

posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 8:42 AM by Scott Crow


Can you post the top 3-5 high level issues I need to consider?
thanks,

posted on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 10:29 AM by Dan Tyre


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