The Software Decision

You may have an important decision to make on procuring a software system, and it is perhaps an unfamiliar area to you.

1) Vision	… Have a Vision…	Do establish Initial and Future Business Areas
2) Specification	… Take Control …	Do get your business rules and requirements properly analysed and documented. Do take the time to translate this into screen & report formats. Accept the headache now - not later.
3) System Selection	... *Get the Best Fit*...	Do allow for Integration (with other systems), Flexibility (for now and later), and User-Friendliness Don’t try to make your business fit into a system – make the system fit your business Do remember that too many surplus features can affect User-friendliness
4) Risk	… Minimise Risk …	Do get copyright control Don’t burn your bridges by getting tied to one supplier
5) Cost Benefit	... Make it Pay …	Do try to quantify the value of the annual Benefits, and spread the Cost over at least 3 years. If it will not pay for itself – don’t do it!

1) Get Outline Quotes	Provided that the scope of the project is clearly communicated, you should be able to get approximate quotes from most suppliers. If the quote is not within your Cost-Benefit analysis above, then stop here.
2) Get the Specification written	This is where you start to take control. Either working with us or another software consultancy, develop your own ideas from scratch based on your own specialist knowledge of your own business.
3) Research Your Industry	Review one or two off-the-shelf packages that cover your particular industry. If nothing else, you may pick up further ideas.
4) Update the Specification	Incorporate any new ideas into your Specification. You now have the best of your own ideas and those from other companies in your industry.
5) Invite Tenders	Invite tenders for both bespoke and package solutions
6) Decide	Decide based on the Key Elements above Bear in mind the quality of the supplier in terms of quality of work and general reliability