Scope-Solutions

How to buy the correct software for your company: save thousands of dollars on costly mistakes

Every night, after returning from work, my husband and I talk about how our day went. He works with machinery that produces plastic parts, and sometimes (I hate to admit it) his explanations leave me completely clueless! It is like he's speaking a completely different language. The fun part comes when, for one reason or another, we have to sit in front of the computer to work on a simple spreadsheet. That is the moment when I feel like a fish in the water, and of course, this sounds like Chinese to him (and yes, I know this happens to all couples and it does not necessarily have to be work related).
I have been working in the software industry for over 20 years. During this time I have seen many successful solution implementations and many that, far from bringing any improvements, become a huge drain in many aspects (finances, time, etc.).
I have also invested a considerable amount of time reading books on how to sell and implement software solutions successfully. The information technology business has become one of the main backbones to any business, from large to small, mainly due to the fast response time required in these times.
I have not seen so far a lot of information related to guiding a business owner or upper management member of any company on how to buy a solution that better suits the business’ needs. Normally this kind of purchase is made with a great sense of confusion and hope that the right decision was made, usually with not enough information to back it up or with information provided by third parties who often are biased by external interests.
In the coming weeks we will be examining 16 different aspects that need to be taken into account when looking for a software solution of any kind.
In my day to day experience in this line of work I have learned the value of each one of these concepts. Of course, there is no silver bullet in any area of life, however this can make the difference between having a solution and having a problem, and believe me, this difference in many cases represents millions of dollars and hundreds of hours spent in fruitless efforts!