◆ OPER ATIONAL EXCELLENCE ◆
PHASE 1
Selection Requirements
Defining stakeholders, responsibilities, and overall goals to initiate process flows and requirements
Common Pitfall
So, you want to select a new piece of software for your organization. If you already have a
tool in mind, have you considered the nuances of how the tool will tie into your organization’s
processes? You can save substantial time and money in the long run by being methodical
in your efforts to select software that is the right fit for your organization’s overall goals and
supports your processes.
Using a vendor-selection framework can help your
organization determine this fit and avoid unnecessary
long-term costs and effort. The Jabian Vendor
Selection Framework is comprised of five phases:
Selection Requirements, Engagement Preparation,
Engagement Management, Selection Analysis, and
Selection Decisions. Typically, these phases encompass
a standard RFP process, but when selecting a vendor
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for a software tool, you are in the unique position to
use software demos to evaluate its fit in your organization. These steps ensure vendor evaluations tie back to
your organization’s processes and goals, removing
emotional or purely cost-based decision making.
There are clear risks to not performing each step in
the process. Let’s dive into the details of how to avoid
some common pitfalls and prevent these risks.
FA L L 2 014
… you will miss stakeholder
input, and therefore
requirements.
Include necessary stakeholders upfront. Don’t select everyone,
but consider stakeholder groups that have even peripheral
software responsibilities. This will drive harmonious decision
making and buy-in during software selection.
If you leave executive
stakeholders out
of process flow
and requirement
drafting …
BY LYDIA LICHTENBERGER
Vendor Selection Framework Solution
If you do not cast a
wide enough net when
choosing your project
stakeholders …
Software Vendor Selection: Uncovering the
Obvious Requires Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Risk
… your stakeholders will
become disengaged, lack
buy-in and understanding on
the current state.
Based on the time needed to participate in the final demos,
it’s understandable to want to alleviate the time executive
stakeholders have to participate in the initial stages of the
project.1 If you choose to do this, include that set of stakeholders on deliverable reviews as soon as possible. Follow up along
the way to reduce disengagement.
If you do not define
scope …
… you will miss stakeholder
expectations.
To reduce misunderstandings of the scope, define goals and
purpose upfront on areas stakeholders expect the tool to solve
(and define which are most important).2
If you skip creating
process flows …
... you will have an incomplete set of requirements that
lacks traceability to your
organizational goals.
To create a complete functional set of requirements aligned to
your organization’s core needs, anchor requirements in
process flows.3 Against each process step (current state or
tweaked to a desired future state), work with your stakeholders to come up wi Ѡ