Parcel - October 2008 - (Page 33)

go to analysts and determine the list. That’s not necessarily bad, but there are many great companies with good software that don’t make the analysts list. At this point, a decision should be made: do you want to be a big ﬁsh in a small pond or a little ﬁsh in a very big pond? This decision usually affects the cost of your long-term customer service budget and the quality of support. Also review the amount of money the company spends on research and development. A partner today needs to spend a good amount on R&D because software technology is changing so rapidly. Others determine the list from web searches, magazines, trade shows, etc. Sometimes this only gets you the people with big marketing budgets, not the best companies. For example, there are over 150 companies that deliver warehouse management systems. Develop a list on your criteria. What are your most important priorities? Is it functionality, technology, company ﬁnancial picture, company size, customer service? Don’t be afraid to look at new emerging companies. These companies have the newest technology platform, and you won’t be paying a lot of money for an antiquated engine. Send a request for proposal to your list matching the process ﬂow you developed. Don’t buy one off the Internet unless you are willing to customize for your organization. If you don’t have a person to dedicate to this effort, hire a con- sultant. If your perspective list is longer than 12, shorten it before you send it out. Once you receive the proposals, you’ll be able to grade them by content and price. Some make their cut by proposal style, feel, etc. It’s important to stress that at this point, you are not buying the sales department process; it’s the technology and implementation department that you are interested. Therefore, the slickest, prettiest proposal is not exactly the best partner. Using a consultant to sort through the sales messages is usually helpful. But if you select a consultant that is not aware of the space, they won’t see through the sales or marketing pitches, either. Talk to people in the space, listen to all messages, right and wrong, and evaluate the comments. Usually a subject matter expert in the space can help you get right to the meat of the evaluation choices. A person that knows the space well can tell you the information that makes a big difference in your selection. For instance, a large 3PL recently did a selection with a consultant. They followed the normal due diligence in selecting a partner and ﬁnally selected the perceived right partner after six months, only to ﬁnd out one month before go live that the company sold and the new owner is going to shelve (or end the life of) the software product they just purchased. How could this have been prevented? It’s no secret who is up for sale, what company is having trouble in installations, www.PARCELindustry.com October 2008 33 http://precisionsoftware.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Parcel - October 2008

Parcel - October 2008 Contents Editor's Note What Would Augello Say? Best Practices Survey Results Going with the Flow Is Your Parcel Network Optimized? Last (Mile), but Not Least Moving From Manual to Automated Fulfillment A Race for Excellence Making Ends Meet Is Your Job Killing You? Software Selection Demystified Controlling Costs On the Mark Product Profile New Products & Services Advertiser Index Wrap Up

Parcel - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.