Selecting Vendors: A Project’s Most Critical Decision
Marv Lisko
ISM Information Systems Management Corporation
One Research Drive,Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 7H1
Abstract
Your AM/FM/GIS project will likely be one of the most important projects your organization
embarks upon in terms of cost, function, competitiveness and impact to staff. Chose the right
Vendors and products and your project has established a solid groundwork for success. Err by
choosing the wrong product and Vendors and you run the risk of higher costs, missed schedules,
dissatisfied management and a failure that could potentially put your organization at risk. The
results of your early project decisions may have repercussions for years to come.
This presentation will discuss a concise and easily managed process for the objective selection and
verification of GIS products and Vendors. The process provides a simple but rigorous method that
will enable your project team to collect and analyze the information necessary to make an informed
decision about your potential project partners for success.
This selection process is structured to allow in-house resources to conduct the process from
beginning to end. Completely flexible, you can tailor the process to fit the scope and breadth of your
particular project, choosing to emphasize or discard suggested activities as you see fit.
The end result will be the selection of Vendors or products that will allow you and your
organization the opportunity for a successful GIS project.
Introduction
Selecting a product, supplier, system, or consultant is not a complex process. True, there can be
many steps in the process and certain disciplines must be applied. However, the process is one that
can be performed within the organization.
The following pages describe a process used to select a GIS software product and software Vendor
for an enterprise GIS project. The process represents a comprehensive set of tasks meant to be used
for a large project. Tasks maybe eliminated that are inappropriate for smaller projects. The process
is equally suited for selecting other GIS related services such as a conversion Vendor or applications
developer. It can also be used in a wider context for selecting any software product or service
required by the organization.
Why Not Use A Consultant?
This process is not meant to exclude or include consultants. Any or all of the tasks can be performed
by a consultant, or by internal resources. What I am attempting to do is take away the mystery
regarding the process by presenting a logical series of tasks. Once the tasks and process are known,
you can judge for yourself what tasks you wish to include in your process and who you wish to have
perform those tasks.
There are certain advantages that may accrue to your organization by performing the tasks yourself.
Firstly, you will become intimately familiar with all information discovered during the process.
Misinterpretation of information and/or loss of accuracy, completeness and meaning can occur
when information is presented to you second hand. Organization and industry-specific knowledge
may provide an opportunity for you to ask questions that are more pertinent to your situation. Your
knowledge of the decision makers, organization status, history, and information holders within your
organization may permit you to gather and evaluate information more effectively than a third party.
Lastly, decision makers in your organization may put more value in your recommendations than
recommendations from a third party.
There are advantages to retaining the services of industry consultants or third parties. Arguments
that internal studies are less expensive than those performed by consultants maybe based on false
economies. Consultants may bring with them a wider view of your industry or the specific
application or service you wish to purchase. By refinement through experience, Consultant
processes may add greater value that internal resources for specific tasks. Consultants may also be
capable of performing tasks more quickly, thereby providing additional value.
It’s not a case of all or nothing. Pick the resource that is most appropriate to the task. The choice is
yours. But understand that you have choices. By simply understanding the process, you can make a
more informed decision as to how you wish to proceed.
Recmirements Document Is The Cornerstone of the Proiect
A complete and accurate requirements document is the foundation of the entire project. Without a
complete set of requirements, decisions made within the project are subject to some degree of
uncertainty. The level of detail to which requirements are defined in the document will depend to a
certain degree on the phase and size of the project. However, completeness is essential.
A key factor in the creation of a sound requirements document is involvement of the User. The
project team should be involved in the requirements process to advise, to assist, and to perform
technical tasks that are beyond the level of skill of the Users. However, Users must be major
contributors to the requirements process and decision makers for requirement determination and
priority. They are the consumers of the product, service or software. The realization of benefits to
the organization will be determined by the User’s level of acceptance of the end product. Their buy-in
is essential to the success of the project.
The requirements document will establish expectations throughout the organization. The executive,
user community, staff labour associations and the organization in general will look to the document
as the description of functionality to be provided and the impact these systems may bring to the
organization and to individual positions.
Proiect Structure Is The Foundation For Success
Another critical foundation for project success is the project organization. Key players will help
determine success if included, and will surely determine failure if they are excluded. Two of these
players are the Executive Sponsor and Project Sponsor. The project must have a champion. The
Executive Sponsor should be a member of the highest decision making body within the
organization. They should believe in the worth of the project and be prepared to champion the
project throughout the organization. The Project Sponsor should report to the executive sponsor and
should be accessible by both the project manager and the Executive Sponsor. The project sponsor
should have the authority to make most major project and organizational decisions.
Users are key resources to specific tasks within the process and the ultimate decision makers of
acceptance and success. Their involvement should be maximized. A User Committee should
represent a cross section of end Users (eg draftsmen, technologists, engineering assistants, field
staff). This Committee will be heavily utilized at times during the project. The estimate of time for
their involvement should be generous. Our experience has shown this estimate is most often
considerably understated. One of the best ways to highlight User Committee involvement is to
isolate a sub-schedule of only User tasks from the master project schedule and ensure the User
Committee members understand their role in each of the tasks they will participate in. Be sure the
supervisor of each User Committee member understands the commitment of his resource to the
project. The supervisor’s buy-in will make the User Committee member’s life easier during the
project. Adequate bacldll should be arranged so the User will be able to focus on the tasks within
the project, and not be interrupted by requests for his time from his regular duties.
How Long Should The Process Take?
How long should selection take? Our experience is a reasonably full process will take 7-10
months. We’ve checked with other organizations and their experience is similar. Can you do it more
quickly? Yes, obviously you can. There may be steps that maybe inappropriate to your projector
that may be done in parallel. However, there are tasks that are crucial to the success of the process
and should not be cut short. Two of these tasks are the Vendor response to your document and your
evaluation of their response. Establish your time line by creating a detailed schedule of all tasks in
your process. Set realistic estimates of time for each task. Review the schedule and get buy-in for
the schedule from your executive. A key to maintaining executive support is regular reporting. Keep
them informed and their support will continue.
What Document Should I Send To The Vendor?
There are a number of types of documents that you can chose to create: RFP (Request For Proposal,
RFI (Request For Information), RFQ (Request For Quote) as well as variations of these documents.
The information in each type of document will likely be very similar. However, the tone and
perception both within the Vendor’s office and your own may be significantly different for each
type of document. I prefer an RFI. It gives you a wider perceived latitude with which to deal with
Vendor(s) before you get to the point of writing a contract. Since you may wish to solicit
suggestions and alternate strategies on certain issues from Vendors, an RFI may be a more
appropriate vehicle.
