How to Evaluate an Enterprise Software Solution
After 10 years of working with customers ranging from startups to Fortune 50 corporations, we have arrived at an evaluation process that we believe is useful for everyone.
We know that the choices can be overwhelming when looking for an enterprise software solution. You may have dozens of vendors who claim to have the functionality you need, and often it is only after deep examination that you can find out whether the claims are true and whether your needs have even been understood by the vendor.
Many of our customers came to EnterpriseWizard after their implementations of other products completely failed to deliver the promised functionality and benefits. Unlike our competitors, we have a 100% implementation success rate. In part this is because of our unique adaptive technology, but it is also because we invest the time up front to understand the needs of a potential customer and to be sure we can actually meet those needs.
We want to reduce risk, both yours and ours. That's why we offer an unconditional 90 day 100% money back guarantee, not just on license fees but also on consulting costs. That takes care of your risk.
Now with that guarantee, it is in our interest to be sure our product is the right fit for your business before we sell it to you. How can we be sure? By asking the right questions so that we fully understand your challenges, your goals, and your criteria for success. This is where our staff's expertise comes in - we have done this for hundreds of customers already, and we know how to design effective business process automation.
Recommended Evaluation Process
Our goal is to work with you to determine whether we have the solution you need at a price you can afford. Here is the process we suggest you follow:
Preparation
- Meet with your team to discuss the main goals of the implementation and the business problems the software is intended to solve, and write up at least a brief description of your ideal solution and how you envision it functioning. Include any long term goals that might follow after the initial implementation.
- Think about the features that are most important to you, the licensing model you need, and whether you have particular platform or technology requirements. For example, must the software run on Linux or Windows, use MS SQL or MySQL as the backend database, support web services and/or REST, be configurable without programming, support custom branding, etc. Write up any specific requirements regarding platform, license model, technology, and features.
- Think about the number of users who will be using the system, and the ways in which they will be using it. Figure out how many of your users are end users or customers, and how many are technicians or active "super" users. This will give you a rough estimate of the number of "seats" you might need and the basis for a price comparison.
- Determine how much you can spend on licenses, maintenance, consulting, and any potential extras, and define your maximum budget. Include the cost of your own staff members' time for any involvement you expect them to have in the specification writing and implementation phases, and in later maintenance of the system.
With this information in hand you are ready to start evaluating actual software packages.
Evaluating EnterpriseWizard
Once you arrive at our site, we recommend that you take the following steps. Of course we welcome your call at 888-727-2209 ext. 1 at any time, but we recognize that many people prefer to look around a bit before calling a sales person.- Review a few online demos relevant to your particular business need to get a sense of the program interface and general functionality.
- Review features and feature videos for more detailed information on what features are supported, and compare these against your list. We have organized our features into groupings typical of a Request for Proposal to assist you in getting a quick sense of whether EnterpriseWizard has the core functionality that you need.
- Read relevant pages at our website that may assist in understanding EnterpriseWizard's main benefits and differentiators, how other customers are using it, and so on.
- Check our Pricing to get a sense of how much our solution will cost. From there you can request an immediate online quote or contact a Sales Rep at 888-727-2209 ext. 1 for a more personalized and commented quote based on the information you provide.
If the product looks like a reasonable fit to you after this initial investigation, then it is time to move on to the next step.
Let us Prove That EnterpriseWizard Can Do It
This is the crucial step, and the one that sets us apart from other vendors. Armed with details from you about the process you want to automate and the problems you are hoping to solve, we will prepare a personalized demo that shows exactly how we can do it. We can typically show you your exact process with less than 4 hours of preparation, thanks to EnterpriseWizard's speed of customization.
We are willing to spend this time without any commitment from you, because it is the best way to reduce risk for everyone. After seeing EnterpriseWizard managing your business process, you will be confident that our solution is right for your needs.
To get started, please contact a sales rep at 888-727-2209 ext. 1 to discuss your requirements and schedule an appropriate demo.
Once you've seen a personalized demo, you will have a strong point of comparison with any other products you are considering. We recommend that you ask other vendors how long it would take them to implement your process and whether they can demonstrate a proof of concept to you as well. You might even ask vendors to make changes to the configuration during the demo itself. This will give you an idea of their capabilities, as well as of the ultimate cost of your implementation.
If another vendor takes 2 weeks to do what we can do in 4 hours, you know how "customizable" their product really is and what the long term costs will be for maintaining it.
Get Help Now
If we can assist you in any way during your evaluation, don't hesitate to contact us at 888-727-2209 ext. 1. Our sales people know how important this decision is for you. They bring years of experience to bear in helping you sort through the factors that will be most important for your success.
