Software Evaluation

Tethys Consulting offers a range of software evaluation solutions – all of which are specifically targeted at making sure that your business implements the right enterprise software, at the right time and at the right cost.

Enterprise Systems are Critical

Nowadays no business can operate successfully without core software systems in place. Today’s technology can improve revenues, increase efficiency and reduce operational costs – so, with the right software you’re in a ‘win-win’ situation that ensures that your business can make more money and save more money.

The problem is that achieving this goal isn’t always so simple. There are all kinds of enterprise software applications to choose that could help your business run smoothly and prosper. But, if you make the wrong choices here, then you could actually end up losing money.

Why Projects Fail

For many businesses, committing to new business applications software often fails simply because they don’t have the key skills in place to make the right decisions. In most cases, your business experts will identify a need for change that necessitates a new software evaluation - but they won’t necessarily understand the underlying technology options or know which vendor product to choose. Your technical experts can help you here but they – in turn – may not understand the business drivers behind the evaluation, or may not understand exactly how software evaluation works.

quote If you cannot find a bridge between the two factors here then the new software you implement may well fail. Your projects may not reach full potential and they may lose sponsorship within your organisation. The average organisation spends between 2-5% of their annual turnover on enterprise applications. This is a significant sum in itself which can see a serious increase when you also factor in the time that your key business and technical personnel could be wasting on a lost cause.

Our Approach

Tethys Consulting’s software evaluation services will give you the bridge you need to identify a solution that will fit your business processes and your functional requirements. We will also help you understand how to implement that solution and to make it work for your business. Our aim is to make sure that you source, evaluate and implement the enterprise software package that is right for you. With our help you can reduce risk, improve returns, ensure sponsorship of changes within your company and avoid wasting valuable staff time.

Why YOU Don't Need Evaluation Expertise

quote The fact is that few organisations actually need to have in-house software evaluation skills on a permanent basis. Most companies find that they evaluate software in a 7-10 year cycle so the need for these skills is not constant. By allowing Tethys Consulting to take on the mechanics of your evaluation you will ensure that your staff concentrate on their existing value added responsibilities rather than on learning skills that will bring you no business benefit for another 7-10 years. This will also save you on internal training and recruitment costs and will ensure that you do not overload already busy staff.

Our Methodology

Our software evaluation method takes a three-pronged approach. It provides a sound evaluation framework supported by documentation templates that will save time and offer efficient and accurate development of evaluation deliverables. A “Request for Proposal” document, for example, can save a week or more. A typical software evaluation engagement follows these phases:

Positioning - here we work with your project team to assess your needs from a given application. At this stage we will also produce a Case For Action document which can be used internally to promote sponsorship.

Often, a company has not defined its 'as is' and 'to be' business processes before starting an evaluation. Under these circumstances, we would facilitate this using our Business Process Design capability. The business processes are an important part of the evaluation, driving the material requested from vendors and the demonstration scenarios.
Selection - During this stage we will facilitate the identification of your Mandatory Requirements, Selection Criteria and Business Processes before applying these factors to pre-selected long-list of vendors. We pre-select on the basis of industry research and on our strong experience in the software evaluation sector. The vendors which earn a place on our short-list will be asked to provide a customised demonstration of how their application will specifically work for your business rather than just a standard presentation.

It is at this stage that you will see the real benefit of using our services rather than those of other software evaluation firms. It is, for example, standard practice in the industry to simply evaluate software in the selection stage by analysing the functional points, finding a fit and then making a recommendation. This often results in companies adopting software that could technically do the job for them but that actually can’t deliver on business drivers when implemented.

Whilst this functional fit is an important part of our process, our analysis goes further to ensure a perfect match. So, we will also consider other factors such as vendor implementation capability, business change management issues and product strategy, for example. This will give you all the information you need to make an informed decision against your Selection Criteria – so the software you choose can and will do the right job for you.

And, at the same time, our process will help educate your staff in the overall functionality of the new system. All too often people focus solely on the technical - our approach ensures that they understand the importance of the synergy with business factors as well. The subsequent implementation of your new software may well take up significant man hours and effort – as they go through our process your staff will be able to save considerable time and they will learn about the software and how it should be best implemented. By the time implementation is ready, they will be working as a team with a full understanding of the relevant project management issues and they will help promote sponsorship throughout your organisation.
Implementation Set Up - At this stage we can help you prepare for the implementation of your chosen system. This involves confirming the implementation plan, negotiating the engagement with the vendor and gaining funding and approval for the project.

It's Your Decision

In keeping with the core Tethys principles, our software evaluation methods have been specifically designed to empower your organisation to make the right decisions. We don’t choose software for you – we facilitate you through the process of making an informed decision to put in place a solution that will work for your business.

To find out more about our software evaluation services, please take a look at our Case Studies and Testimonials page. Alternatively, to find out how Tethys Consulting can help your business find the right application, please contact us.