san francisco regional conference july 25, 2002

San Francisco Regional ConferenceJuly 25, 2002

Vetting Vendors

Dawn Trygstad Rubin

Affiliate Consultant,

CompassPoint

dawnrubin@attbi.com

Michael Stein Associate Director, eGrants mstein@egrants.org

Robert Weiner Strategic Technology Consultant

robert@rlweiner.com

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Agenda

Information Technology Planning

Project Management

Needs Assessments

Establishing a pool of qualified vendors

RFP/I/Qs

Proposal Review

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Agenda

Demonstrations/Presentations

Due Diligence

Contract issues

Implementation issues

Support issues

Questions & Discussion

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Information Technology Planning

• Part of Strategic Plan (mission-driven).• Process: business model, data/work flows,

assess effectiveness, identify problem areas & possible solutions, prioritize projects.

• Plan: list inventory, desired changes (projects), resources, training & IT management.

• Individual projects should fit overall plan.

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Model of Information Systems

IT Management

Information Functions

Technology Infrastructure

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IS Model (cont.)

IT MANAGEMENTVision & Strategic PlanPolicies:Computer use, virus protection, file management, upgradesProcedures: Backups, virus updates, archivingSecurity planTraining and supportResources AllocationBudget: Operating, Capital, Staff, SupportStandards

INFORMATION FUNCTIONSContact ManagementCommunications: Email & WebDonor DevelopmentFinancial SystemsProgram ManagementInformation & ReferralVolunteer ManagementStaff scheduling

TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURENetwork hardware: Servers, wiring, hubsWorkstationsStandard desktop softwareNetwork services: Web server, Fax server, Printer server, Email, Internet Access, Backup

WorkstationServer Laser printerTelephone

HubFax

Tape drive

Information flow

Reception

Application

Payto $

Accounting

Management

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Project Management

1.Project Selection– organizational needs, list of projects from

plan, objectives, allocate resources.

2.Team Building– team members & roles, responsibility matrix.

3.Planning– task list, Gantt chart, CPM diagram, other

agencies, project budget.

4.Tracking / Implementation– issues list, time sheets, receipts / accounting

reports.

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Needs Assessment

Before shopping:• Decide how you’ll decide.

• Assemble the team.

• Plan ahead for buy-in.

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Needs Assessment (cont.)

• Develop detailed requirements

– Interview key stakeholders.

– What’s really wrong?

– Help them envision new capabilities.

– What do they really need?

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Needs Assessment (cont.)

• Requirements (continued)– What do they think they need?

– What’s on their wish list?

– What can they support and afford?

– How will a new system be better than what they have now?

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Needs Assessment (cont.)

• Build or Buy?

• If buying, software or ASP?

• “BOB” or integrated package?

• Will you buy based on the “next release”?

• Vendor or technology restrictions?

– O/S, platform, Mac vs. PC, DBMS, WWW.

– Integration with other systems?

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Needs Assessment (cont.)

• Rate requirements (required/desired).

• Will you use an RFP?

– If so, requirements will be the basis of the RFP.

– Are there other procurement requirements?

• Will RFPs or demonstrations be scored numerically?

– point ranges, met/unmet, numeric weights.

• Create demo scripts

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Vendor Pool

• Vendors must fit client’s culture, staffing, and budget, as well as meeting functional needs.

• Vendors should be experienced with clients of this type and size, unless client is willing to take risks.

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Vendor Pool (cont.)

• Client probably has some vendors in mind.

• If you don’t have experience with this type of project, ask other consultants, listserves, talk to similar organizations.

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Request for Proposals

• An RFP is a document that precisely summarizes your needs.

• An RFP is a formalized process for vendor interaction.

• Get complete team signoff on the RFP.• Make sure you get it right.

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Request for Proposals (cont.)

• Describe your project– What opportunity are you trying to seize?– What problem are you trying to solve?– Give the lay of the land.– Describe your desired outcome.

• Lay out your project specifications– Operational details.– Technical details.

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Request for Proposals (cont.)

• What do you want to learn from vendors?– Their experience with similar projects.– Their general approach to projects.– Their recommended solution.– Their pricing.– Why do they want to work with you?– References from similar clients.

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Request for Proposals (cont.)

• Should you disclose your project budget?– It helps vendors decide if they’re a good fit.– Don’t put the budget in the RFP, but discuss

verbally with vendor.

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Proposal Review

• Review vendor’s proposed solution– Have they met your technical and operational

needs?– Does their proposed solution impact your

future development costs or staffing?– Frequency of product upgrades.– Ability to customize.

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Proposal Review (cont.)

• Is their development process clear?• Is their proposed timeline reasonable?• Is their pricing understandable?• Do they want your business?• Is their ability to do the project clear?• How will training be handled?• How will ongoing support be delivered?

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Due Diligence

• Reference checks– Talk to previous similar clients.– Was work delivered on timeline and on

budget?– How was training?– How is ongoing support relationship?

• Site visits– Not always necessary.– Understand staffing and infrastructure.– Transparency.

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Due Diligence (cont.)

• Viability of vendors– Long-term interest of company or consultant in

working in the nonprofit sector.– Ask about their business stability and ask to

see a financial statement (transparency).– How long have they been in business?– Are nonprofits involved on advisory board?– What is their client contingency plan is they go

out of business or are acquired?– Obtain Dunn & Bradstreet report (optional).

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Reference Checks

• Sample Software Reference Questions:– How long did it take for you to “go live” on the

software? – How many of your staff worked on the project?– What assistance did the vendor provide?– Did you use consultants or other 3rd parties?– Were you happy with the training provided by

the vendor? – What would you do differently if you had it to

do over?

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Demonstrations (cont.)

• When hiring a service vendor, make sure the people you’re interviewing will be the ones doing the work.

• For software demos, make vendors show what the client needs to see.

• Use scenarios for software demos. – Goal: comparing apples to apples.– Scenarios should show real situations derived

from the Needs Assessment.

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Demonstrations (cont.)

• Choose several scenarios that cover the most critical functions.

• At big organizations consider separate demos by department, each with its own scenarios.

• Sample scenario:– Add a new member.– Add a major donor.– Marry the two records and show joint giving.– Divorce the records.

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Demonstrations (cont.)

AREA RATING COMMENTS

Data Entry

Membership Mgmt.

Prospect Management 

Events Management

• Make sure stakeholders can attend demos.• Invite all interested staff.• Collect input from everyone.

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Contract Issues

• Software price may not be negotiable.• Training, customizations, implementation

assistance, consulting, and schedules are often negotiable.

• Consider payments based on performance, especially if buying based on unreleased features or blazing new trails.

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Implementation Overview

• Policies & Procedures: responsibilities, access, “rules”

• Reports: map old to new, include letters and other outputs

• Processes: work & information & paper flows; system use

• Customizations: features, reports, interfaces• System Set up: codes & fields, security

(users, groups and permissions), preferences, business rules

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Implementation Overview (cont.)

• Training:– team at beginning of project– end users at end of project, during final

data conversion• Documentation• Data Conversion: map data, 2+ tries until

right, data clean-up (now in legacy system, in conversion, afterwards in new system)

• Testing: all parts above

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Support

• Plan & budget for support (upgrades, staff turnover)

• Define a support “hierarchy”

Level 3 • Consultants• Vendor support

Level 2 • IT Staff• Accidental Techie

Level 1 • Power Users• Self-help (Online, Procedures, Help Guides)

Com

plexity, Skill Level,

Tim

e

$

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QUESTIONS

?