Evaluating Vendors and Systems
The User Perspective
Kathleen M. Flynn
SLA June 11, 1996
Shopping for a Vendor/System
- What to look for in a vendor
- How to compare vendors
- How to negotiate
What I value the most...
- Responsiveness
- Knowledgeable staff
How a Vendor Should Respond
Bad indicators:
- The system can't do that.
- Why would you want that feature anyway?
- You are the only one who's ever asked that before.
What the Staff Should Know
- Their own system
- How to use it
- What it contains
- Our business
- What we do
- Our role as information professionals
- Their competition
How to Compare Vendors
- Who are their competitors?
- What is the content?
- How comprehensive?
- How accurate?
- How timely?
- How easy is the system?
- Is it user-friendly?
- Does it require special software or hardware?
- How well does the system work?
- How is response time?
- How powerful are the searching capabilities?
- How is customer support?
- Do they have a help line?
- Is it toll-free?
- What are its hours of operation?
- Do they provide training?
- What is the cost?
- Do they charge monthly or yearly fees?
- Do they have minimum charges?
- What additional costs can you expect?
The Art of Negotiating
How to get what you want
The Great Negotiating Principles
- Thou hast something thy vendor desires.
($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)
AND
- Thou hast nothing to lose by asking.
How to Negotiate
- Do market comparisons before negotiating.
- Request a trial period.
- Ask for what you want.
- Be creative...
Be Creative...
- Volunteer for beta tests.
- Agree to limit access during peak times.
- Limit access to a subset of the system.
- Use a different form of the product.
Things to remember...
- Saving money on systems doesn't always save money
overall.
- Time is money. If the system is not as flexible or fast, you
waste more time.
- Information that is not up-to-date or reliable is expensive.
Will you have to search multiple sources
to get a complete answer?
Things to remember...
- Flat fees aren't always a good deal.
- Are you spending more on a flat fee than you were spending
on transactional pricing?
- Do you have a clause that protects you if you don't use a
minimum?
- Judge increases by the value YOU place on the system, NOT by
the vendor's transactional comparison.
Things to remember...
The Great Negotiating Principles
- Thou hast something thy vendor desires.
($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$)
AND