How NOT to buy IT

The big mistakes made when buying IT are

not saying clearly what the system or service must achieve (in business terms)
not finding a range of suitable suppliers
not obtaining competitive quotes from at least 3 suppliers
not protecting the organisation’s intellectual property, and...
not establishing an agreed contract for the delivery

All of these omissions make it more likely that the project will fail or that the purchase will be unsatisfactory. Some examples of companies who have suffered in this way:

a small but ambitious company that talked through their needs with a web developer and handed over an advance payment, but no system was ever delivered (or money returned)
another business that bought hardware and software from a supplier, most of which did not work as promised and some of which was never installed
the company that commissioned a new system to meet their needs for contact and event management, spent over £10,000 and was so unhappy with the resulting system that they abandoned it and are now renting their software capability from a recommended web supplier
an organisation that spent thousands of pounds on a system that never really delivered what was needed, and which now needs to be replaced

A recent article in Information Week confirms that it isn't just the suppliers who are to blame:

"When things don't go well, tech buyers also deserve a chunk of the blame. They do a poor job communicating requirements. They fail to bring the right people to sales presentations and don't ask the right questions. They don't always allocate sufficient resources to deploy and operate products. And executives have been known to opt for products they used at previous jobs..."

The Buying IT service has been explicitly designed to avoid these errors and so to increase the likelihood of success for all concerned: purchaser, supplier and all internal or external users. Using its framework, you will have confidence that you have

thought through what you want and need, together with priorities and constraints
written it down so that suppliers are clear about what is needed
had opportunities to meet and/or gauge the ability of potential suppliers to work with them and to deliver what is needed
established a suitable contract for the project, which also protects your intellectual property

Find out how Clearsight Consulting could help you to buy IT successfully by contacting us for a no-obligation discussion about your project.