Best-of-breed enterprise software evaluation and selection tools and technologies to enhance Solution Minds’ existing methodology.

TEC Advisor—Technology Evaluation Centers’ online decision support application for software evaluation and selection.

• TEC Advisor helped Solution Minds achieve the following objectives:
• compare and analyze enterprise software features and functions from qualified and short-listed vendors;•
• maintain objectivity and transparency throughout the software selection process;
• complete the engagement effectively and efficiently; and
• prepare concise and compelling reports for pre-implementation board approval.

After over a decade of software evaluation and selection consulting, Australia-based Solution Minds has garnered a reputation as a respected market leader. With deep expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financials, the firm has helped companies across a range of verticals to streamline their business processes as they transition to enterprise-class software.

But like any leading consulting firm, Solution Minds needs to continually improve its own processes to stay on top—by finding new ways to deliver better services more efficiently. And it was in that spirit that, in February 2010, the company became TEC’s Preferred Partner for the Australasian region.

“We saw a strategic partnership with TEC as a way to strengthen our market-leading position,” says Jamon Johnston, director and co-owner of Solution Minds. “Using TEC’s unmatched set of software selection resources and vast repository of vendor and implementer data looked like a sure-fire way to help our clients achieve success.”

Of particular interest to Solution Minds was TEC Advisor, TEC’s online software evaluation and selection application. A key component of TEC’s own software selection services, TEC Advisor helps organizations manage and make sense of the massive amount of information they gather throughout the selection process in order to objectively identify the best solution—a perfect fit for a company like Solution Minds.

It wasn’t long before Solution Minds got the chance to put TEC’s technology to the test. Silver Chain—a non-profit provider of medical services to clients across Western Australia—had outgrown its legacy financials system and was eager to find a replacement.

Having already partnered with Solution Minds to successfully select a human resources (HR) and payroll system, the Silver Chain selection committee was well prepared for this new project, and approached it with a clear set of requirements and overall objectives.

In addition to offering the features of a modern financials system, the new solution had to incorporate procurement functionality, as well as advanced reporting capabilities that would allow field offices to easily access the data they needed.

The new system also had to integrate smoothly with Silver Chain’s HR/payroll system, and their in-house system, ComCare—something the legacy financials system couldn’t provide. “There was a growing gap between what Silver Chain required and what Silver Chain’s financials system could deliver,” says Solution Minds’ David Lynch, who was lead consultant on the Silver Chain project. “Their current system couldn’t provide the backbone needed to integrate tightly with ComCare.”

Another key consideration was extensive local support, which was no longer available for Silver Chain’s legacy system.

With their client’s requirement clearly defined, Solution Minds set to work finding a best-fit financials system for Silver Chain.

In line with its proven software selection methodology, Solution Minds began by conducting high-level market research to define a long list of 15 potential solutions. Along with Silver Chain’s selection committee, they used “knock-out” criteria—factors that vendors and implementation partners had to meet in order to be considered—to whittle the list down to six qualified vendors over the course of a week.

The team then sent all six qualified vendors the request for proposal (RFP) pack, which included a customized request for information (RFI), in order to determine which features and functions the vendors supported, and how they supported them. After giving the vendors a week to review the RFP pack, the team began holding “discovery sessions” with each vendor.

“Discovery sessions allow the vendors to clarify any issues with the RFP, and to qualify themselves out of the process if they feel that the opportunity isn’t aligned to their capabilities,” says Lynch. Two vendors did remove themselves from the process, reducing the qualified list to four.

Vendors then had about four weeks to complete the RFP and submit their proposals. But even after analyzing the responses in TEC Advisor, the results were still too close to narrow the list down any further, so they proceeded to scripted demonstrations with all four qualified vendors.

“Normally, we’d be against bringing four vendors through to demos,” says Lynch. “In this case, though, the selection committee was not prepared to knock any vendors out.”

So the team proceeded to hold scripted demonstrations with all four qualified vendors, and analyze the results in TEC Advisor. Having identified both the preferred vendor and the runner-up, the team moved on to reference checks, negotiations, clarifications, and detailed analysis, which were all captured in TEC Advisor.

Two weeks later—a mere two and a half months after the project kickoff—Silver Chain was able to announce the winning vendor.

After a single successful consulting engagement using TEC Advisor, Solutions Minds knew it had a winner on its hands. “Our clients had really positive feedback about TEC Advisor,” says Lynch, who was quick to point out how TEC Advisor brought a new level of objectivity to the selection process.

“In the past, we would have analyzed product functionality in Excel, or some other tool. But after that, we would have started to look for a consensus—scoring the soft factors and market data in our own model. But we couldn’t have pushed the kind of top-to-tail approach that you find in TEC Advisor, where you go from product functionality through market data, demonstration scenarios, and reference checks—and it’s all going into the model.”

“With TEC Advisor,” he continues, “things never descend into a roundtable discussion where, potentially, senior people can just steamroll a process. You’re feeding everything back into the model so you can allow that to dictate the terms of the discussion.”

Lynch was also happy with the way TEC Advisor made it possible to delve into the details of the selection project with the client. “When you get to the point of actually evaluating the responses, drilling down into each of the areas is very handy. We’ve done similar things in Excel, but it was much more unruly and takes much longer to get to the same results.”

And when it came to getting the go-ahead for the implementation, TEC Advisor helped Lynch and the Silver Chain selection committee make their case.

Says Lynch, “One of the challenges with any selection is presenting an evaluation report, where you’re trying to show people at the executive level the process you went through and how you actually arrived at your decision. One of the key strengths of TEC Advisor is that you have that output in graphical form. It’s easy to understand, and it looks very professional.”

Solution Minds is a global consulting company providing specialized strategic advice and implementation services on enterprise software and performance management solutions. An independent consulting firm, Solution Minds offers unbiased advice to clients in the evaluation and selection of best-fit software. As clear market leader, Solution Minds helps organizations across all industry sectors—from large enterprises to dynamic mid-market organizations—to improve business performance by optimizing processes and decision making, using software as the catalyst for change.

Established in 1999, Solution Minds has grown to over 20 experienced consultants and project managers providing services across Australasia. Solution Minds is committed to providing outstanding service and exceeding expectations.

Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), the leading advocate for the enterprise software purchaser, helps private- and public-sector organizations choose the best enterprise software solutions for their unique business needs—quickly, impartially, and cost-effectively. TEC delivers an unmatched range of online software evaluation and selection services that minimize the costs, risks, and duration of software selection projects, and bridges the gap between enterprise decision makers and the vendor/value-added reseller (VAR) community.

TEC’s proven approach combines extensive online IT research; a proven software selection methodology; state-of-the-art Web-based software selection technology; and the experience of its analysts and software selection experts.