Choosing an IT vendor

Many organizations choose the first vendor that they meet and others may just choose the lowest price. Neither of these approaches will rarely yield a positive result. I have had numerous experiences that a customer of mine has chosen a vendor and then found out they were either overcharged or were lead in a dead end direction.

1. Ease of Contact – The most important process in choosing your vendor is the ability to contact them with your concerns, questions, or comments. Make sure you are familiar with their hours of operation, see if there is knowledgeable staff available. Your vendor should want to allocate the time necessary to accommodate your needs.
2. Cost Factor/Price – Watch out for the over-promise under-deliver approach. This normally occurs when a company under bids or underestimates a project simply to “get the job approved.” They are not looking at your best interest simply let’s make the money.I have learned this the hard way as when I first started in business I would try to underbid the competition and I found myself at the short end of the stick at the end of the day. Yes, I got the job and many times got the work done. But is simply getting by enough for my clients… The answer is NO. In technology the phrase “You pay for what you get” stands true. People don’t mind to pay a fair price for a service they trust and a company that delivers! If the price seems too good to be true and it differs from the average quotes you may want to re-consider as this should throw a red flag.
3. Appearance
4. Negotiation – When you receive an estimate from a respective company they will normally start with a revision 1.0. There should never be a take it or leave it approach. A respected vendor will normally be able to negotiate price for services. It may not be only a cost factor it may be simply can you add this services for same price to meet my requirements. Let them know what your looking for.
5. Ability
6. Experience
   Choose an IT vendor that either knows or can easily know your system and is interested in learning your business.
7. Multiple Proposals – A recommendation is to receive proposals from multiple vendors. Let the vendors know that your quoting others which will keep the vendor aware of competition and help maintain competitive prices. Once you receive the proposals and review services and prices, make sure your comparing apples to apples. Is each company quoting you on exact same services. Is the higher one including more? Is the less expensive including only basics.
8. References - Does the vendor have verifiable references from reputable individuals or companies. Are those businesses successful themselves?

These reminders above are normally made by administrators within the company. You may want to read how an administrators knowledge can impact the decision making process.

What are some other vendor choices that you can recommend? Leave your comments below.

Tagged as: business choices, it vendors, vendor choices