Approach software selection EPM solution

A proven roadmap that includes best practices from the past 20 years; that’s the Finext Selection Scenario. This roadmap allows us to perform the selection efficiently and in a controlled manner. We offer a menu for the selection process, with several ingredients to choose from in each step.

Inspiration

In this step, we create awareness about the latest developments in this software market, possibly supported by high-level demos of the various solutions for an initial “look & feel.” Essential themes that we discuss are the vision and possibilities of an “integrated EPM platform” versus “point solutions,” “development tool,” versus “application,” but also the concept of “management by your organization.”

Requirements

During the “Requirements” step, we jointly determine the scope of the intended solution. We do not start with a blank sheet, but we start from our requirements overviews, which we have built up based on more than 20 years of experience. Besides this requirements overview, we often use an online questionnaire that we have developed for the various EPM processes. The survey can be used in a modular way and adapted to your wishes. This way of working allows us to get stakeholders’ priorities clear and easily accessible. Such clearness creates space for beneficial discussions, and we can skip the “no-brainers.”Sometimes the reporting processes are so complex that it makes sense first to visualize them graphically. For this, we use visualization solutions such as “Engage Modeler.” This way, we quickly get to the top of the complexity, and we can look for smart improvements.

Market scan

During this step, we score the known solutions from the market based on the requirements and the weighting given by the stakeholders. In this way, we objectively move from a longlist to a shortlist.

Proof

We often include custom demos in this step. We prepare demo scripts or give the software parties of the shortlist several specific use cases to be elaborated in which the differences in the solutions are evident. Our role is to guide the process and ask critical questions. We keep both your organization and the software suppliers sharp. All too often, software suppliers provide insufficient or evasive answers to your questions. Then it is nice to have us to challenge these answers.

Selection

In addition to the vendors’ demos, it is at least as important to hear how other users experience the solutions and make their choices. We use our network for this. You can benefit from our experience to avoid pitfalls during the reference visits and support negotiation and purchase.