Selecting Project Partners
In the selection of suppliers, a number of factors have to be considered.
The partner selected is likely to have a continuing relationship with your organisation for 5 years. This the natural life of a system, before it is re-engineered, so making consideration of a new partner a viable alternative. No matter how well the supplier has documented the system, the premature replacement of them is likely to be hampered by the costs of bringing the new provider, up to speed, or the extra management time needed to make the change, or it is often simpler to stay with the “the devil you know.”
Since this is not a short-term decision, there are several factors which can be weighted as highly as the supplier’s technical skills.
Is the company financially strong enough to be around in five years’ time? How important is the present management and key players to the supplier’s performance? Are they likely to leave, or be so successful that they sell out to a larger operation? Do you and your team relate to them, feel comfortable, or will you be glad when the project is over. All these aspects can be summed up in the corporate culture of the company.
The technical culture must incorporate well founded disciplines to monitor, control and report work progress and the functioning of the product. Audit techniques and relevant follow-up discipline must be employed to explore the rigour of the internal design and work management processes.
Whilst it does not appear to be entirely the case, the difference between hardware and software suppliers is minimal. The hardware supplier maintains considerable software. The same is true software suppliers and the number of hardware configurations that they must support.
Weighting of the factors involved, by a Multiple Criteria Analysis (Kepnor Tragor) or structured process is desirable.