A step-by-step guide to selecting the right PPM software - from identifying business pains and researching vendors to formal evaluation and final vendor selection.
Selecting the right Project Portfolio Management software (PPM software) is a critical decision for any project-centric organization. With a constantly evolving marketplace and a wide range of options - from basic project management tools to comprehensive enterprise-level solutions - choosing the best fit can be overwhelming.
This guide is designed to help you navigate the complexities of the PPM software selection process. By following a structured approach, from identifying your business pains to researching vendors and conducting formal evaluations, you can ensure that your organization selects the most effective solution to meet its unique needs and drive long-term success.
Step 1: Business pain
Clearly identify current needs and requirements
Probably one of the most common mistakes buyers of enterprise software make is to take a reactive approach to the evaluation and selection of a new system. Based on partial requirements and/or possibly partial short-term challenges they face, it is not uncommon for companies to launch a full-blown evaluation project for a new system without fully understanding their needs and the long-term impact of a newly acquired system.
This reality is even more true for project-centric organizations that are looking for a portfolio and project management tool to assist them in their everyday tasks. Navigating the PPM marketplace can be very complex with a whole host of options ranging from basic project management tools delivered on-demand to full blown project portfolio management systems aimed at meeting the enterprise needs of the project management office (PMO).
Considering this, it is critical that organizations do their homework in assessing their own requirements before falling into an unguided PPM evaluation trap that can frankly leave them confused or led down the path of analysis paralysis with a lot of time and money wasted leading to poor results.
To avoid an unsuccessful evaluation project, as a first step, PPM buyers need to clearly identify the relevant business pains, establish stakeholder buy-in and build a plan for the evaluation process.
To get started, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:
The key to successfully launching a PPM evaluation project is to be methodical and comprehensive when it comes to taking stock of your current situation. Clarity of your own needs will start you off on the right foot in finding the best project and portfolio management solution to best suit your needs.
| Question | Tip |
|---|---|
| What is the organisation's commitment to solving the issues at hand? Is there an allocated budget? | Buy-in to move forward for a new system must go beyond your own personal situation. Without the necessary buy-in a lot of effort can be wasted on your part, both financially and politically. |
| What is the business pain that needs to be solved? | As much as it is important to identify all your pain points, it is as important to prioritise these pains so that you can accurately match your requirements based on a potential vendor's strengths. |
| Which group needs to be addressed? PMO, end users, executives, clients? | Addressing the right group will assist in focusing your efforts and will better assess the vendor's alignment with your end users and their roles. |
| Is the required solution for a departmental or enterprise pain, or for your own personal use? | Acknowledging where this evaluation stems from is critical in paring down the available solution options that best meet your current environment. |
| Is there a road map and timeline in place? | Having a good understanding of your organisation's maturity and ability to adopt a new PPM system will facilitate the filtering process and in some cases prevent an organisation from launching an evaluation project prematurely. |
| Have you developed a strategy and plan for evaluation? | Think of your evaluation of a new PPM system as a project in itself. Planning the evaluation process can uncover missing issues and will streamline the process so that you do not fall into an evaluation black hole. |
Step 2: Strategic research
Leverage the best online and offline sources of information
When launching your software evaluation project in the hopes of finding that perfect solution to meet your needs, you will quickly discover that "Googling" keywords to help you find your software of choice will lead you down many paths. Although more than ever the internet has shortened the process of unearthing options, it can also complicate your research process by providing unfiltered information that can leave you confused and discouraged.
The project portfolio management (PPM) software marketplace is continuously changing. As a new entrant looking for a solution it will take time and the right strategy to understand the history, business models and capabilities of the possible options that will solve your current business pains.
As much as understanding your business pain is important, it is as critical that you build a research strategy to tackle the PPM marketplace. Your research strategy needs to be effectively planned and executed in a manner that is in line with your ultimate goals in acquiring a new PPM system.
To continue your successful software evaluation journey, PPM buyers need to develop an effective research plan that will help them identify a long list of 5-10 potential vendors that may meet their needs.
To help you in your research strategy, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself:
Developing a long list of 5-10 potential suppliers to meet your unique needs requires a well thought out and planned research strategy. Following a road map will point you in the right direction in evaluating the best project portfolio management solutions aligned with your business.
| Question | Tip |
|---|---|
| Have you developed a research strategy in mining the Web to identify potential vendors? | The Web has many valuable as well as misguided sources of information. Before searching for vendor information, it can be very effective to first begin your online research by identifying credible media, analyst and review sources to help build your knowledge of the PPM vendor landscape. |
| Who can you consult in your internal network to provide referrals and/or recommendations? | Consulting your network of peers can provide you with additional information about potential suppliers and their product capabilities, services and reliability. Discussing firsthand experiences with real customers of a system will uncover strengths and weaknesses that are typically unavailable by third-party sources. |
| Have you built a framework for the process of elimination? | Building a framework and the relevant criteria in your process of elimination will facilitate your development in a long list of vendors and ensure their financial, functional and cultural alignment with your business. |
| Have you gathered requirements and begun mapping your needs to the available options? | As part of your research strategy it is essential to build a requirements list that can easily map to vendor capabilities in the form of an evaluation matrix, RFP or RFI. |
Step 3: Formal evaluation
Develop a formal approach to analyze and share vendor information
At the end of the research process in your evaluation for a new solution, the real work begins with efficiently organizing all the information gathered and effectively building a formal process of mapping your prioritized needs to the available options in the marketplace. Depending on the depth of your evaluation, building an evaluation matrix in the form of a Request for Information (RFI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) document can deliver the transparency required to guide you toward the best fit solution.
The PPM marketplace is constantly evolving and demands a formal process to clearly assess the various products and the ability for vendors to deliver on their promises. Organizations need to establish a software evaluation and selection process for the project portfolio management (PPM) software marketplace that considers both functional capabilities and vendor viability.
Formalizing the software evaluation and selection process should not be taken lightly. It is this process that will ensure the right choice is made and can save your organization time, money and grief that can occur when going down the wrong path.
To ensure the successful evaluation and selection of a PPM solution, buyers need to establish a formalized software evaluation process that will allow them to determine and assess their shortlist of 2-3 vendors that will ultimately meet their needs.
When developing a formalized software evaluation process, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself:
Evaluating your short list of 2-3 potential suppliers demands a well-crafted plan of attack. Building the right processes and employing the right tools will provide the required transparency to the evaluation team in objectively reviewing project portfolio management solutions best suited to their needs.
| Question | Tip |
|---|---|
| Have you rated the vendor's response time and service during the evaluation engagement? | Rating a vendor's responsiveness to your queries prior to being a customer will provide you with a good indicator on how you can expect to be serviced should you move forward with their solution. After all, if you can't get decent service on answering basic pre-sales questions, what can you expect when the questions become more complex as a customer? |
| Have you defined your engagement model and budget? (i.e. lease or buy; SaaS or On-Premise) | The PPM marketplace offers many options to meet the varied needs of project-driven organisations. From basic project management solutions to complete enterprise PPM offerings, these software packages can be either purchased or leased. Defining what model works best for your organisation will save you a lot of effort wasted on products that may not meet your financial constraints. |
| Is there a good match with the vendor as a company and your organisation? (self-financed? Acquired by a bigger brand? Funded by VCs?) | Many buyers of enterprise software often neglect the non-functional aspects of the evaluation process. A product is only as good as the people/organisation behind it. The last thing you want to do is acquire a solution from a company that cannot adequately service your needs or will not have the longevity to grow with you. Asking the right business questions can reveal a lot about your future vendor. |
| Have you established a strategy to validate the vendor capabilities? (technically and organizationally) | Beyond features and functions, vendors need to be assessed on the delivery of their offering. A successful product implementation will heavily rely on the vendor's domain expertise in your industry and technical capabilities to meet your unique project environment. |
| Have you developed an in depth analysis between your needs and the possible products? | Having the mechanism to clearly evaluate product capabilities matched to your needs is a critical component in making sure the chosen solution will cover your existing needs and is scalable to grow with your future requirements. |
Step 4: Vendor selection
Validate your analysis with vendor interactions
Once a short list of vendors has been determined and all the necessary data has been gathered, the final step in the evaluation process of a new system is to dig deeper with the final candidates to validate your analysis and finalize the procurement process to move forward in your decision. As organizations get closer to their final decision, the procurement strategy comes to the forefront and stakeholder buy-in must be validated.
There are several strategies that facilitate the decision-making process of selecting the best fit project and portfolio management (PPM) solution to meet your needs. From developing scripted demos to distributing Requests for Quotations (RFQs) to short-listing vendors; these final strategies will provide you with the necessary information to make the best-informed decision possible.
Incorporating key pricing, trial and demo details into a formalized software evaluation and selection process will not only provide complete information for analysis but will also allow you and your organization to engage with your potential supplier. This interaction will also ensure that there is a cultural fit with your software provider.
The final selection of a PPM package requires a methodical approach from the exploratory stage until final acquisition. As a final phase, the best fit solution will come on top based on how well a vendor has demonstrated their ability to meet the functional, cultural, and financial needs of your organisation.
When finalizing the selection of your new PPM software, here are some the questions you need to ask yourself:
In your final stage, selecting your vendor and product of choice should be a final validation of your analysis. At this stage it's the vendor's business to lose if they are not able to effectively demonstrate on their product and business information you have captured and delivered at a fair market value.
| Question | Tip |
|---|---|
| Have you identified how you would test, pilot or validate the potential products? | Having a hands-on or in-depth review will validate the information you already have gathered on your shortlisted vendors. Reviewing the usability and capabilities of the products will confirm or not the alignment and adoption of the proposed solutions. |
| Have you developed a scripted demonstration so that you can establish an apple to apple comparison? | Scripted demos allow you to see an example of how the solution will be used in your organisation. It will also ensure that there is a level playing field between potential products and that your decision will be based on facts. |
| Have you defined what you need to have in a proposal to make an informed decision? | At the end of an evaluation process, many buyers will often make assumptions that may hurt the final product selection. Clearly communicating all the necessary information to the potential vendors that needs to be detailed and summarised in their final proposal will ensure that your expectations will be met. |
| Have you established a process to evaluate services and support expectations? | In today's marketplace vendors need to be treated equally to service providers in order to ensure success. With this in mind, it is equally important to effectively incorporate these details in your final analysis and decision. |
| Have you determined what you need in terms of references and case studies to make your final decision? | Third-party and customer references can reveal any unforeseen obstacles with your chosen solution. Once again, you can never be too prepared when moving forward with your selected solution provider. |
Conclusion: Choosing the right PPM software for your organization
Selecting the best PPM software is a critical decision that can significantly impact the efficiency and success of your project portfolio. By following a structured approach - starting with identifying your business needs, conducting thorough research, evaluating vendors, and making informed choices - you set your organization up for long-term success.
As you navigate the PPM landscape, consider solutions that not only meet your immediate needs but also offer scalability and flexibility for future growth. One such solution is Cerri Project, which provides comprehensive tools to support your project and portfolio management. From advanced resource allocation to real-time collaboration and decision-making features, Cerri Project PPM Software enables organizations to streamline workflows and drive higher ROI from their projects.
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