Aries Technology Group Blog

Many websites post FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions.  While helpful, the answers to those questions don’t really help you determine what system or partner adds the greatest value to your company.

What follows is a list of five questions we believe are more critical for you to ask of your potential service or system provider.  The answers will greatly assist you when choosing how to leverage a partnership to achieve your goals and unlock your results.  Listed after each question is a brief description of why you need the answers.

What value do you, the software reseller, bring to this engagement beyond the software features and functions?

This is one of the most important questions you need to bring up with any vendor or partner.  You are going to be charged a premium above the costs of the actual product.  What does the company bring to the table and, far more importantly, do you value what they bring?

What do you, the software reseller, actually sell? 

What the company sells is what is detailed on their invoices.  If the invoices state travel expenses, per diem expenses, software cost and hours worked then that is what they sell.  A look at what the company internally measures and how it holds their employees accountable will give you a much better understanding as to what they actually sell.

What support options do you, the software reseller, offer?

Many companies look at the current project and don’t address the long-term support that project will require.  Make certain that what can be offered for future needs matches what you require before you engage the partner.  Will you require support hours beyond normal business hours?  Will you require weekend support?  Will you require multiple training sessions or customized training?  Explore what you will need with your partner and determine if they can support you.

How do you, the software reseller, stand behind your work?

This is a confidence question.  Companies that provide good value are everywhere.  Companies that provide great value stand behind their promises with guarantees.  If the company is not confident enough in their own work to explicitly volunteer a guarantee, why should you be confident in them to deliver the promised results?

Should I look for a short-term, transactional relationship or a long term, strategic partnership?

This is a fascinating question that is often completely ignored in the process of finding a new system.  Really, only you can answer this question, as you know what type of relationship works best for you and your company.  Asking the question, however, will determine whether the partner you are interviewing aligns with your vision of the relationship.

When performing your diligent research, be sure to articulate what type of relationship you want with your system provide.

You’ve come to a decision.  You need a new system.  You are not getting timely or accurate information.  The current processes are too manual and require too much hand-holding.  You are losing opportunities.  You are growing.  You need a new system.

One of the first decisions you need to make is often never addressed:  “What type of relationship do we want with the new system provider?  Do we want a strategic partnership or a transactional vendor relationship?”

A transactional vendor relationship is non-intrusive.  Your goals and required results are unknown to the system provider.  You research the features and functions of the new system.  You purchase the system.  You learn it, implement it, customize it and get it running.  You find issues and determine workaround procedures.  Any issues that you cannot solve are sent to the system provider’s tech support number on the box.  You alone are accountable as your company grows to keep the system evolving to maximize your investment.

A strategic partnership is altogether different.  You share your goals with a strategic partner and leverage that partner’s knowledge to achieve the required results.  It is more intrusive than a transactional vendor relationship and there delves much more deeply into your processes and information.  It is a collaborative effort; a shared responsibility.  As issues arise, you work personally with the partner to find the best solution.  As you grow, your partner keeps pace with your new goals and feeds you information on how to best maximize your system.

There is nothing wrong with either kind of relationship. Your choice, however, needs to be deliberate. You need to understand the consequences of your choice. You need to articulate the value you expect from your choice to your team. Ignoring, or avoiding, the discussion will lead to confusion, frustration and very often failure.