Technology Buyers Guide - The Vendor

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I. The Vendor

The questions listed below relate to the vendor's viability, reliability and ability to provide ongoing support for the purchased product(s).

Resources:

Lesley Tolman, Wilson Dillaway, Marj Minnigh, Debbie Nanni

1. How long has the vendor been in business?
2. What's the vendor's financial status? Are they publicly held?
3. How does the Gartner Group (or similar entity) rate this vendor for the product(s) under consideration?
4. Does the vendor have other higher education customers for the product(s) being considered?
5. How many customers have/use the product(s) under consideration?
6. Will the vendor provide as references other customers using the products under consideration? Are any of these references from higher education?
7. Has Tufts purchased other products from the same vendor? How successful were these purchases?
8. How many developers and support people does the vendor have on staff?
9. Does the vendor offer training or consulting services in support of the product(s) under consideration? Are there business partners or 3rd party companies offering these services?
10. Does the vendor offer technical support (fixes for problems) for the product(s) under consideration? How many people are available to provide support? During what hours? In what form?
11. Does the vendor continue to make improvements or enhancements to the product under consideration?
12. Is there a user group for the product(s) under consideration? Is membership included with the purchase?
13. Does the vendor sponsor a conference for the product(s) under consideration? Are any registrations included with the purchase?
14. Is the product under consideration a core product for the vendor? What percentage of the vendor's business does it represent?
15. If the vendor offers consulting services, what are the qualifications of those performing these services? Have references been consulted?
16. Does the vendor offer implementation services or assistance? Is this included in the purchase price? If not, what's the cost of these services?
17. How many people will be using the product?
18. How important or integral will the purchase become to day-to-day processes?

Introduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Next