Digital White Papers

21 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Selecting Your Firm's New Financial System Identify Needs Distinguishing between wants and needs can be a tricky process, especially when working with people who have seled into their routines. Just because your firm's old soware performed a function one way does not mean it was the best way. It is common for people to be averse to change; it is uncommon to find individuals capable of implementing change smoothly. Having the proper product expertise available to you is instrumental when identifying necessities over desires. Once requirements are determined and various product offerings are analyzed against these needs, weigh your firm's needs and compare the soware. Products will inevitably have features your firm requires, but miss others. In some circumstances, a combination of solutions might be appropriate. Working with System Vendors We don't know what we don't know. When working with system vendors, it pays to know what to ask, just as it pays to demand in- depth answers. Your firm needs to know what kinds of questions to ask vendors regarding functionality, pricing, capabilities and future support, and your firm must be able to ask in a detailed way. If your firm asks for "X," but the vendor interprets "X" as "Y," they might think they supply "X" when they don't. In a real-world example, you might ask a vendor if their soware can accommodate multiple languages, and the vendor might say yes. However, if you specifically ask whether their product can accommodate character languages, such as Japanese or Chinese, you might receive a different answer. A vendor should explain comprehensively the specific process that "X" represents. A high level of detail should be visible in vendor demonstrations as well. If a vendor treats the demonstration as simply another 90-minute performance, this should raise red flags. The demonstrations should give you a clear look into the system, and the presenter should answer your questions in depth during the session. If they need to get back to you on an item, make sure the issue is addressed, and pay aention to how quickly they respond. Before making the final decision on a system, remember to consider the unfortunate reality that something at some point will go wrong. Confidence that the vendor can fix these problems is invaluable. Consider this point when negotiating contracts with vendors. Consider Professional Assistance Many firms turn to professional experts to guide them through the selection process and subsequent implementation, while other firms believe they have the necessary resources to manage the project in-house. Only your firm can decide which route to take, but many options are on the table. Bringing on a third party to assist with your financial system selection has the potential to lead to a long-term business relationship. If your firm hires third-party help, there are several questions to ask to help you select the right company: » Are they product-neutral, or do they participate in reseller agreements with system vendors? » Do they have experience working with firms of different sizes, or will we be geing one-size-fits-all treatment? Before starting their selection work, firms should drop any preconceived notions about systems and vendors until further analysis is completed.

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