Evaluating EDI/EAI/B2B Software Platforms

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• Evaluating EDI/EAI/B2B Software Platforms

Wayne Marshall May 18, 2007 207 827-4395
wmarshall_at_edispecialists.com
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Agenda Details

• Personal Attendee Introduction Why here?
• About EDI Specialists
• Internal Context Strategy/Alignment/Buy-in
• External Context Partners/Industry/Vendors
• Software Categorization
• Evaluation Criteria General Specific
• Other Factors Subjective Objective
• The Process Whittling, Demos, Pilots
• Sample Matrix
• Helpful Hints

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• Internal Context Strategy/Alignment/Buy-in
• Evaluations should be conducted in the context
  of an overall business and IT strategy.
• Alignment between Business, IT and Departmental
  goals strategies.
• Aim for buy-in among stakeholders, functional
  areas and IT management.
• Include internal competition.
• Look 3-5 years out.

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• External Context Partners/Industry/Vendors
• Evaluations should also be performed in the
  context of the outside world.
• Ask your trading partners what they might be
  doing with phone calls or formal surveys.
• Keep abreast of industry trends, mandates, etc.
  by talking, reading attending conferences.
  (newsletter)
• Listen to the vendor community understand the
  technology direction.
• Look 3-5 years out.

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• Software Categorization
• This is not your grandfathers Oldsmobile
  anymore! EAI, Workflow, BPM, Dashboards, etc.
  have changed our world.
• Three Categories (Waynes World)
• EDI Translator Engines vanilla, no workflow
• EAI Platforms workflow component, modular
• High-end Transactional S/W speed, volumes

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• Evaluation Criteria General Specific
• General what anyone would want to know
• Specific to your companys requirements
• General criteria includes
• Costs, Training, H/W OS, Support, etc.
• Note Costs include many factors..
• Specific criteria includes
• ERP integration, H/W OS, Standards Support,
  etc.

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• Other Factors Subjective Objective
• Subjective based on judgment instinct
• Objective based on facts observations
• Subjective criteria includes
• User friendly interface, client ratings
  support, etc.
• Objective criteria includes
• Cost to own, vendor stability, resource
  availability, etc.

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• The Process Whittling, Demos, Pilots
• After you have done your fact finding
  developed the matrix....
• Note Matrix will be more complete after the
  following
• Start whittling down the options some will be
  discarded quickly.
• Choose 3 or 4 on which to focus.
• Ask for demos/road shows this could be an
  iterative process.
• Ask them how they would implement your most
  complex process.
• Pilots can be valuable but costly.

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• Helpful Hints
• Calculate the Total Cost of Ownership.
• Implementation, h/w, db, training, migration,
  hiring, etc.
• Get more than the vendors references do a
  client visit.
• Ask vendors about their strategy.
• Try to develop an all inclusive list of s/w
  options.
• This can seem like youre comparing apples to
  oranges.
• Do your homework this takes time.
• Buy at the end of a quarter or year.