Procuring software packages for an organization is a complicated process that involves more than just technological knowledge — there are financial and support aspects to consider, proof of concepts to evaluate, and vendor negotiations to handle.

The purpose of this policy, written by Scott Matteson for TechRepublic Premium, is to help the IT department ensure all necessary information is collected and assessed when reviewing software packages in order to make the most qualified purchase possible.

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SOFTWARE PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENTS

Every software procurement project should begin with a kick-off meeting with product stakeholders. This project group must include representatives from the following areas:

The IT department.

Purchasing staff (where applicable).

Managers of employees who will use the product.

Employees of different backgrounds and disciplines who will receive the software (for instance, programmers, data science analysts, and database administrators).

The kick-off meeting should determine goals, requirements, the feasibility of the software for the business, the scope of the product — i.e., where it will be used and what its purpose will be — and an acceptable budget. The following topics will be addressed and scheduled on a project roadmap.

1. Software evaluation

A software evaluation team must be established in order to build a test plan, including analysis of the software requirements and methods to ensure potential products meet these needs. The team should be representative of all groups who will use the final product. An evaluation plan should be built with a proof of concept in mind. Candidate packages for evaluation will then be determined and narrowed down to a workable number of choices via the next three steps.

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