- Financial Strength
- Examine the vendor financial statements.
- Industry Reputation/Commitment
- How long has the vendor been active in the retail, footwear & apparel space?
- What is the overall industry impression of this vendor? Specific to modules?
- What level of experience exists in the internal vendor team? (product direction, implementation, support, …)
- Global Presence
- Language support, currency conversion support, measurement conversion support
- Customer base extends across continents, especially Asia
- Implementation, technical support & training extend across continents, esp. Asia
- Implementation Services
- What amount of time is required to implement the product? By module, if modular.
- Does the vendor have a “quick” implementation strategy, and if so, what amount of time is required for this?
- Understand what services are available from the vendor that support Uniek implementation. This applies to both technical resources, as well as industry process consulting services.
- Strategic Partners
- Ensure the vendor can either support the need for technical resources and industry process consulting services, or has strategic relationships with consulting firms that supply these services.
- Ensure these resources, especially the industry process consulting resources, have adequate experience in the retail, footwear & apparel industries.
- Technical Support
- Understand abilities of the technical support team
- Ensure adequate testing is done on functionality and performance
- Ensure clear process for resolving issues exists, as well as an acceptable timeline.
- Ensure ability to escalate unaddressed issues when standard process fails.
- Customer References
- Review customer list (online, word of mouth), to the customer list provided by the vendor as references. Is there reason for concern? Ensure all customer references are positive. Evaluate the relationship between this vendor & the customer. Ensure a true partnership exists.
- Follow the support of a vendor to their customers (not maintenance support). Does support & partnership end as the revenue stream dries up?
Evaluation Criteria: Cost __%
