Software Selection
Identify the Right Software to Achieve Your Operational and Business Objectives
Not sure where to start? See how a Business Objective Model is created!
Smart Software Selection is an ArgonDigital solution that will help you identify the right software to solve the business problems you are targeting.
A central part of our software selection process is leveraging our extensive background in software requirements and Requirements Modeling Language (RML®) to align your business with the right software solutions to achieve immediate objectives, while also remaining scalable into the future to minimize technical debt.
The Right Solution
Value Driven and Scalable
Proven Methodology
Our approach to software selection has been fine-tuned over the years based on experience and actual outcomes with our clients. We strive to make the selection process as objective as possible and understand that software you select now should support you well into the future.
Reduce Technical Debt
What to expect when working with ArgonDigital to select the right software for your business.
Professional Software Selection is All About Identifying the Right Software to Support Your Business Objectives
ArgonDigital combines best-in-class Product Management methodology and Agile approach to deliver smart Software Selection solutions. Smart software selection strives to maximize ROI and minimize risk of project failure by distilling years of experience selecting, installing, and supporting software installations into a rigorous methodology that we use throughout all our engagements. A typical software selection cadence will look like this:- Work with project sponsors and key subject matter experts to a define and articulate a quantified set of business objectives to be solved by the software implementation.
- Identify the specific processes that will be targeted for enhancement by the software.
- Understand the current infrastructure and ecosystem that the new software will need to replace or work with
- Define the essential features and quality attributes needed to achieve the targeted objectives by the new software within the constraints of the existing environment.
- Prioritize the features and quality attributes to enable us to narrow our focus to functionality that is truly valuable and necessary to achieve your business objectives.
- Identify a short list of potential solutions that could satisfy the requirements we have defined.
- Gather detailed information on each potential solution and compare them with each other on the functionality that is of value to us.
- Make recommendation on the software that has the best combination of feature support, price, and quality attributes for your company.
Our Approach to Smart Software Selection
Define the Value to be Realized and the Problems to be Solved
Identify
First, we identify your technology problems, then we align on your objectives to identify all required features and functionality.
Understand
Next, we work with your team to assess your current state and what systems a new software will need to integrate with.
Technology
Model
We use our Requirements Modeling Language to compile our findings into visual models so everyone can view the processes and systems in an easy-to-understand image.
We love aligning great companies with the right software solutions.
Identifying the right software starts with defining the necessary requirements.
Our rigorous and thorough Product Management methodologies are what allow us to find and recommend the best solutions for your business.
See how we have helped other businesses identify and select the right software solution to support their objectives.
Case Study: Selecting a Content Management System
See how we helped one state agency build a technology roadmap to help select and implement the best solution to ensure the financial documentation behind their $22 billion investment fund was modernized to make it more secure, easier to organize and retrieve information, and stay in compliance with state auditors.
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How to Evaluate and Select the Right COTS Solution Some organizations acquire and adapt commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) packaged solutions to meet their software needs, instead of building new systems from
Joy Beatty in Information Management’s “DMRadio” and Better Software Conference West Requirements Workshop
Joy Beatty, VP of Research at ArgonDigital, participated in a panel discussion on software requirements on Information Management Magazine’s “DMRadio.” If you’d like to listen to the archived discussion, you
Incorporating the Software Test Team into the Software Requirements Creation Process – Part 3
This is the last post in a series on “why incorporate the test team into software requirements creation earlier” – for the first post, click here; for the second post,
Best-in-Class Software Selection Process
Companies need to respond in the next sixty to ninety days with solutions to the problems they face, not a year or eighteen months from now. They need to be prepared for different challenges and course corrections as new problems rise in the months ahead by being willing to change as needed. And they need to be nimble in their approach by incorporating real world feedback to fine tune their solutions. Taken together, the software choices they make can literally make or break their business and have a lasting impact on their competitive position vis-à-vis their peers.
ArgonDigital is laser focused on delivering valuable software to production in the shortest practical time. This enables companies to get in front of their problems immediately as opposed to doing nothing that delivers value now and hoping for the best with a non-iterative approach. The software that is selected is a critical determinant of their ability to respond in a timely manner to address threats and seize opportunities. Our field-tested methodology ensures that you can find the software that has the optimal combination of features, price, and quality to solve your problems today and grow with you in the future.
So, where do you start? Schedule a conversation with one of our account managers to discuss your current challenges, and together we’ll identify the optimal software solution for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions About Software Selection
The time taken will depend on the following factors:
- The complexity of the current software you are seeking to replace.
- The total number of impacted systems.
- The total number of integrations between systems.
- The total number of processes to be supported on the new platform.
- Number of new features to be built as part of the software replacement effort.
- Quality of existing documentation that describes current state processes, data, and systems.
- Number of potential solutions you wish to evaluate before arriving at the final choice.
- Time devoted to the exercise by project leadership and key stakeholders.
Our Account Management team will work closely with you to size the effort and strive to give you an accurate assessment of time and effort taken to complete the task. Most engagements take six to eight weeks to make a recommendation.
Great question! If all you want to do is compare a shortlist of two or three software options, then you can certainly do that exercise very quickly. However, that is typically not the problem we are trying to solve. ArgonDigital wants to save you time and money over the course of the deployment, not just selection, by answering the following additional questions:
- What specific business problems are you addressing with the new software?
- What business outcomes are you targeting with your replacement?
- What features and functionality are essential to addressing your business problems and achieving targeted outcomes?
- What features and functionality are superfluous for your needs? This is an essential question that is often ignored by software vendors and most consultants.
- How can we reduce the risk of project failure?
- What is the shortest path to realizing value from your investment?
We spend more time answering these questions upfront to ensure success of the eventual deployment. Why? Because that is the goal – having a successful deployment, not just picking one from a handful of options as quickly as possible.
Please contact our Account Management team and we will show you why time and effort expended selecting software with our methodology will result in significant savings through the entire life of your project.
Our Smart Software selection methodology is applicable to all situations. Our value driven focus is not specific to any narrow cross section of software.
A few examples of the range and diversity of software that we have helped companies select include:
- Insurance Claims Management
- Lease Servicing
- Warehouse Operations
- Credit Management
- Document Management
- Electronic Communications
- Order Processing
- Fraud Prevention
One of the things that we take great pride in at ArgonDigital is our integrity. If we believe that we cannot help you, we will not take the engagement. So please do not hesitate to contact our Account Management team and we will work with you to see if our methodology is a fit for your unique needs.
Software selection is a broad category that can include various key tasks. A complete software selection process could likely include:
- Understanding current needs and system architecture
- Analyzing and evaluating technology options
- Analyzing and evaluating vendors and software, or
- Creating and managing an RFQ process
- Developing a deployment/integration strategy
- Defining requirements for any needed customization/configuration
- Managing delivery of new software
What suits a client best depends on the internal resources available, as well as the complexity of the situation. With ArgonDigital’s deep expertise in modeling and requirements management, along with our experience in product management, we are capable of supporting the full spectrum of your software selection needs.
Our goal is to provide you with the necessary information to make the right decision for your business, and to be ready to provide the guidance needed to best manage deployment.
In some situations there are options that easily fit within the current ecosystem as out-of-the-box solutions, simply needing minor configurations and integrations before adding direct value. Other situations can be more complex, where multiple existing systems also need configuration to create a best-in-class solution for your business.
But our goal will always be to understand your business, your objectives, and find the best solution to connect your business to your objectives. At times we have found this to be a solution that was unknown or not considered to begin with, or introducing technology a client had little prior knowledge about. This often results in a client reducing what they initially believed would be a $500k/+12-month deployment by half, both in terms of cost and time, while leaving the majority of their current infrastructure in place, rather than invest in a complete replacement.
We use a variety of methods and tools during the evaluation process, whether we are looking at an array of technologies or specific software packages. There is a lot of work that goes into laying the foundation for a good analysis, including ecosystem maps, process flows, business data diagrams, and objectives models among many others. Each brings different elements of perspective that are essential.
Using these tools, we model requirements, connecting items relationally, as well as how they can each be satisfied and optimized. This gives us a good measure of ideal solutions within a defined architecture against which we can evaluate different packages to assess strengths, weaknesses, and fit, while also shedding light on possible risks you should be aware of and consider in your decision-making.