{"id":1846,"date":"2023-01-13T14:35:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T12:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dam-evangelist.blog\/?p=1846"},"modified":"2023-01-13T14:35:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T12:35:46","slug":"3-steps-to-agile-software-selection-2-the-right-choice-of-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dam-evangelist.blog\/en\/2023\/01\/13\/3-steps-to-agile-software-selection-2-the-right-choice-of-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"3 steps to agile software selection – 2. the right choice of partner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Agile<\/p>\n

In the second step of the Agile Software Selection process, I will talk about choosing the right partner!<\/p>\n

After we have identified the stakeholders in step 1 and written their most important stories, it is now time to select the right partner for the upcoming software acquisition and its integration.<\/p>\n

For this selection process, a certain knowledge of the market is definitely a great advantage. Based on the user stories, an experienced consultant can already identify the DAM systems that can be shortlisted.<\/p>\n

The number of DAM manufacturers has increased at an inflationary rate in recent years and a certain pre-selection process is therefore necessary. You as a company can try to do this yourself and get information from the usual consulting agencies such as Gartner (Gartner<\/a>), or the Real Story Group (The Real Story Group<\/a>), but this requires an internal employee to deal intensively with the methodologies of these agencies. In addition, at least these two consulting agencies are focused on the American market, which will not necessarily make the selection easier, so it is advantageous here to fall back on external help.
\nPersonally, I would recommend selecting no more than 5 providers for the shortlist of partners.<\/p>\n

One question that always comes up then is: “Do we want to work directly with the manufacturer, or with an authorised integrator?”<\/h4>\n

Many companies, especially large ones, want to work directly with the manufacturer. This has the advantage that you get to know the people who are directly behind the product, and you also have the impression that the manufacturer will also align its product with the wishes and needs of the new customer (which, in reality, is usually not the case), but it also has a decisive disadvantage:
\nMany manufacturers do not have a pure “professional services team” that specialises in integrations. This is a problem from my point of view. A manufacturer who cannot offer this team should concentrate purely on the further development and improvement of its product, otherwise one component, either product development or integration and project business, will suffer.<\/p>\n

Therefore my advice:<\/h4>\n

If a manufacturer has a real “professional services team” that specialises in integrations and individual project development, then you can work directly with the manufacturer, otherwise I would advise against it and rather see the integration part with an authorised integrator.
\nBy the way, a manufacturer can always work together with an integrator at the customer’s site, or you can always ask the manufacturer to recommend a suitable integrator.
\nAfter the selection\/pre-selection of suitable systems, our user stories now come back on the agenda.
\nInstead of useless lists of requirements, the user stories (An example of specific user stories can be found here: DAM selection process: Five typical user stories you should know!) are sent to the individual system providers. Of course, it makes sense to discuss the individual User Stories with the providers again in the run-up to a demo. These user stories should be the basis of a personalised demo to be presented by the provider.
\nWhat are the goals of this kind of approach and what are the advantages for you as a company of this process?<\/p>\n