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January 04, 2022

Selecting your technology partner

Key factors while selecting your technology partner

Many companies are searching for a perfect partner to support them in digital transformation. However, a few of them to choose partner who understands their needs, vision and act as a strategic partner.

Selecting the right technology implementation partner is as important as choosing the right software for your business. Once you have selected which software to deploy, you need to make important decision, on which company to partner with. The success or failure of your project will highly depend on your partner’s experience, competence, project management skills, and, of course, availability of consultants in the region. If project implementation is healthy, it can provide vital insights to the management where they can make the right steps to battle competitors.

Selecting the right partner and using their experience appropriately is crucial. But what should you look for in a partner? Why local support and presence is important? If your project succeeds or fails depend on following key considerations:

Stability & Experience

Make sure to select a partner with strong track record and years of experience in selected solution who have developed a methodology for implementing innovation solutions and set of experience to back it up. For large scale implementations it is always safe to select a company with many years of experience, that has client success stories and case studies to prove it. You will need to review and research if they have been stable partner for other customers throughout project implementation, go-live and ongoing support in the region. Technology partner has to understand your entire business, not just its IT software. It can be too tempting to focus only on the software, however the ideal partner should understand business processes.

Reputation in the SAP Community

Technology community is like being part of family, everyone knows each other, and you build a reputation within this community which gives you credibility and visibility as a leader. Reputation is key on your partner selection. Check background information and contact existing customers and partners for support, if company has a proven track record

Fit for purpose

There are any software companies who are well knowledged in basic systems, however, many are lacking of competencies in organizational change management which can lead to fail the entire project as it is underestimated part of implementation. You need to find best fit in partner who could support you on understanding of the impact when transitioning from current way of doing business to future state equipping users with trainings necessary.

Expertise is necessary but not sufficient; culture matters too

Working side by side on implementation project is simply human interaction. And some implementations could take more than 6 to 8 month. Chemistry and cultural fit, sharing the same values which helps to make a successful team. So, make sure that they get a long well and fit each other.

Geography. Local Consultants

Without skilled professionals by your side, you run the risk of failing. It is absolutely vital to have consultants onsite before choosing the partner. Understand the resources you are onboarding and interview prior to project start, to make sure that they are available locally where partners regional office located.

Cost

I’m sure you have heard the saying: “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.”

When you're first starting out, it's always tempting to go as cheap as possible to get your digital transformation done. If you are deciding on lower rate partner, there is a reason for that. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be a great idea for many companies as while cutting costs on local consultant and hiring remote, you are risking to fail your project.

Post implementation support

After the project is completed, technical support with monitoring and assessment, to see if further improvements can be made to optimize the benefits. Routine support and maintenance is highly recommended and many partners don’t have local support consultants. Not only they need to be there for implementation, but for as long as you own the system.

International experience

Ensure that partner you are selecting has consultants with global experience, in key markets your growth is important and have rapid access to technology experts to scale your strategy in international markets.

References

“Trust but verify” Russian proverb. Reference or background check to ensure company has done successful implementations within your industry with global reach. Conduct right interviews and learn more about your partner’s experience.

Partner who offers innovative solutions

Figuring out who to work with can be difficult. One of the ways to get through this is to run a rigorous process, set clear criteria and learn if company innovative and up to of digital transformation trends to support you further on your company strategy.

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