Product Selection
- InfiniBand switches for a High Frequency trading shop.
- Orchestration capability to automate infrastructure management.
- Streaming technology components for web browser based Trading.
- Performance and Capacity Planning toolkit for use in service delivery by a global consulting organization.
- SAN switch selection for a global Investment Bank
- Performance tools for the UNIX estate in a large utility company.
Choosing the right technology or product is a decision that your organization is going to have to live with for a long time. It is a high impact decision about which many important people will have strong opinions.
The impact of this decision can be seen from the typical product lifecycle.
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This shows the typical cost/value timeline for a new product in a large organization such as a global bank. It shows that it typically takes a couple of years to select and customise a product before it can be globally deployed. It is only after this that it can start making savings. It also shows a typical product lifecycle and the need to start thinking about it's replacement once it's usefulness starts to diminish. It is more realistic than those presented by most product vendors.
As independent Consultants we have helped many organizations make these difficult decisions. We have developed our own Product Selection Process which speeds up and avoids the straight jacket of the normal RFI/RFP procurement process. These typically don't work very well for either side, take a along time and are costly. The tick list of product compliancy conceals the complex interdependencies that exist with modern technology. We work to expose these early on in the selection process.
Vendors require expert management during this process. They are far more accustomed to these processes than the client team making the selection. Vendors will do all they can to create an advantage for themselves. At the same time, they can offer new capabilities and solutions which may have not been initially considered, so it is important to get this balance right between constraining them without crippling their chance to innovate. We use carefully managed and structured workshops to achieve these results and maintain fairness between the different vendors
In a large organization, their will inevitably be important people with strong opinions about the result. The energy and knowledge of these people needs to be harnessed in the selection process. We setup a transparent process that encourages broad participation and provides a audit trail on how and why the decision was made. Given the typical product lifecycle, this decision will be questioned for years to come!
If are about to start the selection of a new or replacement product, come and talk to us. We are independent and have built our reputation on complex IT technologies. Some of the product selections we have helped are:
Next steps
Have a Product to select? send us your requirements providing your details and we will quickly get back to you