Picking A Software Platform 2: The Immediate Concers of our Customers
Our customers have two overriding concerns they bring to the table when we discuss a new project–they want solutions that will help them address their current problems, and they want them as inexpensively, and unobtrusively as possible. Our first two Guiding Principles help us to select platforms that will meet these concerns.
Customers Want High Quality Solutions that are Functional, and Easy to Use
In selecting platforms, we choose software that will meet the functional needs of our customers–working inside the constraint of their project needs. To that end, we look for:
- A strong list of core features that adequately covers the known list of need
- We look for platforms that have robust feature sets targeted at the problems we’re trying to solve
- Stability, high-performance, and scalability of the platform
- We like platforms that are of general high quality–they don’t crash or have mysterious problems
- A low number of bugs and process for handling them
- No software is bug-free, and how developers deal with bugs is a great indication of how responsive they will be to us in the future
- Built-in support for customizations
- We want platforms that are designed to be modified, make customization easy, and don’t break our customizations when the platform is upgraded
- Application Programming Interfaces (API’s)
- The existence of API’s is an indirect indicator of software quality and the ability to customize it
- Thorough, up-to-date technical documentation
- It is best when knowledge is not solely inside developers’ heads, but captured in a shareable format
Because our customers have limited technical resources on staff, we aim to select platforms that are very easy for them to use in getting the job done. Key indicators supporting that need are:
- A non-technical user interface that is easy to understand and navigate
- Good usability can make all the difference in the use of software
- The ability of users to successfully operate the software without formal training
- Easy and quick uptake by users, and low hurdle for training new staff
- The existence of self-help materials, and good user documentation
- An indication things are thought through and great free resources
Quality software, with good functionality, that is easy to use for the end user is the holy grail in platform selection. We often find ourselves making tradeoffs among the points above.
Customers Want Solutions that are Low Cost
Cost is an overriding constraint with most of our customers.
- Low total cost of ownership (TCO)
- We seek platforms with low acquisition costs, and low ongoing costs.
- Possibilities for cost reduction
- When there are costs associated with with solutions, we look for ways to minimize them
TCO is often a multivariate calculation–acquisition, implementation, hosting, and support costs. It’s often difficult to assess the TCO of a platform without in-depth analysis–something we undertake with each platform selection.
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