Selecting Project Partners

In the selection of suppliers, a number of factors have to be considered.

The partner selected is likely to have a continuing relationship for 5 years.  The natural life of a system, before it is so completely re-engineered, so making consideration of a new partner a viable alternative.  No matter how well the system has been documented by the supplier the premature replacement of them is likely to be hampered by the costs of bringing the new arrival, up to speed, or the extra management time needed to make the change or is its simpler to remain with the “the devil you know”.

Since this is not a short term decision, there are several factors which can be weighted much more importantly than the supplier’s technical skills.

Is the company financial strong enough to be around in five years time?  How important is the present management and key players to the supplier’s performance?  Are they likely to leave, or be so successful that they sell out to a larger operation?  Do you and your team relate to them, feel comfortable, or will you be glad when the project is over.  All these aspects can be summed up in the corporate culture of the company.

The technical culture must incorporate well founded disciplines to monitor, control and report work progress and the functioning of the product.  Audit techniques and relevant follow-up discipline must be employed to explore the rigour of the internal design and work management processes.

Whilst it does not appear to be entirely true the difference between hardware and software suppliers is virtually nil.  The classic hardware supplier maintains much software.  The same is true software suppliers and the number of hardware configurations that they must support.

However, the hardware supplier usually has the advantage of a higher population of product so that specific audit and validation is not a requirement.  With the exception of the largest of software suppliers, with products selling in million so of copies, audit of processes and validation of the program code is always required. If the purchaser is to maintain they regulatory compliance

Weighting of the factors involved, by a Kepnor Tragor or structured process is usually an essential tool to be used.