Software has to do what you need, and it has to suit you. I take you through the market: from the question of what the system should actually achieve, through a survey of what is on offer, to the tender and the rollout.
What it is for
For anyone facing a purchase who does not want to end up with the software that looked best first. That may be a specialist application, a content management system, a platform for collaboration, or the replacement for something that has not carried its weight for years.
How I go about it
First the requirements. I gather them by talking to the people who will work with the system, and I look at what the numbers from daily operation say about it. That becomes a requirements catalogue which separates the critical points from the pleasant ones.
Then the survey. I look at what exists, established and new, and test each system against your catalogue. The assessment runs on several dimensions: what it can do technically, what it costs, how it stands on operation, data protection and dependency, and what it means ecologically and socially.
Then the decision. You get an assessment and a recommendation, reported separately. The assessment is traceable, the recommendation you may reject.
After that, if you want it: the tender, the choice of the agency that implements the system, and support through the rollout itself, including introducing the people who will work with it.
Where I am independent
I hold no partnerships and take no commissions. I prefer free software where it carries, but I also work with proprietary systems when they meet your requirements better.
What is not part of it
I do not build the software that gets chosen, and I do not run it. Where a selection turns into a bespoke development, that is a different assignment, and I say so beforehand.
No rollout in passing either. Changing software means changing routines, and that costs time inside the house. If that time is not there, I say so rather than set a date.