Should you decide to acquire new business software from a particular vendor, you are likely to have a very close working relationship with that organisation’s staff and management over the next few years. You may have met quite a few people within the vendor organisation already, and will have formed an opinion. But more information is always useful and this checklist provides some questions to ask about the key people you may be working with, their qualifications, skills and expertise.

GENERAL PERSONNEL QUERIES

• What is the structure of support services within the vendor company? Can you see an organisation chart? • How many people are employed within each department eg consulting, training, support, administration, sales? • What is the maximum number of implementations the vendor can support at any one time? How close are they / will they be to that limit with your implementation? • What level of customer service does the vendor usually provide? And how regularly does it go above and beyond the usual levels? • What is the employee turnover rate eg for previous and current years, and by department? • What are the reasons for any changes • How does the vendor retain its key skilled employees?

QUESTIONS ABOUT KEY PEOPLE YOU MAY BE WORKING WITH

Questions about key people you may be working with eg an account manager, project manager, business analysts, consultants, trainers, help desk and support staff: • Who would be your main point(s) of contact within the vendor organisation? • Can you choose named individuals or the most suitable / best employees (within the vendor company) for your implementation project? • Can you see summary biographies or CV's of these people? • Can you check their histories and references • Find out which customers they have worked with and then contact those customers, for comments about them and how well they worked on their project? • Are there any feedback mechanisms for customers to discuss vendor employee performance with their line managers? • Do customers ever get involved with vendor employee performance reviews?

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND EXPERTISE

• What education, qualifications, skills, experience does the vendor require for its specific account manager, project manager, analyst, consultant, trainer, support roles? • What skills, training does the vendor require to be maintained? • What training does the vendor provide for its employees? For more due diligence checklists and questions, visit: Software vendor support, Implementation support, Reference site visit checklist, Vendor accounts, Vendor personnel, Vendor software product development, Software payment terms, Final software decision, Software agreement checklist