"Strategic Partners: Coming Together to Drive Decision Success"

If you receive errors when attempting to view this white paper, please install the latest version of Adobe Reader.

"TEC's solutions, which include research comparison reports, selection tools, consulting services are driven by its powerful analysis engine, eBestMatch™. TEC offers strategic partnership programs to drive decision success."
Source: Technology Evaluation Centers

Resources Related to Strategic Partners: Coming Together to Drive Decision Success:

• Strategic partnership (Wikipedia)

Strategic Partners: Coming Together to Drive Decision Success

Introduction

Strategic partnerships are changing the perception of competition. Companies that used to compete with each other now form alliances to attain their business objectives. The following case study demonstrates how a strategic partnership between PMOLink and Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) benefited each partner and, more importantly, the end consumer.

Project Background

PMOLink was contracted to manage an enterprise resource planning (ERP) replacement project for Carter Chambers LLC. (CCL), a Louisiana (US)-based manufacturer of integrated solutions for industrial valve and instrumentation applications. The project goal was to replace the company's existing ERP software as a means of streamlining its business processes, increasing quality, and reducing operating costs. PMOLink in turn sought out TEC, an impartial analyst firm specializing in software evaluation and selection capabilities. TEC's expertise is in compiling detailed information about hundreds of vendors for virtually every kind of enterprise software solution. This information can then be analyzed in eBestMatch™, an online decision support engine enabling users to determine best-fit software based on their organization's industry, business model, and requirements.

Project Challenges

CCL was facing the same fear as many other companies that had previously been through the software evaluation and selection process. Ten years prior, the company had spent a lot of time and money on an ERP system that never really delivered what CCL needed it to do. It was reasonable to expect the company to be a little anxious about going through a similar process, only to possibly end up with the same results. CCL was desirous of change, but did not know where to start and felt ill-equipped to undertake this process on its own.

PMOLink History
PMOLink Inc. is a national leading provider of best-of-breed technological services and products that help organizations effectively manage project development and business process reengineering initiatives. Headquartered in Mandeville, Louisiana (US), the firm serves clients in the United States and Mexico, including Fortune 500 energy, pharmaceutical, hospitality, media, and insurance companies.

Solution and Project Results

CCL sought outside expertise and turned to PMOLink to guide it through the evaluation and selection exercise. CCL was further reassured that this was the right decision once it was introduced to PMOLink's strategic partner, TEC.

Jointly, PMOLink and TEC enabled CCL to benefit from a proven and straightforward methodology. This multiphased approach provided CCL with the ability to identify, categorize, prioritize, and evaluate its functional requirements against vendor solutions' capabilities. More importantly, CCL was kept abreast of all activities, had access to all relevant vendor research information, and was involved in every step of the process.

"We would have been bombarded with information without the TEC resources to assist us," says Janel Levet, Senior Project Manager with PMOLink. "It was a huge benefit to be able to tap into the TEC templates and vendor research."

The vendors were surprised to discover that PMOLink and CCL knew so much about their products. TEC research is thorough and up to date; PMOLink was able to provide CCL with the ability to narrow down its vendor solution options from 20 plus to 10, and finally down to 3, using TEC's knowledge bases, methodology, and technology. TEC's extended evaluation, a key component of its methodology, enabled the project team to put together demonstration scripts that would facilitate the gathering of user's scores relating to their impressions of the shortlisted vendors' process delivery, feature and function capabilities, and cultural compatibility.

"Before bringing in the vendors for demonstrations, we needed a detailed analysis based on the hierarchical [request for proposal] RFP criteria set. These assessments formed an integral element of the comprehensive evaluation," says Blake Powell, vice president of sales at PMOLink, "and the client was floored by the level of detail that was available on the solutions."

If you combine this with a project schedule reduced by a full nine months, it's no wonder the client was thrilled. Ultimately, CCL selected Oracle on the basis of documented proof that the functionalities matched its current and future business needs.

"We had a very positive experience working with TEC, and we look forward to partnering on other projects with them," says Powell.

Because of the success of this selection project, PMOLink is fielding inquiries from other customers; enterprise software evaluation and selection has become a new service offering for PMOLink.

Partnership Program

Lorne Goloff, vice president of direct and channel sales at TEC, is very excited about the company's new partnership programs. "We're not interested in competing with consulting firms," he says. "It makes sense for everyone involved to come together in a partnership that is beneficial to all parties—us, the consulting firms, and their clients."

TEC's partnership programs meet the unique needs of consulting organizations. The research libraries and evaluation centers are organized to facilitate targeted IT research and total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses, and to provide clear supporting documentation for all IT-related initiatives. Partners can participate in either project-based programs or through a custom partner portal, where they can easily access all project data in a secure environment on a subscription basis.

"The TEC solution provided our company with instant credibility with our client, and allowed us to deliver a product on time, on schedule, and on budget for their ERP selection project."
Janel Levet Senior Project Manager, PMOLink

About TEC:
Technology Evaluation Centers is a leading provider of research and decision support technology designed to assist businesses evaluate and select the software solutions that best fit their particular needs. Its mission is to reduce the costs, risks, and time associated with software selection and implementation. Decision makers from around the world come to TEC when they want to make informed software selection decisions, rapidly and cost-effectively.

For more information, please visit
www.technologyevaluation.com/services/tec-solutions
or contact
Leona Patlik, Project Sales Coordinator
E-Mail: projectsales@technologyevaluation.com
Phone: 514-954-3665, ext. 244.

740 St.Maurice, 4th floor, Montreal, Qc, H3C 1L5 Phone: 514-954-3665 Fax: 514-954-9739 Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. www.technologyevaluation.com