Google and Gartner are not where to begin. Based on my experience with this and previous software vetting projects, a search engine should be one of your last options when looking to build a broad list of vendors. Many of you reading this are in marketing (if anyone is reading this …), so you understand how search engine bias could easily influence your resulting list of vendors were you to search DAM vendors.
I also do not believe you should begin this process with an analysts list of vendors (e.g. Forrester or Gartner), since the analysts scope is typically biased towards vendors that fund the research. I do believe the analysts reports are a good source of terminology and definitions to help you validate and refine the description of your business scenarios and requirements.
So where should you begin, my recommendation is to begin with your network. Ask your connections if they or their company is working with the type of software that you are looking to select - chances are that you will get some positive responses. In this particular project one of the most knowledgeable resources I spoke with was Max Dunn (link) as his company is in the business of integrating Adobe applications with DAM products. Now I was fortunate to have an expert such as Max in my network, but I also benefited from connections that were simply using DAM products as well.
The long and short of it. As you begin to get an understanding of the vendor landscape, from your network, analyst reports, and general research you can begin to develop a long list of potential candidates. Depending on the system and requirements this could be a narrow or broad list, and in my case it was a broad list as DAM is a mature market with a lot of vendors. This was a challenge due to the in-depth review I needed to do for this project, there just was not enough time on the schedule. Therefore I took several of the primary business scenarios and requirements and used these to cull a shorter list of vendors from the market. At this point I reviewed the short list with my client and explaied the details for why each vendor was (or was not) on the list.
Respect is a two way street. Now I was ready to engage with the vendors, and something I learned a long ways back is that everyone's time is important, even someone trying to sell you their product. Therefore I took a careful and measured approach with each vendor, by introducing my project and outlining the steps I planned to take in the review. Once I had reached the right resource, which for my project meant someone from the both the product and sales side, I shared a blank copy of business scenarios and vetting grid. Some would challenge this approach as being too transparent, but the client agreed that we wanted to give each vendor the opportunity to really speak to our needs.
After a bit of back and forth on the material, I set up two meetings with each vendor. The first meeting was just myself and the vendor. This was an opportunity for the vendor to ask background or clarifying questions, and for me to get a feel for both the people, the product, and the processes the vendor used to support their customers. My goal was to maximize the time for the next meeting, which included the vendor, myself, and the whole client team. By previewing the product and providing context to the vendor, I was able to save my client time and fine-tune aspects of the demonstrations to highlight key features or gaps.
Ask and Listen. Vendor demonstrations are in many ways a balancing act. On one side you want to see specific functionality, and you want to see it in the context of how your business operates. In some cases you feel like you’ve given the vendor a slow pitch, and the product looks perfect. On the other side there are often capabilities that do not align directly with your requirements, or are in a context that is different from your operation. Both sides are critical to your evaluation. So in my experience it is essential to both script the demonstration so that it covers each business scenario and related requirements, AND give the vendor the latitude and permission to show you what you haven’t asked for. Oh, and all through this I’m feverishly taking notes, recording the meeting, and scoring the vendor.
After all of the vendor meetings (including several second meetings to clarify a critical question or demonstrate something that didn’t work the first time), and a thorough review of the recordings and my notes - I finished the vetting grid. See a section of the finished grid below.
