The Spitfire Group’s software selection approach is made up of three major areas of activity: Vision, Alignment and Action, followed by a Transition Plan designed to make implementation easy and efficient. Based on initial planning, the specific approach, timelines and effort can vary greatly. Specific delivery will be according to your strict timeline, task and deliverables described in your business proposal. Here is a brief summary of how the software selection process works:

Vision Phase

• Spitfire will meet with your team to refine information about the business drivers, future direction and overall strategy of the organization. During initial meetings, Spitfire will work with you to review project vision, objectives, critical success factors, timeline, budget and other criteria required to produce a project charter.
• Spitfire will interview key team members to identify IT goals as they relate to the business strategy, evaluate all adjacent and dependent systems that exist and gather information about new technologies currently in review.
• Spitfire will work with subject matter experts to detail the inputs that will be used to create the solution feature criteria and selection plan. The project team will gather functional requirements and document the business processes as the inputs to the selection process.
• Finally, Spitfire will work with your project sponsors to compile a list of qualification criteria that will establish a baseline for invitation to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP). In the Functional/Technical Requirements evaluation, Spitfire will work with your team to refine the potential solution provider list.

Alignment Phase

• The project team will prepare a response document (RFP) from information in the Functional/Technical Requirements Document for each of these solution providers. Each response will be ranked using a structured list of criteria designed to prioritize or evaluate each provider’s capabilities.
• Spitfire will prepare demonstration scripts covering the key business flows documented in the Functional/Technical Requirements. Scripted demos provide a uniform method of evaluating each vendor’s solution and will help ensure that any deficiencies are surfaced, based on the identified critical business processes.
• The project team will also produce evaluation forms to be completed by each demonstration attendee, followed by a series of software demonstrations and a reference check process.

Action Phase

• At the conclusion of all the evaluations, the results will be organized and summarized into an Executive presentation document, and presented to the project Steering Committee at a group conference to select a vendor or determine if additional research is required to select a vendor.
• A final best package is selected and a plan for initial implementation, a roadmap for future implementation and rollout of the new capabilities are created.

Your Transition Plan

• Spitfire will deliver a high-level transition plan that is based on the chosen vendor. The transition plan will serve as a guide for the final implementation and will include cost estimates, high-level roadmap planning and more detailed planning for an initial implementation.
• The transition plan will also address high level data migration, transition period support, implementation risks and associated mitigation strategies.

Could The Spitfire Group’s software selection process be the change your business has been waiting for? Learn more when you contact our IT experts for a one-on-one technology consultation.