How Best to Procure MADTechAI

How Best to Procure MADTechAI

By William A. Lederer, Chairman and CEO, iSOCRATES®

Procuring a MADTechAI solution can require a number of steps, from evaluating platforms to hiring and onboarding new employees. Fortunately, by understanding how the procurement process works and learning best practices, you can ensure that your investment in business intelligence is worthwhile. Here’s what you need to know.

Evaluation & Selection

Before signing a contract with a BI vendor, create a small, measurable test to get a proof of concept (POC). This will help you determine if a vendor can deliver what they promise. Keep in mind that just because a POC fails, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work with a vendor. At the very least, though, you’ll have a better idea of what the tool can and can’t do.

Contracting & Staffing

You may already have people on your team who are familiar with business intelligence and how to use the software; if that’s the case, you’ll need to focus on training for each new tool.

In other cases, you may need to hire an employee or team that’s dedicated to your MADTechAI efforts. When sourcing talent, here are a few qualities to look for:

• Strong Communication: Managing BI requires frequent communication with managers, subordinates, and peers.
• Data Analysis: While BI tools help with gleaning insights, your team will need superb analysis skills to get the most out of the platform.
• Critical Thinking: Even if your team uses the best and most advanced tools, problem-solving will always be necessary. For example, data discrepancies and functionality issues are common.

Onboarding & Training

Managing business intelligence requires a diverse skillset. Your employees will need to handle everything from working with vendors to reporting, analysis, and integrating data sources. As a result, new hires will need onboarding and training in many different areas. Here are some best practices to create an efficient process:

• Set Expectations: Advise them on what will be expected of them, including immediate projects, relevant policies, who to go to with questions, and potential projects down the line.
• Teach Them About the Customer: No matter your industry, a business intelligence analyst will need to have a firm grasp of your customer demographics and segments.
• Run Through the History: Run through past projects and insights; this will ensure they don’t need to reinvent the wheel and that they know who to go to about different initiatives.

The Steps to Procure a MADTechAI Solution

Here’s a broad overview of the procurement process to keep in mind:

1. Select a potential BI vendor.
2. Prepare an RFI or RFP.
3. Get a presentation and demo.
4. Receive RFI or RFP response.
5. Evaluate the RFI or RFP response.
6. Receive and evaluate vendor Master Service Agreement (MSA) and State of Work (SOW) that lays out the Terms of Service.
7. Negotiate and agree upon commercial terms with vendor.
8. Design a mutually acceptable Proof of Concept (POC).
9. Negotiate final MSA and SOW.
10. Complete the POC.
11. If POC is successful, execute the Agreement.
12. Onboard with the new BI vendor.

If you’re interested in learning more about procuring MADTechAI and how to choose the right platform for your needs, download our latest whitepaper.