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Software Tool Evaluation Factor 8: Service and Support

Service and Support

Service & Support is an important part of the evaluation. Why? I'm sure, you don't want to buy a tool which is technical superb and has all the business features you need, but has no support, no updates, no training or service available.

How much support is necessary? This is an interesting question which nobody else can answer than the vendor itself. You can ask for some vendor reports about that, but I don't think you'll get an answer, which will tell you the truth. One possibility is to google some forums and try to find any relevant information. The better possibility is to ask the vendor, how support and support cases are handled.

How about services which includes training as well. Does the vendor offer professional services and conduct trainings? Can you order consulting for installation, implementation and configuration? Is this for free? Usually not, but sometimes vendors have packages like "Quick Start" and similar which may include this.

Can the vendor provide consulting for additional implementations? Let's go back to integrations, what we've already covered. An integration what you need is not out-of-the-box but can be implemented additionally. Can the vendor do this?

Now let us summarize these requirements around Service & support. This will include following topics:

  • Support via phone / email / remote
  • Tool Training
  • Consulting (Implementation / Configuration / Additional Services)
  • Upgrades / Updates

Support

  • Support contracts clearly specify time for response, emergency etc.
  • Guaranteed Response Time (1, 2, 4, 24 hours)
  • Support in case of failure / crash / corrupted databases is provided
  • Hotline via phone (availability 24/7 or local business hours)
  • Hotline via email (availability 24/7 or local business hours)
  • Does the vendor provide "follow the sun" support, means the support is 24/5 or 24/7 but not always in the native customer language?
  • Remote support via screen sharing is provided when necessary
  • Maximum time to implement emergency fix is provided
  • Installation support is available remote and onsite
  • Contact support is allowed in case of problems only or functionality questions as well
  • Support is provided in different languages
  • Modifying software by customer impacts warranty / support (in case the software is provided with source code included and you plan to customize
  • Support for older versions (1 year, 1 version)
  • Support discontinued when
  • Is there a must to upgrade the tool to the latest version in order to get support?

Training

  • Training for administrators
  • Training for users
  • Advanced user training is provided on demand
  • Additional training (Reporting, API, ...)
  • Customized training for our specific use of the tool
  • Vendor offers public training classes (online and at vendor site)
  • Student guides are available (PDF, printed)
  • Student guides in other languages are available (select your language, eg. German, French, Italian, Spanish)
  • Remote Training is available via internet
  • Onsite Training is available at customer site
  • Onsite Training is available at vendor site
  • Training pre-requisites are provided prior to training
  • Multilanguage training is available (Training in German, French, Italian, Spanish) incl. localized material
  • Computer based training is available

Consulting

  • Consulting is provided by vendor for configuration of the tool
  • Implementation consulting is available when needed
  • Additional services are provided
  • Process consultants are available for our specific industry
  • Consulting is provided in different languages
  • Location of consultants is nearby (same city, same region, same country) or travel expenses are included

Updates

  • How are customers informed about updates
  • Does the tool provide the possibility to update or upgrade automatically
  • Is there a silent installation / upgrade available?
  • Are upgrades (major version change) free or charge or included only when maintenance is paid
  • Updates (minor version change) are included
  • How easy is the installation or upgrade of the tool?

This should help you to create the requirements for Service & Support. The criteria for this topic are clearly defined and are depending only on your specific needs. It is your decision what criteria are important for you and what criteria can be omitted. Don´t forget to weight to requirements for this topic as well.