Overlooked Factors; Choosing your Inspection Software Solution
Choosing the right inspection software platform is a very important decision and can play a substantial role in a company’s success.
Here are some key considerations that we might not think about when choosing the ideal Inspection Software Solution.
When it comes to selecting the perfect inspection data management platform for your business, we need to remember that not all solutions are created equal and there are several key factors to consider that will ensure the platform is a good fit for our business. This article, is a guide to assist with the research and evaluation process, highlighting a few of the important, but often overlooked factors that can help in making a better-informed selection. From seeking client references to performing in-house testing and evaluations, this guide will help you determine the best partner solution to streamline your operations, and ensure the chosen platform is a sustainable solution for your business.
Ask for client references that you can call; don’t settle for a Demo
Independent review sites, such as G2 and others, can be good resources as we begin researching different inspection software platforms, but as we narrow down to a shorter list, nothing beats being able to call up clients and hear about their firsthand experiences. So as part of the evaluation of the different options, ask for a minimum of 3 active clients that are solving the same issue(s) that you are trying to solve, and willing to speak candidly to their experience using the software platform. This is by far the best way to get unfiltered feedback, which allows us to gain real world insight into the platform’s capabilities as well as the vendor’s customer support.
When speaking with client references, it’s important to understand the context in which they are using the platform. Are they buying it as part of an innovation project or is the maintenance department actually using the software in production? There is a significant difference between supplying a solution for an innovation project to develop something to work in the future (typically low scale) as opposed to a maintenance department that needs everything to work smoothly, in their daily workflows, from day one and ongoing. This client conversation provides a sense of how the platform will perform in a specific use case.
And as a side note, the fact that the client is willing to be a reference proves that they are excited about the solution and eager to help other companies benefit from the same solution.
In-House Evaluation; Test the Platform with your own Data
As you continue to narrow down the Inspection Platform options, another important factor would be to do in-house testing. Request to be set up with a trial or evaluation account and perform testing using your own inspection data. Be sure to also include the administration functions as part of the evaluation and create user profiles for your team with assigned roles and appropriate rights. The provider should be able to set up this trial account within hours, not days or longer. It is also advised to pay attention to how “user-friendly” the platform is, and verify that you can manage the system with your own team, without the need for intervention from the solution provider. To maintain an efficient workflow, you do not want to have to rely on provider support every time you need to add users or perform other common tasks.
Additionally, you should test the platform’s performance by either loading your own data or by asking for access to a fairly large demo data set in order to measure and understand the thresholds for latencies vs. speed, capacity limits and so forth. Performing these tests will give you the needed statistics of how the platform will perform in your specific use case and help you make an intelligent choice.
Open Platform – Avoid vendor lock
Another sometimes overlooked consideration in the research and evaluation process, is to make it a focus point to determine or verify the platform’s core competence; it’s unlikely that one company will be able to be best in class at everything. There is much benefit to choosing a partner offering a purpose-built, best-in-class solution. This will help to ensure that the right solution has been implemented and will serve to meet the specific or required criteria.
In addition, the platform of choice should allow for the integration of 3rd party algorithms. This provides needed flexibility when new features are introduced, or existing features need to be updated, without being limited by the platform’s capabilities.
It should also be verified that all data and meta-data can be exported seamlessly; and ideally, to be able to perform data exportation without any intervention from the solution provider. It should be a requirement to have full access and control of the data and not be held up by platform limitations.
In Summary
Choosing the right inspection software platform is a very important decision and can play a substantial role in a company’s success. As part of the evaluation process, key factors need to be weighed, such as seeking client references over public reviews or written testimonials, looking for an open platform with a specific competency that matches a specific criterion. Knowing these factors will provide insight into the platform’s capabilities, vendor’s customer support, flexibility and control over the data, and assurance that the platform will perform as needed. Remember that taking the time to carefully evaluate different options and choosing the right one will ultimately benefit your business in the long run.
