Tips for Preparing for a New Software Project

Implementing new software for your business can be a daunting task with many considerations. Here are some tips for planning and preparing for a new software project that can help you know what questions to ask your potential vendor and ensure you have all the facts before moving forward.

Cost

Of course, cost of the solution is going to be top of mind. Some considerations on cost include:

  • Is licensing per user or per device. If it’s per user, how many devices can a single user license be used on?
  • Is there a minimum number of licenses that need to be purchased? Ie if you need licenses for only 2 people, but the software has a minimum license count of 5, you will have to buy 5 licenses for 2 people.
  • Is there an initial implementation or onboarding fee?
  • Is the pricing in USD or CDN?
  • What is the length of the contract term, and can it be terminated early without penalties?
  • Is there a cost of customer support? What type of support is available, what are the hours support is available, and are the additional costs for higher tiers of support or after hours support?
  • Are there maintenance fees? Are software updates, patches and upgrades included in the cost?
  • Will I be charged for migrating my data from my existing software?
  • Is there an API available and does using it incur extra fees? An Application Programming Interface (API) allows different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. This may be an important question if your new software is going to be integrated with other software you run your business with.

Scalability

Choosing a software solution solely based on cost can be a huge pitfall for a business. Scalability is important to ensure you can grow with the software and won’t be incurring even more costs in the future if the software outgrows your needs. Key considerations include:

  • Is the software modular? Can you add and scale up different components as needed?
  • Is the software on-premise or cloud based? What happens with an on-premise solution if you need to replace on-premise hardware? Cloud solutions allow for flexible resource allocation and easy scaling.
  • Evaluate the software’s API capabilities. Well-designed APIs facilitate better integration and scalability.
  • What are the system requirements to run the software? Will implementing this software also require upgrading your current hardware?

Security

While there are many security considerations when choosing new software, here are some of the key considerations:

  • Where is the data we input in the software saved? Is it on Canadian or US servers?
  • How is data backed up and what happens in the event of data loss?
  • How will you be notified if there is a data breach or security issue?
  • Do you need additional cybersecurity software to ensure data is safe and monitored?
  • Who in your business will need access and what level of access will each person need? Don’t give everyone administrator access, only provide as-needed access and be sure you’re trained in how to remove access if someone leaves the company.
  • Ensure compliance with any specific industry requirements and compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
  • Ensure there is the option for Multifactor Authentication (MFA)