One of my biggest assets has always been the ability to select great vendors to work with and managing projects using their expert services.  Gone are the days that you need to be an expert at everything relating to IT.  As an IT manager or director, you don’t need to be a Jack of All Trades.  I have always felt that hiring an outside vendor to do services is cheaper and more efficient than trying to have an in-house expert on everything.  There is no question that experts in the field may do certain upgrades on a regular, if not daily basis.  With trial and error comes experience.  The last thing you want is to deploy blindly solutions without knowing the catches, gotchas and workarounds.  This is why, product specific vendors are so essential.

The IT Director Skillset

You need to hone the skills of analyzing what projects you want to handle in-house and what to outsource to a technology vendor.  I do this by looking at how often a particular task would need to be done.  If it looks like something that would need to be done more than once, it makes sense to learn that technology in order to save the firm money down the road.  However some tasks happen only once.  For example, you may install a windows server several times a year, but only install Microsoft Exchange once every 3-5 years.  So, you should install the server, but let an Exchange expert handle the Exchange deployment.

Once you get your list of projects, start looking at the various vendors that are out there which specialize in that technology.  Sometimes you start with the technology itself and ask the software vendor who are the Certified or Platinum Partners that they recommend.  Some expertise is going to be local.  However at times, you need to hire remote installers that can log in through logmein or other remote software to support or deploy your apps.  At times it also makes sense to hire a team to fly in and do an install and pay for the travel expenses.  If you work in a remote town or city, this may often be the case.

Asking Lots of Questions

Even though you may outsource the installation work to a Technology Vendor or Integrator, you shouldn’t put the project solely in their hands.  Ask them if they have done this exact upgrade recently and who did they deploy it for.  If it is another firm such as inside our group, feel free to ask that firm’s IT if the project was done to their expectations.  Were there any gotcha’s, or bugs to look out for?  Would they do anything differently?

This may lead to altering the project to add more licenses, or different licenses, a different deployment approach and getting more specific in how things are done.  It is better to eliminate the potential for mistakes before you contract to do the job.  You can’t forsee every issue, but many of them can be avoided with proper planning.  Asking questions and following up on them is your key to understanding.

Another thing you should try to do is to see how different vendors approach the project.  You may get ideas from one vendor which may help you to weed out the lesser vendors.  Let’s say you are looking at billing systems.  You found a “Must Have” integration with Microsoft Outlook and ask other billing system vendors if they have something that does this.  Keep track of your questions and responses.

Beware of the Salesperson or Yes Men

Developing a long term relationship with a salesperson can help you understand their tendencies.  Do they know their products well?  Do they understand your environment needs?  Do they know the gotchas in the products?  Do they undersell, or oversell?  Are they honest and forthcoming with drawbacks and alternative options or are they just trying to get the sale?  Much of this comes with experience.  However, by soliciting multiple vendors you can often get a better picture of a vendor’s skillset, both positive and negative.

Implementation and Relationship Building

You are the project manager of every project.  Remember that the partners don’t care who they hire.  You are the final solution provider.  You must put your reputation, job status and support on the line.  If the technology vendor is great, you look great.  If they fall flat on their face, you look like a fool.

It makes sense to be in charge.  Be a task manager and make sure you hold the integrators accountable for promises.  If you find bugs in the deployment (which happen all the time) try to suggest workarounds and be supportive.  If something doesn’t work perfectly, be prepared to shoulder the blame as well as the credit for what works like a dream.

Remember, that integration companies are a long term investment.  Treat them as if you would treat an employee.  They will need to help support your products years into the future.  You want them to be successful.  They, in turn, will help you to be successful.  Jumping from one vendor to another is in nobody’s best interest.

You want to develop a long term relationship with a vendor.  Their techs are the equivalent of your employees.   Treat them well, but expect quality work.  You want their A game every time.  Understand that integration firms are often under stresses of their own.  Maybe they have oversold installs to customers and are booked out for 2 months.  Be prepared to schedule your install in a window where their techs can be fresh and ready to deploy.  You don’t want someone that is in the middle of installing something elsewhere and has 2 hours of sleep, working on your stuff.

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