Q2 Who (else) was involved in the project?
References often omit some of the different parties who were involved. In fact it is rare for a company to complete a project without other expert help. It might be an external project manager or specialist expertise either technical or compliance. In most cases the omission is because the speaker doesn’t believe it to be relevant. It is sometimes also worth clarifying what internal resource was required.
Implementation projects can often go badly when insufficient internal resources are not allocated and they need to be dedicated and backfilled in their current jobs. During the initial narrative Aniol had only mentioned NetSuite Professional Services, so it seemed the right question to ask next.
In the INXPO case they did actually use a third party, Celigo. Celigo are the developers of a connector that joins Salesforce to NetSuite and were actually intrinsic to the success of the project. Aniol admitted he was concerned about bringing in a third party but NetSuite project managed the process and overall he was very satisfied with that aspect of the implementation. He commented:
“Initially I was initially reluctant about bringing another partner but the NPS team acted as the general contractor … If there was an issue NPS worked with Celigo to get it fixed.”
In just those few words we gained insight into the project management capabilities of NetSuite, their ability to manage a third party and to bring the project to completion. Third party liaison and project management are all aspects that are worth asking probing questions about if any doubts are raised. One thing that is often forgotten is who project managed the process, was there an internal project manager and how could have the process been improved.
Q3 How have you improved the solution since implementation
This question seeks to discover whether the solution was fit for purpose. Whether the upgrades are carried out and whether they are straightforward and bring the promised benefits. It should also discover what other third party software might have been implemented to bring additional business benefit.
Aniol has delivered couple of upgrades including the aforementioned Sales commission module. He is satisfied with the generic upgrades that NetSuite has delivered over the last couple of years. NetSuite have implemented several improvements during this term including Windows Mobile, Apple Watch and an agreement with Tableau on integrating their analytics application.
While INXPO has not taken comprehensive advantage of these it has deployed some mobile functionality. Aniol explained that it has given him a degree of confidence that NetSuite are updating their application in line with changes in technology. That NetSuite deploys upgrades across its single code base now in a couple of hours also means that Aniol has not had to be concerned when upgrades are scheduled. Effectively they switch on their screens the next day to be confronted with an improved solution
Q4 What surprised you most during the process
While this might go over ground already covered, as a check question it has its merits. The format of the question can vary using different adjectives. Avoid negative questions such as “what went wrong” but asking what was most challenging might get a better answer.
Aniol’s answer to this question was a little surprising; he explained that they went through a comprehensive evaluation process that included live demonstrations of the applications, he said:
“It was as we were going through the demonstration process. A lot of times when you are being demonstrated technology and you ask the provider ‘can you do this?’ they go away and they come back and they show you that its done. The thing I liked during the NetSuite process was that they had a terrific sales engineer involved during that phase.
“During the live demo nine out of ten times with a couple of keystrokes he would show that they could do it. That gave us a lot of confidence about the adaptability and flexibility of the solution.”
We didn’t expect this answer, but it does raise a question about the team demonstrating the product to you. Were they the best people? Sometimes it is worth finding out the actual names of the team that supported your reference call and if the project manager delivered an excellent project why not request him by name.
Companies will often have an A team. That is not to say the others are worse but in finding out who is best suited to your project you can enhances the implementation. Sometimes it may be better to wait a week or two before commencing just to get the right individual working on your project.
(More…Page 3/3 Questions 5-6)
