Coming from a product company, it's always challenging & tricky to choose a vendor. Here are my best answers in choosing a vendor - 1. The vendor should always align with the organisation's mission & vision. 2. Very transparent in sharing their experience in terms of clear documentation and well laid out steps in handling critical SW upgrade 3. Had performed successful, complex upgrades for larger clients with the highest CSAT, NPC. 4. Having clarity of their SW upgrade roadmap, licensing & AMC. 5. Agility in making decisions that support organisation and their clients.

Choosing the right vendor involves defining your requirements, researching/shortlisting vendors, evaluating compatibility, and assessing stability. Request demos and trials, check references, and speak with existing clients to gather feedback about their relationship and satisfaction. Conduct a proof of concept (POC) to test critical use cases and ensure the software meets your needs in real-world scenarios. I have seen POCs covering only English use cases, while the solution also needed to be effective in two other languages - make sure you test all must-have capabilities to avoid future surprises. By taking these steps, you can confidently choose a vendor that will support your long-term success and drive your organization forward.

It is a Multicriteria Decision Problem. I suggest: 1. Break down the decision into key factors (objectives): For example: COSTs (investment, training, maintenance), BENEFITs (efficiency, productivity), and Risks (reliability, security against cyberattacks). 2. List potential alternatives (vendors). 3. Rate each alternative based on how well it meets the objectives (e.g., security, scalability). 4. Prioritize the objectives by assigning weights based on their relative importance. 5. Multiply the ratings by the weights to calculate an overall score for each alternative. 6. Choose the best alternative based on the highest score or after perform analysis. 7. Conduct sensitivity analysis by adjusting key assumptions, and finalize the decision.