Selecting the Right Technology Vendor

Choosing the right technology vendor is critical to the success or failure of many nonprofit IT initiatives. Yet many organizations underestimate the time and effort it takes to make a well-informed decision.

This indispensable, illustrated guide from NPower will help you understand and think through the critical steps in the vendor-selection process, from assessing feasibility, gathering requirements, and researching and refining your options to evaluating and selecting vendors, managing implementation, and handling support and maintenance.

This guide, written with the support of a grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, will assist you in identifying the desired outcome of each step in the vendor selection process. Inside the guide you'll find:

• a helpful appendix of criteria for evaluating vendors
• a sample guideline for creating your own weighted vendor-evaluation matrix
• ways to account for external factors -- such as discounts or foundation recommendations -- that can affect the vendor-selection process
• ways to tailor the decision-making process to your organization's specific circumstances and needs