Continuing on our "7 Deadly Myths of Software Procurement" series with today's Myth:
Myth number 4: “These guys are too small! They will never be able to support me!”
It is valid to be concerned about the solution provider’s ability to provide support. It is a myth, however, to think that larger companies do this better than smaller ones. We’ve all been part of the large company’s telephone exchanges that take 10 minutes to get you through to the right person who will then have to put you on hold or escalate your issue to get it solved.
What people forget in terms of service and support is that, while a larger company will have many more employed staff to handle your support, having your support questions and concerns addressed is not a matter of life and death to them. A smaller company lives and dies by how they respond to you. If they do not support you, their company will bleed out and die.
Have you noticed that everyone is now working from home with Covid-19 rearing its ugly head around the world? Have you noticed that the support given by the larger organizations is very degraded… but support provided by smaller organizations remains largely intact? In fact, one of the sales pitches used by large organizations is ‘look at our lovely building. Having this building means we can support you!’. Notice how this has vanished entirely now? And the very thing that they were accusing smaller organizations of (i.e. being so small that they need to work from home) is now a selling point for them?
Counter the myth
Check from sources that are using the software how the support response has been. Dig deeper and discover if the team has the capacity to support you (that their models are in place) and that your data is safe. New on the market often brings new innovation, and, while it could be argued that new also brings new risk, the amount of new quality software released is growing rapidly.
