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Taking references is an important way of accurately gauging any product and vendor’s worthiness, and is particularly useful when assessing new accounting software. After a careful evaluation of the product, you should seek out the views of those who have been there before you. You will not only benefit from their experience but may also avoid unforeseen difficulties.

Ideally, you should seek a number of references in order to moderate responses. If possible, try to make an actual visit to reference contacts. There is nothing better than seeing the people and system first hand. However this is not always practical or possible so a telephone or videoconference may have to suffice.

 

You will need to think carefully beforehand about what to ask potential referees. Time is at the premium and even a generic list of questions can easily fill the hour or so you may be given.

 

To maximise the limited time available, you will need to prioritise your questions based on a risk analysis of your implementation. But your questions will not only need to address the areas from your evaluation that you were least convinced about, but also the quality of the customer experience which will affect your ability to record a successful implementation. 

 

Which companies to use

 

You should ask your software vendor to nominate reference sites. They may also wish to facilitate your introduction, if only to protect their existing customers from being constantly contacted by prospective clients.

 

Obviously, a software house will only recommend references which it considers to be a success. This certainly does not invalidate the exercise, as their implementation experience will be real enough. However it is important to be clear in your mind of the relevance of their situation to yours.

 

There must be meaningful parallels to hold best value for your organisation. Be aware also that there will be people for whom the cup is half full as well as those for whom it is half empty – so be prepared to make a judgement as to the relative significance of reported issues, or the true extent of glowing success.

 

It is a balance to decide who should attend the reference visit. There could easily be a technical, system maintenance/user support and business focus split in the agenda, for which you would require different people from your organisation. If you are limited to one or two people, make sure they are aware of the overall risks you will be trying to mitigate, and are able to ask searching questions.

 

It is best to attend without the software house being present. Their appearance could stifle honest and open debate. You should not be expecting to hear about a paragon of virtue, but rather people with whom you could have a constructive working relationship.

 

Key topics

 

Have a clear agenda of the topics you wish to cover. You can choose whether to send it in advance of your visit. It is probably best to have a general and detailed version – the general one that you send out in advance to highlight your areas of enquiry, and the detailed one that you work from on the day. This way both sides can field the right people and you will not overlook important areas.

 

If you are still in the