Considerations when selecting an organisation to partner with for you online solutions

• Can you work together?

  You need a good long term relationship – changing to another online solutions partner is more difficult than swapping an accountant.

• Do they employ best practices?

  If their coding techniques are poor it may be difficult to maintain your system or you may miss out on customers if your if it is not accessible by the right people and search engines.

• Can they understand your business?

  You need all-rounders – a partner that can understand your business, design a solution and build it effectively. An overly technical partner may not understand what you really need. They need to be able to listen.

• Are they capable of managing time, budget & risk?

  It is essential to manage other aspects of the project as well as just providing a nice solution. A project is a failure if you are invoiced for an unexpected amount or if your solution does not satisfy your requirements. Are they able to help you to quantify cost savings or revenue growth resulting from an online solution? Can they deliver on time if there is an unmovable milestone date?

• Do they communicate?

  A project is well run if there are no surprises. Communication is vital – whether it is good news or bad news.

• Are they professional?

  Your time and patience is valuable. Your partner must respect this. Simple courtesies like timeliness, communicating unambiguously and politeness ensure your time (and money) is not wasted.