I recently found myself cozied up with a cup of coffee and The Guide from MultiLingual. As I was flipping through it, I came upon this great article from Vadim Berman on “Evaluating Emerging Language Technologies.” The premise was reviewing natural language processing (NLP) technology, or to be even more direct, machine translation. That being said, you could replace that particular technology with just about any technology, and much of Vadim’s article still rings true.

“Try to assess the market realistically, and see if the complexity and the costs are worth the niche they are going to fill. Common sense applies, as usual. Avoid wishful thinking.”

After 11 years with McElroy Translation, I’ve played a role in many strategic purchasing decisions that have been made. I have learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts, and though many of these might seem basic, the moral of this story is, as Vadim puts it, “common sense applies.”

1. If it’s too good to be true, INVESTIGATE! – Be very wary of “guarantees.” If you have been told that this service will guarantee you a certain number of leads, make sure you understand how those leads are generated and who those leads are. If you are being guaranteed juicy marketing opportunities, such as article submissions, advertisements, or speaking opportunities, find out exactly who your audience is. If you are being guaranteed seamless implementation of a technology that affects your services from the ground up, just turn around and walk away.

2. Be a comparative shopper – I don’t care who they are or what they are selling, someone else is doing something similar. Always get at least three to five demos from different companies before making a decision. You will learn a lot about the capabilities of a technology and the ways that you can implement it that you hadn’t considered before.

3. Don’t judge on price alone – Whenever you purchase new technology that will have a drastic effect on a portion of your business, there are bound to be hidden costs relating to support, updates, and new features, let alone time, energy, and sanity. If you have fully evaluated several options and it comes down to the top two, that is when price should be considered. But even then, make sure you understand why there is a price difference, quite often you do get what you pay for.

4. Define “support” – Exactly how much support comes with this purchase? Don’t assume how much you will need or how much you already have. Make sure the vendor clearly defines the maximum amount of support you will receive for your purchase and any additional consulting fees that may be required.

5. Evaluate your resources – What technology do you already have that will be affected by this new acquisition? What plug-ins are necessary to maximize the use of the new technology? How much manpower will you need to support the implementation of the technology? Who will be affected by this change and how? Are they on board?

6. Let your resources evaluate the technology – Again, is your team on board? Let those who will be impacted play a role in the purchasing process. Allowing your team to see firsthand what this can do for them prior to making a decision will get them excited about turning this purchase into a successful and useful product. Your team will also take into consideration issues you haven’t thought of, making your final decision much more effective.

7. Google ’em! (or Bing ’em if you prefer...) – If you look hard enough, you will find someone who has something to say about the company or technology you are interested in. I once Googled a company that we were going to use and found employees of that company claiming that it was a scam. I never found a bad review by a client, but disgruntled employees are always a bad sign.

8. References, references, references – A good salesperson can sell you a subscription to a running magazine the week before Christmas when you neither run nor have the cash for the subscription—not that I’m speaking from personal experience here! I’m sure we all have been bamboozled by a great sales pitch, but when it comes to making a significant technology purchase for your company, check references! If a company has a good product, they should easily be able to give a list of customers who have reaped the rewards of what is being provided. Make sure the references are people who are using the product similarly to how you intend to use it. A reference might recommend the product and company based on one particular feature, but if that reference isn’t using the features you want or using the product the way you intend to, the referral means nothing.

9. Negotiate! – Everything’s negotiable, so be creative. With technology constantly evolving and the proliferation of plug-ins, add-ons, updates, and new applications, sometimes the vendor itself can’t be sure what you’re in for. There is always a risk when getting the latest new gizmo as soon as it hits the shelves. Committing to full implementation quickly and offering to become a reference once success has been reached could be worth a lot to the company you are negotiating with. Whatever you do, be confident when entering into negotiations, remember—you are still the customer and they still want to sell you their product.

10. Don’t be afraid to walk away – If after doing all of your homework, you are unsure about this product’s effectiveness for your processes or the extent to which it will be used, just remember you don’t have to buy it. There’s little worse than spending a chunk of the company’s bankroll on a product that winds up on a shelf or server never to be used. Make sure your plan for implementation and use is solid and you trust the customer support to help you get it where it needs to be.

If you have any lessons learned from past purchasing experiences, please share by commenting below!

Resources:

Multilingual “Guide to Language Technology 2010”

A great deal of cheers and celebration were heard in-house last week when McElroy Translation received national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise. After almost 3 years of being women owned and operated, we finally had the paperwork to back it up.

But what exactly does this mean for our clients?

Many companies have supplier diversity programs, which, in part, ensure that they promote diversity inside and outside of the company. Organizations are able to advocate for diversity outside of their company by purchasing from or contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBE). Motivating factors for companies to establish these programs include:

• Diversity – Minority owned businesses are diverse, allowing for fresh ideas and points of view that can be tactically advantageous in a global marketplace. Sourcing from minority-owned businesses can also be an asset when reaching out to a diverse customer base. Corporations with supplier diversity programs not only seek out MWBE companies, but look for companies that are also committed to working with MWBE companies. In addition, diverse suppliers can act as powerful advocates for the company sourcing from them, especially since some diverse suppliers are politically active in their communities.

• Economic Development – Supporting MWBEs stimulates job creation and economic development. Establishing contracts with MWBEs helps your enterprise grow, and it provides their communities or the market segments you are employing with additional disposable income, which could be spent on your corporation's goods and services. As minority populations grow, minority-run and owned businesses will be a substantial part of our economy. Helping MWBEs grow creates competition for non-MWBE suppliers. This could lead to lower prices, more choices and better quality supplies in the long term as more businesses compete for the same contracts. Eventually, as the diversification extends to emerging countries in addition to communities within America, the price and quality further improves.
  

• Social responsibility – Working with diverse suppliers gives a company a favorable public image and is seen as a form of corporate social responsibility. This increases the satisfaction of the company's stakeholders. Many businesses apply the same process they do when recruiting a diverse workforce to attract and retain suppliers that reflect the demographic of their customer base or of the community in which the corporation or company operates.

• Supplier opportunities – A business with majority minority ownership can be recognized as an official minority business supplier for corporate businesses and government agencies. Federal contractors are expected to subcontract a portion of their award to diverse suppliers. Because of this, a minority business will sometimes be preferred when it comes to bids for government and special contracts.

When working with minority- or women-owned businesses, keep in mind that the state or federal government must recognize the company as a minority business in order to take advantage of special benefits. This is called a "minority business enterprise certification." There are multiple online resources to learn more about starting a supplier diversity program at your company. See Supplier Diversity best practices for a list I found to be informative.

Resources:

http://www.wbenc.org/About-WBENC/

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5033170_benefits-minority-owned-business.html

http://www.ehow.com/list_6309618_benefits-supplier-diversity-program_.html

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/Diversity/diversity_mgmt_plan/Pages/supplier.aspx

http://www.diversestrategies.com/Supplier_diversity_best_practices.htm