Choosing a Vendor

Q1: “What is the difference between your tool/solution and free tools from Yahoo! and Google?”

For an organization of this size I think that the bottom line is cost. I'm sure the tool/solutions you pay for will have many neat features, but whether they are worth the cost would have to be measured.

Q2: “Are you 100 percent ASP, or do you offer a software version? Are you planning a software version?” 

I imagine there are tools specially made and in-house for an organization like this one. However at the same time I bet there are free tools that do much of the same things. In any case I'm again thinking that for an organization this size that it's not too huge of a worry. 

Q3: “What data capture mechanisms do you use?” 

Cookies will most likely be used for data capturing a any web-based tools. Anything else could use a combination of that and user inputs to store on a company computer.

Q4: “Can you calculate the total cost of ownership for your tool?” 

For the free tools, well, they're free. For the other tools then I can't really calculate until really researching and contacting vendors.

Q5: “What kind of support do you offer? What do you include for free, and what costs more? Is it free 24/7?” 

Most vendors offer support in some way. If they don't, then it's probably not worth the time to consider them. Even free tools offer support, both official and unofficial. Forums exist all over for software which lets users post and help one another.

Q6: “What features in your tool allow me to segment the data?” 

Tagging data is becoming a popular feature in a lot of software. This is especially true in web based applications, and even more so those developed by Google. I'm sure this can be used to segment data.

Q7: “What options do I have for exporting data from your system into our company’s system?” 

Nearly all professional software I've used allows for data exporting and importing. This is almost a necessity considering the need for backups. I'd seriously be weary of any application that did not allow for data exporting because of this.

Q8: “What features do you provide for me to integrate data from other sources into your tool?” 

This is another feature I've seen in most professional software. Integration is continuing to grow between software/hardware, software/software, and hardware/hardware. I know most of Google's stuff integrates with other Google applications as well as other software.

Q9: “Can you name two new features/tools/acquisitions your company is cooking up to stay ahead of your competition for the next three years?” 

This question can usually be answered pretty easily on your own for a company like Google. For others, you  may have to ask them directly and then there is no guarantee that they'll answer. I would be less likely to go with a vendor who couldn't share with me some of their plans for the future.

Q10: “Why did the last two clients you lost cancel their contracts? Who are they using now? May we call one of these former clients?”

This is another question that can be answered through the Internet for tools offered by  a company like Google. People like to complain when they aren't happy so it shouldn't be too hard to find anyone who has stopped using software and where they went afterwards. This is probably true for both free and pay software.