A CIS Competitive Assessment: Evaluation of CIS Vendors & Their Product Offerings
By Greg Galluzzi, President (July 2004)

TMG Consulting has assessed CIS solutions and competitive position in the utility industry based upon the following categories and points of evaluation.

1. Vendor Profile
Years in business, business organization, parent company, office locations, service office, lines of business, product offerings, number of employees, and number of employees focused on product offering. Points of evaluation include:

• Owned by Utility
• Years in Business
• Diversification
• Geographic Focus
• Market Message
• Litigation & Conflict
• Number of Employees
• Number of Employees Dedicated to CIS
• Number of Clients

2. Vendor Financials
Is the company financially strong, allocating expenses appropriately and positioned for strong research and development? Points of evaluation include:

• Total Revenue
• Revenue Comparison
• Expense Comparison
• Net Profit
• Product Investment
• Growth

3. Application Profile
What hardware, software and services is the vendor offering to the market? Is a single application or multiple applications being offered? Does the solution include services such as bill printing, meter reading, and payment processing? Points of evaluation include:

• Developed for Utilities
• Modern Design Foundation
• Product Based
• Configuration Based
• Regular Releases
• Provides Multi-Service Capabilities
• Provides Total ERP Solution
• Provides Functionality Outside Core CIS
• Standalone CIS Best of Product
• Does the Product have aTroubled Past?

4. Product Installed Base
Has the vendor been successful in marketing and selling the product? Is there a reputable reference customer using the product? How many product installations exist? Have any customers installed the latest release? Points of evaluation include:

• Total Installed Base
• Current Version Installed Base
• Installed Across Multiple Utility Types
• Installed Across Market Segments
• National & International Focus
• Active User Group
• Generally Satisfied Clients
• Highly Visible Clients
• Clients Operating in Deregulated Environment
• Multiple Products Installed

5. Market Perspective
How others in the industry view the solution, press releases, word of mouth, telephone calls, site visits to other customer sites, and general market perceptions. Points of evaluation include:

• Vendor/Product is Well Known
• Vendor/Product is Well Respected
• High Analyst Visibility
• High Integrator Visibility
• High Trade Magazine Visibility
• High Electric Utility Visibility
• High Gas Utility Visibility
• High Water Utility Visibility
• High Energy Visibility
• High Conference Visibility
• High Partner Visibility

6. Third Party Relationships
Has the vendor developed formal and/or informal business relationships with key solution integrators, hardware vendors, and other product software providers? Points of evaluation include:

• A Formal Active Partnering Program
• Integrator Relationships
• Reseller Relationships
• ASP Relationships
• Bill Production Relationships
• Metering Relationships
• Credit & Collection Relationships
• ERP Relationships
• Payment Relationships
• Data Access - Analytics Relationships
• Customer Interaction Relationships
• CRM Relationships
• Marketing & Sales Relationships
• Mobile Computing Relationships
• Work Management Relationships
• Outage Management Relationships
• Retail Choice Relationships
• GIS Relationships
• Workflow Software Relationships
• Complex Billing Relationships

7. Target Markets & Strategy
Has the vendor identified key market segments and formulated a market strategy to attack the market? Has the vendor been successful in selling to the target market(s)? Are markets and sales projections reasonable? Points of evaluation include:

• Vendor Understands Markets
• Vendor has a Market Strategy
• Strategy Fits Market
• Effective Strategy Execution
• Identified Target Utility Types
• Identified Target Utility Customer Base Served
• Identified Target Utility Commodities
• Identified Target Market Characteristics
• Targeting Multiple Markets

8. Product Marketing & Selling
What is the vendors approach to marketing and selling the solution to the market? How large is the sales staff and how are they organized? What percent of total budget is allocated to sales and marketing? Points of evaluation include:

• Actively Marketing & Selling
• Effective Sales Channels
• Effective Qualification
• Number of Signed Contracts
• Number of Deals in Pipeline
• Number of Installations
• Realistic Sales Expectations
• Formal Sales Process
• Sufficient Sales Resources
• Sufficient Sales Expenditures
• Branding Strategy

9. Product Development
The vendors approach to developing, enhancing, and correcting the product , the use of CASE tools, design and program workbenches, data dictionary, and the approach to maintaining customer enhancements. Points of evaluation include:

• Development History
• Development Strategy
• Development Resources
• Development Tools
• Release Strategy
• Development QA Function

10. Product Delivery
The vendors approach to installing the product, track record, timeframe forinstallation, resource availability, the extent of services offered, the approach to configuration / customization, use of third party solution integrators. Points of evaluation include:

• Formal Methodology
• Product Accelerators
• Experienced & Sufficient Implementers
• Trained 3rd Party Implementers
• Offshore 3rd Party Implementers
• Realistic Timeframes
• Realistic Budgets
• Total Solution Provided
• Knowledge Transfer
• Strong Project Management

11. Product Operation
The vendors operation model (facility manager, outsourcer, ASP, in-house, insourced), available data centers, service levels, etc. Points of evaluation include:

• Supports In-House Operations
• Supports Co-Sourced Operations
• Supports Hosted Operations
• Supports ASP Operations
• Use of Third Party Providers
• Outsourcing Experience
• Business Outsourcing

12. Product Support
The vendors approach to supporting the product through help desk, solution center, onsite resources, the use of third party resources, etc. Points of evaluation include:

• Provides Ongoing Maintenance
• Provides Extended Maintenance
• Provides Maintenance Options
• Help Desk Support
• Utilizes Automated Support Tools
• Service Level Agreements
• Adequate Staffing
• Experienced Staff
• Limited Production Critical Calls

13. Product Technology
The server platform, operating system, database, cooperative processing architecture, application language, connectivity, desktop environment, scalability, and performance. Points of evaluation include:

• Servers
• Operating System
• Connectivity
• Desktop
• Database
• Langauge/Tools
• Cooperative Processing
• Performance/Scalability
• Scheduler
• Evolving Technology

14. Product Data Design
A solid data design which incorporates all major entities and entity relationships necessary to support current and future needs within the utility and evolving energy market. Points of evaluation include:

• Data Model is Complete
• Contains Essential Entities
• Customer Entity Focused
• Contains Service Points
• Addresses Deregulation Needs
• Multi-Company Capability

15. Product Functionality
A solid base of core functions with extended functionality for customer choice, customer relationship management, work mgmt, etc, standardized interfaces, and integration with third party product offerings. Points of evaluation include:

• Functional Matrix Fit
• Product Demonstration
• Competitor Comparison
  

16. Product Usability
Typically what vendors refer to as the beauty contest, this includes: use of a graphical or browser based interface, workflow and screen mechanics, the look and feel of the presentation, navigation, colors, and usability. Points of evaluation include:

• Attractive and Friendl
• User Interface Intuitive & Easy to Use
• Wizards
• Scripting
• Internet
• Electronic Work Queue
• On-line Help
• Computer Based Training
• Multi-Service Views
• User Interface Errors

17. Product Pricing
Vendor hardware, software and services required to install the product, in-house payroll costs and expenses to install the product, and ongoing maintenance, operation, support, and debt service costs. Points of evaluation include:

• Software License Within Standard Range
• Basis for Software License Is Customer
• Installation Costs For An In-House Managed Application
• Installation Costs For A Hosted Solution
• Installation Costs For An ASP Solution
• Ongoing In-House Costs
• Ongoing Hosted Costs
• Ongoing ASP Costs

These points of evaluation are useful when evaluating vendors and their product offerings.

Greg Galluzzi, is the president of TMG Consulting. Greg has 25 years of information technology and consulting experience across 200 CIS projects. experience across 200 CIS projects. Greg can be reached at gregg@tmgconsutling.com.