The first step to finding the right solution is fact finding your company. Firms that map out their desired processes and priorities provide themselves a solid starting point.

Priorities should include the key functionality required and be put in order of importance. Putting functionality required into the following three categories will help massively:

1. Must have
2. Key requirement
3. Good to have

This exercise should provide the focus for firms to identify what different types of systems are they may require.

Dialogue with vendors can help firms identify which solutions can help solve their problems. Based on the responses received, firms should create a shortlist.

The shortlisting process provides a list of companies that firms can interview. The interview process can include questions like:

• How they would implement their software for your busines
• The training they will provide
• What ongoing support they will offer
• Their future roadmap

Advisers and paraplanners are very willing to share their experiences with software. Other users will tell you the things that software vendors may choose to sugar coat. The use of forums to question other users of the software can be very beneficial. The more users spoken to, the more effective the exercise becomes. The feedback provided can also provide further questions for suppliers.

Asking for a full demo of the system and trial can help greatly. This will help to establish potnetially how much training may be needed and lead to conversations about training and development.

During Demos, it would be advisable to ask for references from sililar firms to yourself and establish whether the software caters to your needs.