Ultimate IT Project Checklist To Help You Avoid Surprise Costs

In the age of technology and digital everything, a lot of companies are looking to    to digitise and automate their business or organisation. Here at ThunderQuote, we’ve been   asked pretty often about how one should go about evaluating their IT vendors and the quotations received. So we’ve prepared a checklist for you guys to go through before carrying out your next IT project:

Make sure you go through these points to be sure you engage a reliable IT vendor

  • How many years of development experience do they have? A minimum of 3 years should be indicative of their credibility
  • Are they able to advise you independently on which programming language is most suitable for your requirements?
  • Have they developed an IT product that is at least 70% similar in terms of functions before, and can they show you the portfolio proof?
  • Do they have a dedicated project manager who is willing to show you the proper timelines and buildout for each of the phases, as well as contingency plans which would be activated in case of overruns and delays in reaching specific milestones?
  • Do they try to understand your business model and target audience when setting out the scope of work (ideal), or do they simply ‘take orders’ from you about every detail?
  • Does the quotation include a clear itemized breakdown of every functionality (bonus for wireframes)?
  • Does the quotation do a user and access rights breakdown?
  • Does the quotation include a clear depiction of the service level agreement between you and the IT vendor?
  • Does the quotation include description of what type of tasks or changes would be out of scope and what the charges will be in the event of expansion of scope (typically this will be $X per man-hour)
  • What do the last 3 customer references say about their ability to deliver on-time, their responsiveness to service requests (fast is good), and their willingness to accommodate and guide clients to their desired end goal?

How does this framework work? If the quotation from your prospective IT firm scores:

10 points = Good

> 7 points = Solid

5-7 points = Passable

3-5 points = Risky

0-3 = Dangerous

Generally if it falls below 7 points, it’s good to either revisit the quotation itself or to find more vendors to compare and ensure that they do know the work that they are supposed to deliver to you. The main problems that typically plague IT projects are:

  • Time overruns
  • Scope creep (projects that get larger and overrun budget)
  • Scope shift (poor initial scoping & needs analysis leading to changes and extra costs later)
  • Low vendor responsiveness
  • Client-vendor miscommunications
  • Lack of proper documentation of agreed scope (reliance on verbal agreements often lead to disaster)

These issues are important red flags to note. it would go a long way towards making your otherwise migraine inducing IT project implementation a smoother, more pleasant journey for everyone involved.

What kind of IT services fall under this category? A few major ones:

Websites
Mobile Apps
Web Apps
Web Scripts
POS Systems
Enterprise Systems
Custom Integrations & Middleware

If you are seeking a second opinion or more IT vendors to compare so that you can get the best value for your budget (or quotes faster), get free quotes and reduce your headache with the free ThunderQuote platform.

 

For a one-size fits all software, ThunderQuote has the perfect solution for you, join our enterprise system that will allow you to easily get vendors from right within your system!

ThunderQuote is the most comprehensive business services portal in Singapore, Australia and ASEAN , where hundreds of thousands of dollars of procurement contracts are sourced every month by major companies like Singapore Press Holdings, National Trade Union Congress and more.

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