Not all PIM software packages are equal, there is not a one size fits all answer. Every company is different, has different requirements and may require a different solution.
Don’t select your PIM solution based on just what Gartner and Forrester are telling you, there’s more to the story. You should be selecting your PIM solution based upon whether it meets your requirements or not. Questions you need to ask before investing include: How much customization is needed or will it work for you right out of the box? How long has the software been available? And do they have US based support.
Sometimes the solution requires more than one tool. Some companies choose two solutions to pair together taking the strength of both systems.
Selection gone wrong
Too good to be true – A company bought one of the most expensive PIM software packages. The PIM vendor really wanted the customer and it was the end of the fiscal year. They got a smoking deal. They just bought a Ferrari for the price of a mid-sized family sedan.
Square peg round hole
A large logistics real estate company chose to store their buildings and warehouses in a PIM system. A little bit of a “Square peg in a round hole” already, but not the worst decision. The kicker is that they choose a Best PIM Software
PIM that has a very rigid product data model.
Understand Requirements
The first step is understanding your requirements.
What are your data needs?
Do you need a taxonomy that allows multi-classification to allow for multiple attribute inheritance sets?
Do you need a built in DAM to easily link products and images?
What about an InDesign plug-in to quickly build sell sheets?
Prioritize
Once you have your requirements identified they need to be prioritized. Which are “Must Haves”, “Nice to Haves” and “Not Needed”. The next step is to pick 5-7 vendors to start conversations with and find out what requirements they can fulfill, which are customization and which they don’t have the capability of providing.
Build Scorecards
Once you have your vendors selected for evaluation, you can convert your vendor requirements into a scorecard. As vendors provide information for your requirements this will allow you to whittle the list down to 2-4 vendors to start deep dive demos and RFQs.
Once the information is laid out for this small specific selection there should be at least one choice clear for the win. You may have a close race or even a tie for the winner. When this happens, you may want to review the requirements at large and your relationship with the vendor to see whose nose is truly hitting the finish line first.
