Service provider evaluation
- Paul Seiler (Unlicensed)
Service provider options
Following the identification of Xxxxxx as the preferred CMS, two service providers were identified, each with expertise in the provision of this CMS as a service. Given the importance of the service delivery to the succes of this initiative, both to individual users and to the University, 'vendor difference' was well worth exploring. Scoring was on a scale of 0-5, where 0 means that the product/service doesn't meet the criteria at all and 5 means that it meets it fully or exceeds our expectations.
| Requirements of a service provider | Vendor 1 | Vendor 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hosted/cloud-based The CMS is available as a hosted service, either in NZ or overseas, where the server and software infrastructure are maintained by the vendor. | Essential | 15% | ||
Developer resources available The service provider has access to a pool of developers skilled in the technology, available for contract development as and when required. | Essential | 15% | ||
Service/relationship management Service provider is experienced at managing the relationship and service delivery to similar (size, location, industry) organisations. | Essential | 15% | ||
Server reliability/up-time, including upgrades The servers are available for at least 99.5% on a seven-day basis, including upgrades. Planned upgrade outages are outside NZ working hours. | Essential | 15% | ||
Support and self-service Users must have access to a help desk during NZ working hours as a minimum. Multi-channel options are desirable. Model for provisioning an instance should be as close to self-service as possible. What are the decommissioning/end-of-life arrangements? | Essential | 15% | ||
Backing up, restoring and versioning The service provider either offers a back-up service or the service allows for auto backup via cron job or other program. We can restore our own files without recourse to the service provider. | Essential | 10% | ||
Understands our business The service provider demonstrates an understanding of our needs, and ideally our business. After all, we have to work closely together. | Desirable | 10% | ||
Automating tasks (Cron Jobs, Auto Script Installer, .htaccess, SSI, content migration) Features to increase our productivity and ability to deliver a good service. | Desirable | 5% | ||
| 100% |
Other criteria
Scoring should be on a binary scale, so Yes/No, the product/service is acceptable when compared to this criteria.
| Feature or attribute | Importance | Scoring | Vendor 1 | Vendor 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Security The service must meet the University's minimum security standards. See DIA Cloud Checklist Template - To Vendor.xlsx | Essential | Yes/No | ||
Account conditions and suspension The terms and conditions must be acceptable and should be generous and transparent. | Essential | Yes/No | ||
Price We must be able to afford the price. Check sign-on cf renewal. | Essential | Yes/No |