2 November 2026
All vendor demos look alike: a smooth journey, clean data, a user who knows the tool inside out. On go-live day, reality is different. Most of the risk in an ERP, PLM, WMS or TMS project is decided before the contract is signed, in how you prepare the choice.
At McPhy, a hydrogen electrolyser manufacturer, I was project manager for the tender and then the roll-out of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE in France, Italy and Germany. Here is what I take away from this kind of selection.
1. Start from processes, not features
A specification that lists features produces answers where everything is “covered”. Describing real processes, with their difficult cases, forces vendors to show how their tool handles them. For a PLM: how a document moves from creation to approval, who can change it, how everyone knows which version is the right one.
2. Make vendors play your scenarios
Require vendors to run your own scenarios, with your data or representative data. The difference between a prepared demo and an imposed scenario is often very revealing.
3. Assess the integrator as much as the software
Software does not roll itself out. The quality of the integration team, its knowledge of your business and its availability matter as much as the tool. Meet the people who will actually work on your project.
4. A weighted scoring grid, decided before the bids
Setting the criteria and their weights before receiving bids avoids building the grid around the favourite candidate. It also helps explain the decision to the teams.
5. Plan change management from the start
Roll-out is not just configuration. In Germany, with young engineering teams and management focused on product development, part of my role was to structure the organisation so that the tool would be adopted. That work was in no specification.
6. Aim for a single platform
The result that counts is not go-live, it is usage. At McPhy, all other tools were retired in favour of a single platform: harmonised creation processes, controlled update workflows, and everyone knows which version to work on.
Why an independent project manager?
With no commercial ties to any vendor or integrator, an independent project manager can make decisions in the client’s interest. The ideal time to step in is before the tender. Learn more about IT project management or describe your project.