A <i>Business Week</i> guest columnist offers <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2007/tc20070821_904820.htm?chan=search">tips on negotiating</a> for business software. One tip surprised me.

Chris Murphy, Editor, InformationWeek

August 23, 2007

1 Min Read

A Business Week guest columnist offers tips on negotiating for business software. One tip surprised me.The writer, Gene Marks, runs a CRM consulting company. Some advice will sound familiar, like don't pay list price and play hardball at the end of the quarter. The tip that surprised me:

Better yet, don't buy the software at all until you go live. Shocking! Tell your local partner to install, customize, and train you using their own "not for resale" license. Make sure to pay the partner for their time (that's how they make their money). But don't buy the actual licenses until you're live with the new system.

Maybe it's common practice, but it surprised me. Here's the full article .

About the Author(s)

Chris Murphy

Editor, InformationWeek

Chris Murphy is editor of InformationWeek and co-chair of the InformationWeek Conference. He has been covering technology leadership and CIO strategy issues for InformationWeek since 1999. Before that, he was editor of the Budapest Business Journal, a business newspaper in Hungary; and a daily newspaper reporter in Michigan, where he covered everything from crime to the car industry. Murphy studied economics and journalism at Michigan State University, has an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia, and has passed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams.

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