Research update - best practice in product evaluation
Jinfo Blog

By Catherine Dhanjal

Abstract

What should you consider when buying a new information product or tool - and what could you lose by moving to a new supplier?

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Is there a fail-safe method of evaluating which database, data provider, research source or tool will best suit your organisation and budget?

Return on investment and value of information products is a subject you'll regularly find us tackling at Jinfo, through our articles, reports, webinars and Community sessions.

Deciding what's right for your organisation

We're mindful that definitions of value vary depending on your organisation and what's of prime importance to you and your stakeholders but steps will include:

• Defining your personalised list of top variables for content, and for technology

• Refining those lists by "must have" and "nice to have"

• Deciding how you'll measure "value" for this particular product (efficiency, revenue-generation, ease of use...)

Evaluating what you could lose by changing product

You'll have other considerations if you're displacing a product:

• What you will lose in terms of vendor data and data you've added to the solution

• How long implementation will take and whether you need to buy-in specialist skills to achieve a live solution

• Whether users will need training on the new solution and how long you estimate it will take users to get fully up-to-speed...

Our market landscapes, product reviews and models save you time by providing in-depth insights into vendor products, an overview of the competitor environment, and practical models to help you map out considerations with your team. And you'll find our webinars and Community sessions offer practical steps to help you make the purchasing decisions that best suit your organisational set-up and requirements.

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