No Unpleasant Surprises
Predicting ROI is another area where the help of a good partner can be invaluable.

First, the partner should be able to predict the overall cost of the software. Then, they need to predict the business value the solution will bring to the business accurately and honestly.

Some of this is very simple, but it’s easy to forget some aspects or to underestimate other costs, resulting in an ROI figure that will come back to haunt you. For example, do you really have the expertise to work out the realistic costs associated with developing or customizing the software, then administering it?

If you have an existing system that you want to replace, you will know instinctively how the system can be improved, and what the likely cost-benefit of those improvements will be. If you can pass on this concise information to the right partner, they’ll be in a much better position to predict the likely cost of the system, and maybe even give you a precise cost quotation.

As Gary Barnett, research director at the IT analyst group Ovum, puts it, “We sometimes see relatively small companies developing their own in-house solutions, and they could nearly always get something much more suitable, more quickly, and more cheaply by going to an experienced partner.”

See the 5 Steps to Buying a Business Software Solution
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/partners/minimize_risk.mspx