Giva, Inc. Announces a White Paper Series: Forty Questions to Ask Vendors When Buying Software or Cloud Services

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Giva,Inc.

Penetrating questions are the most powerful way to uncover the truth. Those that can lead the questioning will have more influence in the relationship and set the tone, said Ron Avignone, founder of Giva, Inc.

Santa Clara, CA (PRWEB) February 01, 2013

Giva® has announced a series of white papers designed to reduce the complexity of the software or cloud buying process by providing forty penetrating questions to ask vendors to become a more informed buyer. Customers interested in purchasing any software or cloud services (for example, IT help desk or customer service) encounter a myriad of problems and obstacles during the purchase process. This white paper series teaches customers how to more quickly qualify and evaluate any software vendor.

These white papers provide practical “how to” advice to assist in becoming a more informed buyer. With the tools provided, companies can make a more rigorous and objective comparison of vendors. The white papers help avoid mistakes that even the most experienced professionals make that cost a lot of time and money. Evaluation teams and senior executives making important business decisions can now approach the purchase of any software (including IT help desk and customer service) or cloud services in a much more rigorous and analytical manner.

Some topics covered include:

•     What if my company is dissatisfied?
•     What if my company finds better technology?
•     Deployment "out-of-box" vs. time and cost of customization/configuration
•     Preparing and comparing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of all alternatives
•     Most overlooked critical fine print in software maintenance agreements
•     Vendor product roadmaps and commitment
•     What are the costs for post-implementation customization/configuration?
•     What qualifies as routine technical support vs. professional services fees?
•     Using uptime and support service level agreements to manage our relationship
•     How to qualify the reliability and security of a data center; SSAE 16 (formally SAS 70),    Trustwave PCI Certification and SysTrust Compliance
•     Access to your data and rights in the cloud
•     Source code escrow rights and responsibilities
•     Termination clauses, contract term commitments, discounts and hidden fees
•     What happens if we have a disagreement? Mediation/arbitration or litigation?
•     What are the costs of additional modules and licenses purchased in the future?
•     What are license options for part-time usage?
•     Are customer case studies with business results achieved available?
•     Are your customer references compensated in any way?
•     How will our future feature requirements be obtained?
•     Will we have an Account Manager (i.e. one neck to squeeze)?
•     Are thirty-day supported production trials available without obligation?
•     How many new releases are provided per year?

This white paper series is now available for download:
Part 1 - Ten Tough Questions to Better Qualify Any Software or Cloud Vendor
Part 2 - Twenty Tough Questions to Better Qualify Any Cloud Vendor
Part 3 - Ten More Tough Questions to Better Qualify Any Software or Cloud Vendor

“We listened to many companies struggle with the purchase process and they asked us for our help,” said Ron Avignone, founder of Giva, Inc. “Penetrating questions are the most powerful way to uncover the truth. Those that can lead the questioning will have more influence in the relationship and set the tone. During the buying process, Giva has been asked these questions. We know that they are powerful and reveal the true character of a vendor.”

About Giva:
Founded in 1999, Giva was among the first companies to provide a suite of applications specifically architected for the public cloud. Now, with over a decade of refinements including thousands of enhancements, the Giva Service Management™ Suite is the most customer feedback driven cloud computing suite for the ITIL Help Desk, Customer Service/Call Center and Service Desk. Visual reporting, management dashboards and a radically intuitive service request design, make the Giva Service Management™ Suite highly differentiated from all other solutions. Customizations are all point and click with no programming or consulting necessary so Giva delivers a substantially lower total cost of ownership solution. Giva is a private company headquartered in Santa Clara, California serving delighted customers worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.givainc.com.

PR contact:
Email: pr (at) givainc (dot) com
Phone: 408.260.9000

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