Top 54 POS for Resturants Software (Mar 2023)

2023's Best 55 POS for Resturants Systems

Shlomi LaviShlomi Lavi / Mar 02, 2023

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1. Toast POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $165 per month
  • Dec 28, 2022
Compare Toast POS Vs. Toast POS

Toast POS is a simple yet powerful all-in-one point of sale (POS) software designed to supercharge the operations in a restaurant setting.


2. Rezku POS Software

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $99 per license
  • Mar 09, 2022
Compare Rezku POS Software Vs. Toast POS

Rezku POS is a cloud-hosted iPad point of sale solution designed to serve all categories of restaurants and bars, and that can also be installed on-premise. The primary features of Rezku POS include staff management, advanced menus, tableside ordering, customized floor plans, mobile access, online o...


3. Lavu

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $59 per month
  • Mar 02, 2023
Compare Lavu Vs. Toast POS

Lave software is a cloud-hosted iPad Point of Sale (POS) system that is specifically engineered to serve the restaurant industry. The platform targets both quick-service and full-service dining establishments in the small to large enterprise settings.


4. Revel iPad POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $99 per terminal/month
  • Mar 09, 2022
Compare Revel iPad POS Vs. Toast POS

Revel iPad POS software is a point-of-sale solution that is designed to transform businesses. The solution has a number of features that include a gift card tool that increases sales, earn new ones by offering gift cards and retain old customers.


5. Epos Now

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $39 per user/month
  • Mar 09, 2022
Compare Epos Now Vs. Toast POS

Epos Now is a cloud-based point of sale (POS) software offering users a unified platform in which they can control inventory, employee activity and back office.


6. PayPal Here

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $29 per license
  • Mar 09, 2022
Compare PayPal Here Vs. Toast POS

PayPal Here is a cloud-based mobile credit card processing solution designed to help the user process mobile payments through a chip and mobile card readers. The solution is designed both for personal and business use. It helps the user get paid on the go or in the store.


7. Breadcrumb

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $59 per month
  • Mar 09, 2022
Compare Breadcrumb Vs. Toast POS

Breadcrumb is a point of sales/POS management software giving users with an extensive suite of features optimized for Apple devices. Aside from POS system, payment solutions, time clock and check and table management functionalities are also integrated with it.


8. TouchBistro

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $69 per month
  • Mar 02, 2023
Compare TouchBistro Vs. Toast POS

**EMV Ready!** TouchBistro iPad POS has been reviewed as the Best Restaurant POS by Business News Daily and is the #1 food and beverage app in 34 countries worldwide. TouchBistro is designed specifically for the restaurant industry. Every ounce of engineering and design put into TouchBistro i...


9. SimpleOrder

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $79 per month
  • Mar 20, 2022
Compare SimpleOrder Vs. Toast POS

SimpleOrder is a retail & POS app designed to help food & beverage establishments simplify their back of house operations and management.


10. Lightspeed Restaurant

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $39 per month
  • Mar 11, 2022
Compare Lightspeed Restaurant Vs. Toast POS

Lightspeed Restaurant is a cloud-based, comprehensive point of sales (POS) system helping the users in managing the staff, serving the customers and monitoring performance, so they can ensure that the guests receive the best.


Pricing Guide - POS for Resturants Software:

Retail POS Price Range

Most retail point of sale products in the market have pricing based on the number of users, physical locations, machines, or sales outlet. Most products are priced per month, and their pricing can be divided into three tiers, starting from $29 to $39, $39 to $75, and then $75 upwards.

These are the price ranges for basic offerings of most vendors; hence, premium offerings which come with more features cost more. For example, Ricochet pricing starts from $99 per month, KORONA costs about $49 per month, and WooPOS pricing starts from $29 per month. Perpetual licences can also be bought for some retail POS software. An example is RetailEdge which can be bought with a one-time fee of $449.

In addition, retail POS vendors target different organization sizes, so business size determines the price.

  • Small Businesses that are looking for a retail POS system can expect to pay between $25 to $50 on a monthly basis. For instance, Epos Now pricing starts from $39 per month, and ThriftCart starts from $50 per location, per month. Meanwhile, some products have freemium plans for small business, while some products are completely free. For example, HadePay is 100-percent free to use.
  • Medium Businesses can expect pricing points between $50 to $120 for a retail POS system monthly. For example, Heartland Retail pricing starts from around $99 per month, LightSpeed POS from $69 per month, and Realtime Cloud from around $80 per month. The number of user accounts paid for on each plan can also attract discounts, depending on the pricing terms from each vendor.
  • Large Businesses can expect prices that fall between the range of $120 to $500 for a retail POS system monthly. For example, RUnit Realtime Cloud pricing starts from $258 per machine monthly, WinWard System Five from around $125 per month, and Epicor Retail Solutions costs around $350 per month for each user account. However, many vendors do not disclose their pricing for large businesses so as to enable them to adjust their pricing based on the need of each organization.

Here are some Retail POS best of breeds and their price ranges are as follows:

  • Retail Management Software Retail management products can be divided into three tiers, and the price ranges for each tier are $28 to $39, $39 to $83, and $83 above. Also, most retail management products are priced on a monthly basis per user or physical location managed with the software. For example, Quant Retail pricing starts from $180 per user monthly, PHP Point of Sale from $39 per month, and POSExpress costs up to $190 per month.
  • iPad POS Most iPad POS products in the market are priced per user or per usage based on a monthly basis. Their price points fall into two tiers, starting from $0 to $30, and then $30 to $85. For example, TillPoint pricing starts from $29 per month, Ambur POS from around $60 per month, and Loyverse pricing starts from $0.01 per usage every month. Meanwhile, some iPad POS software have perpetual licenses that can be bought with a one-time fee; an example is Digital Dining which costs $10,000.
  • Bar POS Software Bar POS products in the market can be divided into two tiers, with each having a different price range depending on the robustness of features. The price ranges fall within $15 to $40 and $40 to $85. For example, BePOZ Point of Sale pricing starts from $69 per month, HarbourTouch POS from $29 per month, and Unicenta from $49 monthly.
  • Restaurant POS Software For a restaurant POS software, users can expect to pay between the ranges of $50 to $100 above per user, table, or managed location. For example, SpotOn Restaurant pricing starts from $65 monthly, Toast POS from $79 per month, and Upserve POS pricing is around $59 monthly. However, most products may incur extra one-time fees that fall between $2,000 to $7,000 because they require additional hardware equipment to run.
  • Retail Management POS Most Retail Management POS software in the market are priced on a per-user, per-month basis, and their price can fall between three ranges, from $0 to $50, $50 to $100, and then $100+ upwards. For example, Lavu pricing starts from $69 per month, PoinOS from $39 per user monthly, and TouchBistro from around $70 per user monthly.

11. Loyverse POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $5 per employee/month
  • Apr 01, 2022
Compare Loyverse POS Vs. Toast POS

Loyverse POS is a cloud-based, mobile point of sale/POS software designed to help users working in small retail, restaurant and salon establishments. It helps users with the management of the inventory, visualization of the sales analytics and management of customer relationships.


12. Odoo Point of Sale

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $7.50 per user/month
  • Apr 01, 2022
Compare Odoo Point of Sale Vs. Toast POS

Odoo Point of Sale is a growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small and medium size business. Odoo Point of Sale received a rating of 4.2 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.1/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


13. Square Register POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $799 per license
  • May 24, 2022
Compare Square Register POS Vs. Toast POS

Square Register POS software is a cloud-based mobile phone app Point of Sale Software available on the App Store and Google Play. Square Register POS is built to operate on a mobile phone or a tablet. Some core features of Square Register POS are online payment processing, inventory & digital receip...


14. Nobly POS Software

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $49 per month
  • Jun 07, 2022
Compare Nobly POS Software Vs. Toast POS

Nobly POS is a cloud-based Retail & POS software that enables retailers to garner more insights on their products through analytical tools and reports.


15. CAKE Point of Sale

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $69 per month
  • Jul 14, 2022
Compare CAKE Point of Sale Vs. Toast POS

CAKE Point of Sale is a cloud-based Restaurant POS software that assists restaurant owners in speeding up order processes and establishing custom workflows.


16. BarTab Software

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $39 per feature/month
  • May 16, 2022
Compare BarTab Software Vs. Toast POS

BarTab Software is an on-premise and cloud-based point of sale solution that is designed for bars and pubs that runs on iPads. BarTab Software is a tool that maintains the till reports which provide notifications in case of a variance occurrence.


17. VIENNA Advantage POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: Has a free version
  • May 15, 2022
Compare VIENNA Advantage POS Vs. Toast POS

Vienna Advantage is a retail ERP software designed to help users automate approvals and tasks. The software supports email SMS integration which makes it possible for users to track all communications related to a particular file or record.


18. Clover POS

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $39.95 per license
  • May 15, 2022
Compare Clover POS Vs. Toast POS

Clover POS is an integrated server-based and cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system designed to offer retailers built-in payment solutions. Some of its core features include gift card management, order tracking, data reporting, a point of sale and reporting among others.


19. Samsung Pay

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $9.99 per month
  • Jun 08, 2022
Compare Samsung Pay Vs. Toast POS

Samsung Pay is a retail and POS software built for individuals and businesses to make money transfers, use membership and reward cards, carry out online payments, and use transit cards for public transportation.


20. SplitAbility POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $30 per month
  • Jun 08, 2022
Compare SplitAbility POS Vs. Toast POS

SplitAbility POS is a retail & POS software that provides businesses with POS solutions. It helps to automate processes, thereby eliminating manual computing of totals, which ensures error-free operations.


21. COMCASH Retail ERP

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $125 per license
  • May 25, 2022
Compare COMCASH Retail ERP Vs. Toast POS

COMCASH ERP is a retail management software solution for multi-channel and multi-location retailers. The software was designed by COMCASH, Inc., headquartered in California, United States. It offers a verity of cloud-based features for efficient regulation of your retail business. 


22. MarketMan

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $127 per location/month
  • Jun 12, 2022
Compare MarketMan Vs. Toast POS

Marketman is a restaurant inventory management software designed for restaurants and foodservice operators to optimize inventory ordering processes, track cost of goods sold, plan and budget menu items, and manage suppliers.


23. AdaPos more+

  • Best for: Large business
  • Price: starts at $25.42 per month
  • Jun 21, 2022
Compare AdaPos more+ Vs. Toast POS

AdaPos More+ is an internet-based retail software for businesses to detect and manage online shops, improve retail and POS systems, eliminate hassles in contacting suppliers and facilitate merchandising processes.


24. Poster

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $24 per month
  • Jun 21, 2022
Compare Poster Vs. Toast POS

Poster POS is a retail and POS Software for retail businesses and foodservice agents to manage inventory and finances, optimize business operations, take orders faster, and control organizational workflow.


25. Shoptree Software

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $253.20 per year
  • Jul 02, 2022
Compare Shoptree Software Vs. Toast POS

ShopTree is a point of sale software designed to help businesses manage their business activities from customers, inventory to payments.


26. NCR Silver

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $79 per feature/month
  • Jun 23, 2022
Compare NCR Silver Vs. Toast POS

NCR Silver is iPad point of sale (POS) software designed for small retail businesses. Its main features include POS, reporting, customer relationship management and employee management. It is available for on-premise deployment and for client server deployment.   NCR Silver was developed by NCR in...


27. Kounta

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $80 per month
  • Dec 18, 2022
Compare Kounta Vs. Toast POS

Kounta is a point of sale software for hospitality businesses to manage order production and delivery, control stock and expenses, get detailed organizational reports, and make transactions.


28. Instore

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $39 per feature/month
  • Jun 24, 2022
Compare Instore Vs. Toast POS

Instore is a point of sale management solution for businesses of all sizes. It offers support for multiple payment methods along with inventory management, analytics, and other services. The software was developed and launched by Own Group Inc headquartered in California, United States.


29. Restaurant Manager

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $199 per license
  • Jun 23, 2022
Compare Restaurant Manager Vs. Toast POS

Restaurant Manager is a Point Of Sale (POS) software that can be efficiently used in any food distribution points. This software can be easily tailored to fit the individual needs of any restaurant. Users can carry out a number of functions, including inventory management, ordering, mobile managemen...


30. CrunchTime!

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Jul 14, 2022
Compare CrunchTime! Vs. Toast POS

CrunchTime! is a retail & POS software designed as a restaurant management platform from which businesses can handle back-office issues associated with labor scheduling, vendor supply chain, and inventory management.


31. One Stop POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $59 per station
  • Jul 23, 2022
Compare One Stop POS Vs. Toast POS

One Stop POS is a cloud-based retail and POS software that enables retailers to manage an employee management database complete with salient data such as overtime calculations and hour tracking.


32. B2B POS

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price:
  • Jul 23, 2022
Compare B2B POS Vs. Toast POS

B2B POS is a SaaS-based Retail & POS software that helps carriers maintain 360° visualization of account information to consolidate productivity, customer experience and eliminate double entries.


33. Paladin Point of Sale

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price:
  • Jul 15, 2022
Compare Paladin Point of Sale Vs. Toast POS

Paladin POS is a retail and POS management solution for businesses of all sizes. It offers such capabilities as store management, customer support, inventory management, and others. The software was designed and launched by Paladin Point of Sale headquartered in Oregon, United States.


34. LionWise™

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Dec 20, 2022
Compare LionWise™ Vs. Toast POS

LionWise is a web based POS and retail management solution for businesses of all sizes. It offers such capabilities as barcode scanning, inventory management, customer management, and others. The software was designed and launched by LionWise LLC headquartered in New Hampshire, United States.


35. ReServe Interactive

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Jul 24, 2022
Compare ReServe Interactive Vs. Toast POS

ReServe Interactive is a hospitality management software for restaurants to manage tables and entertainment assets and cater to event management operations.


36. SynergySuite for Restaurants

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $225 per month
  • Jul 24, 2022
Compare SynergySuite for Restaurants Vs. Toast POS

SynergySuite is a cloud-based restaurant management software for restaurants to manage schedules and run reports, improve inventory accuracy and tracking, manage purchasing, quantities, orders, and supplier relationships, and improve food safety.


37. Copper Point of Sale software

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $34.99 per license
  • Jul 15, 2022
Compare Copper Point of Sale software Vs. Toast POS

Copper POS is a retail management and point of sale solution for businesses of all sizes. Its capabilities include support for multiple currencies, inventory control, client management, and others. The software was designed and launched by NCH Software Inc headquartered in Colorado, Unit...


38. InTouch POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $900 per license
  • Aug 15, 2022
Compare InTouch POS Vs. Toast POS

InTouch POS is a point of sales/POS type of software designed for restaurant use. It has the right solutions for delivery, fine dining, quick service, room service, drive thru and nightclub style. The system can be customized and able to support numerous users.


39. iConnect POS

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $50 per month
  • Aug 15, 2022
Compare iConnect POS Vs. Toast POS

iConnect POS software is a cloud-based business productivity and a mobile point-of-sale solution suitable for corporates and franchise businesses. The solution which is now Franpos software is a product of Franpos Company founded in 2009 in the United States.


40. Bepoz

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $69 per month
  • Aug 04, 2022
Compare Bepoz Vs. Toast POS

Bepoz is a cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) solution designed for single & multi-location restaurant, retail operations, and admissions businesses. The solution helps the user manage multiple locations, get mobile & go anywhere as well as engage the customers.


41. SalesVu

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $100 per location/month
  • Aug 02, 2022
Compare SalesVu Vs. Toast POS

Salesvu is a cloud-based software that is developed to assist businesses in managing their activities. The software is designed to work perfectly in small-sized businesses and medium-sized companies.


42. Zoey

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $299 per month
  • Sep 07, 2022
Compare Zoey Vs. Toast POS

Zoey is an order fulfillment software designed to help businesses take orders online remotely. The mobile app allows users to look up product details and customer-specific pricing, and they can create quotes and orders remotely.


43. Thr!ve

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $179 per month
  • Sep 29, 2022
Compare Thr!ve Vs. Toast POS

Thr!ve is a point of sale/POS software developed by Granbury Restaurant Solutions. This software is built to be a mobile POS management tool using mobile devices. Mainly, this software caters to pizza delivery.


44. Bevo POS by Benseron

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $49.99 per register/month
  • Sep 29, 2022
Compare Bevo POS by Benseron Vs. Toast POS

Bevo POS is a cloud-based retail POS system that is modeled to service restaurant, bars, and hospitality industries. Bevo POS system is based on a redundant architecture, therefore, allowing each terminal to work independently to avoid a total system failure in case one terminal freezes.


45. Register by AvidRetail

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $699 per license
  • Apr 25, 2022
Compare Register by AvidRetail Vs. Toast POS

AvidRetail is a point of sale and retail management solution for small and medium retailers. Its services include inventory management, employee management, accounting, and others. The software was designed and launched by AvidRetail headquartered in Ontario, Canada.


46. Omni Retailer

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price:
  • Sep 29, 2022
Compare Omni Retailer Vs. Toast POS

Omni Retailer is a retail management software designed for retailers that facilitates delivery channels to customers while also providing increased visibility and information over inventory and stock.


47. Menusifu POS System

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $100 per month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare Menusifu POS System Vs. Toast POS

Menusifu POS System is a retail and POS software built for small to large business sizes. It has gift card management, inventory management, online ordering, split check, table management, mobile access, and reporting and analytics features.


48. HDPOS smart

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $45 per month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare HDPOS smart Vs. Toast POS

HDPOS smart is a growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small and medium size business. HDPOS smart received a rating of 4.6 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.1/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


49. Grassland POS Express

  • Best for: SMBs
  • Price: starts at $10 per user/month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare Grassland POS Express Vs. Toast POS

Grassland POS Express is a trending cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support small and medium size business. Grassland POS Express received a rating of 2.5 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered affordable (1.2/5) when compared to alternative solutions.


50. Gotmerchant-com

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $39 per month
  • Oct 05, 2022
Compare Gotmerchant-com Vs. Toast POS

Gotmerchant.com is a free Point of Sale system designed for restaurants and retail with integrated gift and credit card processing features. Starting from software needs and support to hardware needs and training, Gotmerchant.com offers a complete point of sale system for retailers. Gotmerchant does...


51. iRetail

  • Best for: Medium and large size businesses
  • Price:
  • Apr 18, 2022
Compare iRetail Vs. Toast POS

iRetail is a fast growing cloud-based Retail-POS software, it is designed to support medium and large size business. iRetail received a rating of 5 from ITQlick team. The software cost is considered a bit pricey (4.7/5) vs their competitors.


52. Talech Register

  • Best for: Small businesses and start ups
  • Price: starts at $29 per month
  • Jan 26, 2023
Compare Talech Register Vs. Toast POS

Talech Register is a point of sales (POS) that is deployed on mobile. Integrated in the POS module are the customer management and inventory management. It is also cloud-based and hence, information can be accessed anytime and anywhere using iPad or computers.


53. MaitreD Software Suite

  • Best for: Small, medium and large size businesses
  • Price: starts at $99 per month
  • Jan 31, 2023
Compare MaitreD Software Suite Vs. Toast POS

Maitre’D POS is a point of sale solution for restaurants and restaurant managers that can help users to fulfill all their specific restaurant management needs. The point of sale solution is highly customizable and offers both tablet-based and traditional point of sale and back-office management tool...




A Buyer's Guide to Business Software Solutions

How to Evaluate and Buy Business Software
 
If you’re somehow puzzled if this article is only for a specific size of business, no, it’s not. This is for you SMEs, MNEs and start-ups software buyers. Also, we’re not talking about a specific software solution here. Whether the software solution that you’re planning to buy is for Accounting, Business Intelligence, ERP, CRM, Help Desk, Maintenance Management or other types of application, one thing is for sure; with the help of this article, you will be able to know the right process in evaluating and buying a business software solution.
 
We’ve been into the software business for years and we’re seeing a lot of nitty-gritty things that often bring confusions and hesitations to many companies looking for better software solutions. Some companies can’t afford to let go their legacy systems while a few is encountering technological snags once the new system is in place. While this is the underlying truth behind software acquisition and implementation, what’s exciting about buying a business software solution is that there is a clear and obvious proof that thousands of companies and corporations today are happy with the benefits this technology is bringing into their respective businesses.  There is a significant increase in their revenue and the growth is on-going. And it’s easy to say; many from the Fortune 500 companies are making a lot of money because of their smartly-acquired business software.
 
So, let’s get straight to the point. What should you do in order to acquire that business software that could make your organization achieve its goals? The answer to this is pretty straightforward: evaluate and buy that right business software. Yes, that’s what you need to do and here’s the best manual from ITQlick.com that could certainly help you in doing that strategically.
 
Consider the Needs of Your Organization
Let’s assume that at this point, the entire management team agreed that you are ready to invest on a certain software application. The budget has been compromised and the key persons who will be involved in the acquisition process were already identified. Therefore, it’s time to approach things the project management way.
 
Define the Project
Every business software solution is categorized base on application type, features, deployment model, market size and pricing model. Remember that our objective here is to evaluate and buy a business software product that will fit into the size and present needs of your business. So what the project management team should try to deal with first is to define the real requirements of your business exactly base on the categories set by the software industry. Moreover, by doing this activity, you are already narrowing down your search for the right solution. Now, consider bringing this list of FAQs to the project management and aim to come up with clear-cut answers.
 
  1. What type of software is needed? Is it Integrated-Suite, Best-of-Breed or Industry-Specific? Ask your CEO’s main agenda and find the perfect match from these available options.
  2. What are the core and secondary features? Are you looking for basic, advanced or hi-end features? List down the specific features per category and allow the department managers and supervisors to give their insights on this list.
  3. How are you going to deploy the system? Would it be on-premise, cloud-based, hosted, or mobile-based? Weigh these options with the help of your CIO.
  4. Are you going for Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3 vendors? Their offered solutions are base on the size of their target market - SMEs, MNEs or start-ups. Seek your CFO’s advice as it is important to match your financial capacity against the cost of the solution that the providers have for you.
  5. Are you willing to pay for the perpetuity software license or a subscription-based solution is way better? How many users are there and what would be their roles in using the system? Solicit feedbacks from future end users for they know better what challenges and risks might possibly come along their way when they’re using the system.
 
Finalize the BOM or List of Requirements
After providing definite answers on the above questions, we can say that the project has already been defined. Your procurement team is now ready to do their role in the acquisition process of this solution. However, in order for them to execute their job properly, they must have the complete list of requirements - features, specifications, hardware, and the software product. In other words, the Bill-of-Materials (BOM) that is final, complete and well-prepared must be handed over to the procurement director. Needless to say, it is very important that everybody is following the company purchasing and procurement protocols at all times.  
 
Request for Proposal (RFP)
The RFP process will bring everything into formality. Since you’re more likely in a line of business that doesn’t regularly buy software products, it is of critical importance that your RFP is well-structured before you send it to your prospect solution providers.
 
Draft the RFP
An RFP that contains all the relevant information as discussed during the project management meetings will enable the providers to return back to you their proposal that is complete and substantial. Therefore, your RFP should basically contain the following:
 
Brief Introduction
  • Company Name
  • Mission and Goals
  • Purpose of the RFP (or the need for software solution)
Business Background
  • Organizational Structure
  • Current Situation (IT infrastructure, system currently in-use, system issues and desired solutions, etc.)
  • Major Objectives of the Software Purchase
Request for Specific Requirements
  • Solution Functionality
  • System Specifications
  • Vendor Company Information
  • Price Model, Service Plans, Package Options
Other Important Inquiries (if necessary)
 
Send the RFP
Well-structured RFP will bring a lot of advantages especially when the proposals from various providers are received and then subjected for review and analysis. Send your RFP to at least three to five providers (or prospects which you have already shortlisted during the project definition phase). Depending on the complexity of the solution, most vendors will send their proposal in a matter of time, which could be around 4 to 6 weeks for Integrated-Suite solution.
 
Why still send RFP?
Is there really a need for RFP if your preferred solution (like cloud-based) and the service plans or packages are already displayed on the vendor’s website? Well, yes, you still need to undergo the RFP process. For most sales people, they certainly know that those figures appearing in the vendor’s website are usually the “list price” and not the “actual price”. More importantly, the vendor’s proposal (response to RFP) will serve as your main basis for the negotiation. Therefore, sending an RFP is a strict requirement.
 
Follow up questions relevant to RFP
More often than not, questions and concerns will be raised by the vendors to whom you send the RFP. You have to entertain them with utmost professionalism. Solution providers who are seeking further clarifications relevant to the RFP are consisting of professional software experts who wants to help your organization as much as they can. Entertain them but at the same time, always be cautious when providing additional information which you know is confidential or proprietary.
 
Evaluate the Proposals
Always refer to your finalized BOM when tabulating the contents of each proposal. Part of this process is to check the features that are available from this certain vendor and to cross out those that are not. While using spreadsheet aids the tabulation process, laying down the document proposals on the table and allowing your project management team to review them one by one should always be conducted. Evaluating the proposals in full force can help strengthen your decision-making process. Have another round of brain-storming session and come with the name of your preferred solution provider.
 
When selecting the final vendor, always promote the best interest of your organization. Consider answering these questions with full sincerity.
 
  1. Which vendor can provide the long-term benefits to your organization?
  2. Which vendor can provide the best and honest service from acquisition to full implementation?
  3. Which vendor is willing to devote most of its time in better serving its client?
 
Contact this solution provider and in your own strategic approach, try to get the answers to those three important questions above. In most cases, vendor who really wants to prove its craft will offer product demos on a higher level. Others will even invite you to check their already deployed and working systems. Feel free to connect with this type of vendor. Conduct simulation and testing, be it a cloud-based or on-premise solution. Examine all aspects and angles especially those that your project management team want to really know in-depth. For as long as it could help you arrive at a better decision, consider doing all the options available – for the interest of the organization.
 
Enter the Negotiation Process
Most solutions providers can be flexible in terms of pricing. Although the final say is oftentimes on the mouth of the sales person from the vendor’s side, a good negotiation process can always deliver a win-win situation to both parties involve. While negotiation sometimes cannot be settled in one sitting session, always be honest with your intentions whenever negotiating with your provider. If it’s about your budget, justify it with clarity. If it’s about their service plans, tell them what’s lacking or missing on their solution. At the end of the day, the most important event that should happen is that both of you are shaking hands because of a well done negotiation process.
 
Seal the Contract
So what are you going to do on a contract that involves a significant amount of investment? There are three project management approaches for this.
 
  1. Pass the ball to you legal team. They know what to do and more or less they will tell you if there is something wrong with the contract. Give them enough time to review before they affix their signature and then finally seal the contract.
  2. Hire a consultant base on the technical aspect that you want to clarify in the contract. If it’s the Scope of Work (SOW), a software implementation expert is the right person. If it is related to complex legal terms and conditions, a lawyer can help. If it has something to do with money, invite an accountant to conduct a thorough review and computation if necessary.
  3. Always consider consulting your project management team. Remember that the CIO, CFO and CEO are all team members. They will be the signatories and they know what’s best for the interest of the company when signing a contract agreement.
 
From evaluation to buying stage, it is important that the project manager must take full responsibility of monitoring all the works identified and distributed among team members. This is why delegating the right project manager is also an important consideration when buying a business software solution. And again, ITQlick.com wants to emphasize that whatever the size of your company is, using the project management approach will always lead you into a better outcome – that is getting what you paid for the right business software solution. 

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Auditor - Shlomi Lavi

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Shlomi Lavi is an entrepreneur and founder of ITQlick.com. He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Information Systems Engineering from Ben Gurion University in Israel. Shlomi brings 17 years of global IT and IS management experience as a consultant and implementation expert for small, medium and large-sized (global) companies. Shlomi’s goal is to share the best knowledge and news about information systems so you can make smarter buying decisions for your business.