Shorten Your Hardware And Software Evaluation Processes Once And For All

By The Business Solutions Network

Every year Business Solutions conducts a survey soliciting feedback from our readers on the topics they like reading about in our publication -- as well as the topics they don't like. This year's survey led to some surprising revelations, which are playing a key role in our 2013 editorial planning, which is already well underway. One thing you won't see as much of next year in the magazine are industry perspectives, which are basically a one-page trend analysis from one company. The feedback we received indicated you find more value when three or four vendors are weighing in on a topic compared with hearing from just one vendor. One new type of editorial that will be taking its place, however is [insert drum roll here] product reviews. Yes, you heard right.

In traditional BSM fashion, we're not going to just skim the surface on this topic, but we're going to be doing real testing, so that we can provide you with actionable, vendor-neutral information that will help shorten your product evaluation process. The reason I'm sharing this information three months before our first article appears in print is twofold:

1. We still have a lot of options to consider, and we'd really value your input -- especially if you're involved in evaluating products at your company. What best practices have you learned that we should keep in mind?

2. We don't have a testing facility, so we're going to be relying on help from VARs, integrators, and MSPs that have test labs and are willing to help. Know someone who would be a good candidate? Let me know.

Stay tuned for more information on this topic as we get closer to our first test. I'm sure the experience will have some blog-worthy commentary.