What We Do / IT Vendor Selection
IT vendor selectionVendor selection without a reseller in the room.
An ERP, a security stack or a core infrastructure vendor is a decision you will live with for years, yet the evaluation is usually run by the people being sold to, using criteria the vendors helped shape. MALA runs the selection from your side of the table.
The full selection, run as your independent representative.
Requirements through negotiation, with no reseller or referral agreement with any vendor in the evaluation.
Requirements definition
Built around your operations, not a vendor's feature list.
RFP development & management
Written and run across multiple vendors.
Independent scoring
Evaluation frameworks weighted to your priorities.
Real reference checks
Peer benchmarking beyond the references vendors hand-pick.
Total cost of ownership
Including implementation and switching costs.
Negotiation support
Once a finalist is selected, terms that match the evaluation.
Criteria get set before any vendor is in the room.
When internal teams lack the time or specialized expertise to run a full evaluation, a leading vendor's own sales engineer often helps shape the RFP, which predictably produces requirements that favor that vendor's strengths.
MALA advisors write the evaluation criteria independently, based on your operational requirements and constraints, before any vendor is invited to respond.
Run for you, not by the vendors.
- 01
Requirements
Your operations and constraints, written down first.
- 02
RFP
Issued to a qualified, competitive field.
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03
Score
Weighted to your priorities, independently.
- 04
References
Peers the vendors did not choose for you.
- 05
Negotiate
Terms and pricing that match what was evaluated.
Every recommendation free of reseller incentives.
No reseller agreements
No referral or reseller deal with any vendor in the evaluation.
Your weighting
Scoring reflects your priorities, not a vendor's strengths.
Full cost picture
Implementation and switching costs modeled up front.
Experienced advisors
People who have run selections across dozens of organizations.
Built for the people who own the decision.
- CIO / CTOA defensible platform decision you will live with for years.
- CFOTotal cost of ownership modeled before you commit.
- Procurement A documented, comparable evaluation trail.
- Operations leadersRequirements that reflect how the business actually works.
No fee to you.
MALA is compensated by the provider you select, only if you choose to move forward with a change.
- Similar pay within each categoryProviders in each category have similar compensation models, so nothing steers the recommendation.
- Staying put is a good outcomeBetter terms with your incumbent is common, and there is no transaction behind it.
- No obligationYou are never required to select a participating provider.
What clients ask first.
What does the engagement include?
Requirements definition, RFP development and management, independent weighted scoring, reference checks and peer benchmarking, TCO modeling including implementation and switching costs, and negotiation support once a finalist is selected.
Why shouldn't a vendor help write our RFP?
It predictably produces requirements that favor that vendor's strengths. MALA writes criteria independently, before any vendor is in the room.
What's the real cost of choosing wrong?
Re-implementation, poor adoption, and renewals with no leverage because switching now looks more expensive than staying.
How do you keep the process independent?
MALA has no reseller or referral agreement with any vendor in the evaluation.
What does it cost?
An independent read on your upcoming selection from a senior advisor, with no obligation and no direct cost to you.
Get an independent read on your next selection. Before the vendors set the criteria.
A senior advisor will look at what you are selecting, your timeline and your constraints, with no obligation.
No fee to you. No obligation. An advisor responds within one business day.