I have been explaining why a trial of a Treasury Management System is better than let us say- any other approach to adoption. To summarize it, I find no better way than to do a top 6 list.
- See if it fits your Treasury's operational Needs. The elementary test to pass here is the first one and trying it out helps you know first hand- not from demos or product manuals or help manuals or the perfect sales pitch.
- Does your team or potential users like to use this product? This is key and here is why. If your forecasting process is cumbersome and painful, chances are that no will use it, and as a cash manager you have limited visibility. The system should evoke responses such as "That was easy" and "Does not take much time to do that" and not "Well, do I have to do this every day? and "Can't the system create forecasts as soon as I originate a payment?""
- Only true test of the configurability of the system. Ask to make a change, specify exactly what you need and see what the response is, and surely your Treasury Management System vendor has to provide you a very specific answer. Pointing you to a well written document or presentation that explains integration capabilities will no longer work.
- Evaluate support team responses if you have questions during the trial period. You will know what to expect.
- Easy and fast Adoption. If your key team members are using the product already to evaluate it, they are much more likely to start using the product on day 1 of adoption. In other words, your team does not have to read a "How to Manual" or attend a series of training sessions. Better still, you will not have to pay for those training sessions either.
- Evaluate actual (not Expected) benefits of the system by comparing the new product to the old solution or process. This is critical as you would see the advantages of using the new solution first hand. And if there are disadvantages, you will know those upfront as well.
A Trial of Treasury Management Systems upfront could lead to the choice of a product that presents the least possible risk to your organization.
To top it off trials are free. Yes, it takes some of your time but it would be well worth it in the long run. BTW, if it takes too much time to get started with the trial, it may be time to move on to the next product on your list.