Vendor Selection

Sliding Line

  • Exevion was brought in to support the procurement of a KYC financial crime vendor for a national, fast-growing financial services group. The client wanted our support in selecting a vendor that would allow the business to improve operations while minimising the human input required to manage its trade and payment process.

    Over the last three years, the client had grown at pace and didn’t have an agreed-upon procurement process. Exevion ran our Vendor Selection process to evaluate and select the correct vendor whilst ensuring that:

    • The vendors understood all of the complexity of the operation

    • The right stakeholders were engaged throughout

    • The selection process was rigorous and could be stood behind as the client continued to grow

    Exevion had previously completed a Discovery project where detailed requirements and opportunities for a solution were defined through interviews and detailed process mapping.

  • Exevion ran a two-part procurement process to select a vendor

    1. Market Scan – We completed a detailed market scan to identify potential vendors:

    • High-Level – Used the highest priority requirements collected during the Discovery project to shortlist 8 vendors from a long list of 30. We selected vendors that had the essential capability and were of an appropriate scale to successfully deliver

    • Detailed – Completed detailed research into the shortlisted vendors. We used desk-based research and in-depth workshops to understand how vendors would address the client's complex requirements

    • Evaluation – Compared the shortlisted vendors to select 4 for the Collaborative Procurement stage. We prepared detailed documentation to validate and support the decision-making process

    2. Collaborative Procurement – We conducted a collaborative RFP process where vendors were evaluated against each other and the detailed requirements from the Discovery project:

    • RFP – Prepared a detailed RFP document that vendors were required to complete. The completed document was included as an Annex in the contract to ensure that vendor sales teams answered the questions accurately

    • Project Workshops – Facilitated a set of workshops for the vendors to fully understand the client’s business. These were used to ensure that vendors understood the complexity of the operation and ensure that vendor’s RFP responses were tailored to the client

    • Presentations – Ran a series of vendor presentations for vendors to walk through product demonstrations. We encouraged vendors to use the RFP questions and Project Workshops to tailor the demonstrations to the client

    • Scoring – We prepared a scoring document that was used by the project team to compare potential vendors, and select a vendor for implementation

  • We negotiated with the vendor to ensure 3 key outcomes:

    1. Commercials – We successfully negotiated a deal saving the client over £60K annually from the initial vendor offer

    2. Functionality – We mapped desired functionality and planned technical implementation approach to agree an accurate statement of work with the vendor

    3. Implementation Timelines – We worked with the vendor to plan the implementation, to ensure that project completion fit within the tight timeline for delivery

    Two outputs were created to document vendor selection

    • Vendor Evaluation – A detailed evaluation document which documented the Market Scan and Collaborative Procurement process

    • Board Pack – A set of slides for the project lead to present to the board and investors to secure funding for the project

  • Fast-growth companies looking to implement major vendors to support their growth should consider running a collaborative approach instead of going through the traditional RFP process. This allows a client to:

    • Invest time upfront in vendor workshops to ensure the right long-term solution is found;

    • Build relationships with potential vendor teams upfront;

    • Measure the vendor based on the solution and team, not just the price

    Our experience in the end-to-end operational improvement process means we can support clients in ensuring that the right vendor is selected to deliver an effective solution.