Establish a clear vision and structure

The first order of business is to establish a clear vision, scope and detailing as to what the firm wants to succeed, in terms of use cases and capabilities – by the adoption of a CDP. To do so, the firm needs to review its own current capabilities, and understand what new capabilities are needed to realize its vision. Before procuring a new system, the first question should always be “can we achieve this within the tech stack we have today?”. If the answer is no, then next step is to map how this void can be fulfilled with fundamental value proposition and capabilities of a CDP.  In line with the vision and set-up goals, it is crucial to orchestrate a structure with defined roles, responsibilities, principles, processes, and activities. 

Conduct preparations and initiate the process

The next step for successfully procuring the best possible CDP for your firm is to Identify and carefully research suppliers on the market. When relevant suppliers have been reviewed and identified, a request for proposal package with necessary conditions and prerequisites in line with your firm’s vision, goals and capabilities can be created and sent out. The identified suppliers will retrieve the request for proposal package and then respond to questions and considerations. Once the request for proposal process is initiated, always ensure that NDAs are implemented and signed by all approached suppliers. 

Evaluation and decision-making

After initiating the request for proposal process, the next phase is centered around analyzing and evaluating all suppliers’ answers to the request for proposal, and then define short-list of suppliers to be invited for demo sessions.​ After reviewing demos, there are three main suggested categories of factors to be evaluated regarding the suppliers’ demos and value propositions, to ensure the best CDP for your company is decided upon:

• The functional coverage evaluation category concerns what the CDP can offer in terms of data management, analytics and scoring, campaign management and activation, orchestration, and optimization, reporting and optimization etc.

• The none-functional coverage evaluation category covers what the suppliers of the CDP can offer in terms of performance, training, support, and Integration’s capacity.

• Technology – how is their technology foundation matching your overall roadmap. E.g., if you invest in an Event-driven CDP, what requirements does that set on your other tech stack. E.g., will the event-driven solution flourish if all your other systems are batch oriented?

• The other evaluation category accounts for aspects such as  geographic location for customer support, resources and competence, experience and references, price, and cultural match.

• Price is an important factor, but beware that negotiating price to a level where the supplier is not seeing you as a customer, rather than a partner– can result in something that is counterproductive for your success. Also, how the pricing model is set up is an important factor. E.g., if you plan to enter a new market, how is that affecting your price level?

After carefully matching and mapping these categories with your firms’ goals, visions, and capabilities – the best possible decision-making for the right CDP can be facilitated.