How to navigate the network vendor selection process

Begin the network vendor selection process

When an organization decides to implement or upgrade a new technology within its network infrastructure, the first step is to determine which vendor has the services it wants. It might seem easier to draft a short list of providers and select one based on an initial assessment, but network vendor selection should be a thorough process to ensure organizations choose the best vendor that fits their needs.

Before organizations begin to evaluate vendors, they must organize a team of individuals to lead the project. It's typically a best practice to set up a selection team that can establish a longstanding relationship with a vendor. This team typically comprises network professionals, a project manager and other network stakeholders.

Following the project team formation, its members must establish a framework for the project. If an organization needs to select a new vendor to deploy a networking product, the team should find out the network's needs and plan how to procure any necessary tools. This process ensures the organization prioritizes a vendor whose products suit its networking requirements and needs.

Determine the need for change

The organization must determine and validate the business requirements that necessitate the change in technology or network services. The project team leadership must discuss the proposed requirements with other key team leaders, such as storage teams, security teams or software engineering teams.

Understand the network's requirements

The project team must capture the business requirements of the network, as its end users experience the most change with a new or replacement technology. When the network team knows the network's unique requirements, they can better understand the network's configuration and how to manage it.

For example, if a firm were to merge with another, it might have new requirements for increased speed and low latency to various customer resources. The network team must configure the network to enable its new requirements. Examples include the following:

• Update the network to increase bandwidth.
• Alter the network topology to a different configuration.
• Change network interface devices to accommodate faster speeds.
• Create alternate routes to add network resilience.

Secure senior management approval

The project team should brief senior leadership -- not just the CIO, CTO and CISO, but leadership of all levels -- on the proposed requirements. This provides insight on which vendors the organization is considering for the new service. This step enables the project team to secure approval from leaders, as well as receive the necessary funding for the evaluation process.

Prepare a specification or requirements document

The project team needs to document all requirements associated with the proposed technology or network service project. The document should include information about the existing technology configuration the organization plans to replace or update. Once the team completes the document and leadership approves it, the document becomes a key component of the vendor selection process.

Each network vendor candidate must examine the document -- or at least an accurate summary -- as it prepares for upcoming meetings and discussions with team members. This document also becomes a key component of any request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation or request for information.

Collect the fine print details

The project team should identify and collect all content -- whether financial, legal, operational or maintenance -- they plan to use to evaluate network vendors. The team must include all this information in any contract initiated with the selected vendor.

Evaluate network vendor selection criteria

The project team can create a rating system to measure each metric as they evaluate the criteria. They can measure metrics as high, medium and low or rate from 1 to 5, with 1 being insufficient and 5 being excellent.

The network team should define the rating criteria, including the following:

• Network performance and reliability.
• Product and service security features.
• Interoperability with other network services.
• Description of the maintenance process.
• Cost considerations.

Network performance and reliability

To evaluate the performance and reliability of network hardware, software and other services, the network team should measure statistics such as mean time to repair and mean time between failures. If the team determines the current network hardware, software or network resources don't provide the necessary performance, the organization might need to consider replacing or upgrading its network hardware.

The organization might also need to update existing network software to adapt to the new equipment. The team should also consider changing network services to increase bandwidth and lower latency. The organization must carefully outline these kinds of criteria in its requirements documentation so vendors can propose suitable options and simplify the selection process.

Product and service security features

The team must determine if new products or services could be susceptible to different security threats, such as breaches, malware or phishing. Network professionals should work with the security team and the CISO to determine the optimal level of security they can deliver when the network team makes any changes.

Security can influence the way the network team configures network devices. For example, they might need to enhance intrusion detection and prevention systems or update firewalls to account for the changes. In addition, the organization should put any new requirements that emerge from this analysis into the requirements document.

Interoperability with other network services

The organization must determine if the new network service can link to existing systems with no compatibility issues. When the organization prepares its requirements document, it should ensure that vendors state how their products and services interoperate with existing network infrastructure. Vendors can provide examples of situations where their technology effectively integrated into an organization's existing infrastructure and how they addressed any problems with interconnectivity.

Description of the maintenance process

The project team should compare vendors to determine how quickly each might respond to an outage. If the organization has dealt with one or more vendors for some time, it likely knows the level of support it needs. The project team should evaluate vendors on the above criteria, make on-site visits to vendor installations and review feedback from existing customers to compare vendors.

Cost considerations

As the organization considers the costs for a new or upgraded network service, it should use some level of financial data, such as order of magnitude or budgetary estimates on a proposed upgrade. However, official pricing should come later when the organization submits formal proposals.

In situations where budgetary restrictions play a prominent role, it's incumbent on the network team and IT leadership to make the case for the proposed investment based on an ROI analysis.

The organization can also use the results of a risk analysis that indicates how the company could experience adverse effects without the new technology.

But, regardless of the basis upon which the organization chooses to justify the purchase of a new technology, it might be better to adopt a phased plan, rather than an immediate approach. The organization can implement gradual changes to the network that provide interim relief and procure additional funding to add more changes in the future.

Additional network vendor assessment factors

The factors that influence the choice of a network vendor or service provider must address how the vendor's technology will improve network operations or performance. The project team should evaluate necessary aspects, such as security, interoperability and maintenance.

In addition, other networking-related factors organizations should consider include the following:

• Standards compliance. How do the vendors state how their products or services comply with relevant networking standards?
• Service-level agreement (SLA) negotiation. Do any of the vendors agree to regularly use network SLAs as a way to protect organizations?
• Network service training. Do vendors provide comprehensive training to ensure network professionals can operate the products or services?
• Disaster recovery process. How will the vendor address an outage in the event of a catastrophic system failure or loss of network service?
• Warranty coverage. Do any of the vendors offer protection to organizations?

The evaluation of this criteria enables organizations to choose a network vendor that can satisfy their requirements.

The table here is an example of a vendor selection evaluation form. If the selection team evaluates the criteria with numbers, they should add all the numbers and divide by the total number of entries to find an average. It might also be helpful to include weighting factors to address the most important criteria, such as addressing the requirements or maintenance support.

Download a template of the table.

Evaluate and narrow vendors

Once the project team establishes the evaluation criteria, they need to analyze factors to decide which vendor to choose. These considerations enable them to pick a vendor with products and services that best align with the requirements and needs of the organization.

Identify potential network vendors and carriers

Depending on the requirements, the organization might find numerous vendors and carriers for consideration. The organization can find suitable network vendors through search engines, networking publications, word of mouth and research reports. The project team should create an initial list of candidates and share it with C-level IT leaders.

Reduce the list of vendors and carriers

Once the team formulates an agenda and list of questions that leadership approves, the organization should hold an initial meeting and invite potential network vendor and carrier candidates. This group can also include incumbent vendors that already serve the organization. It might be useful for the organization to invite several vendors to the initial meeting.

Following the initial meeting, the team should carefully review the information gathered. They should take note of all content especially relevant to the requirements of the new service they plan to implement. The project team should then conduct meetings to narrow down the list of candidates.

Once the team narrows down the list of potential providers, they should begin to hold a second round of interviews with the remaining choices. Like before, the team should prepare an agenda and list of questions to ask vendors. This group can once again include incumbent vendors. However, these meetings should be more in-depth, so it might be better if the team holds these as one-on-one meetings.

Following the second round of interviews, the project team should once again complete an evaluation form and conduct meetings to narrow the list of candidates. They should continue to conduct interviews as needed to clarify key points.

Select a provider

Once the team selects vendor and carrier candidates and management approves it, they should conclude the RFP process to obtain pricing, contracts and other important info to proceed to a final selection.

Build a relationship with the vendor

If the selected vendor is new to the organization, the vendor selection process is essential to establish a long-term relationship. A thorough selection process can help prevent the risks of hiring an ill-suited network vendor or service provider.

In addition to selecting a suitable network vendor, a thorough vendor selection process can also provide long-term benefits. This provides the opportunity for enterprises to build a relationship with their selected vendor. Organizations can access the vendor's expertise when they consider new technologies or request guidance on how to deal with problems.

Ultimately, the vendor selection process enables enterprises to have an effective technology partner that helps ensure a flexible, optimal and secure network.

Paul Kirvan, FBCI, CISA, is an independent consultant and technical writer with more than 35 years of experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, resilience, cybersecurity, GRC, telecom and technical writing.