Researching the TMS market

The second step involves shortlisting a few TMSs and checking their features.

These actions will help you decide which tool will satisfy your business needs best.
  1. Check the key TMS features: decide which are must, nice-to-have or unnecessary ones.
  2. Do a TMS shortlist:
    1. Go through the list of the most popular TMSs. Choose a few and read more about them on their websites.
    2. Create a Request-for-Proposal listing all your requirements.
    3. Ask for more information from the respective TMS sales teams.
    4. Consult case studies from different companies.
    5. Make a comparison of their features and prices in one file.
    6. Arrange meetings with sales representatives of particular TMS providers.
    7. Take part in webinars offered by TMS experts.
    8. Browse through available documentation (user guides, webhelp, videos, etc.).
    9. Complete your comparison file with new information.
  3. Consult your TMS shortlist with relevant stakeholders (e.g. internal reviewers, marketing team, software developers). Ask about their needs, fears, must-have features and recommendations.
  4. Check how a TMS works in practice:
    1. Watch a demo.
    2. Ask for a free trial of a few selected tools
    3. Create test projects, workflows, user accounts with specific roles.
    4. Import your TMs (if any) and test them.
    5. Check those TMS’s features that are most relevant to your company. Is it easy to use? Will it be easy for use also by other internal clients?
  5. Make a final decision on a TMS and prepare an offer for your management, including its:
    1. strengths
    2. weaknesses
    3. benefits
    4. risks
    5. costs