Large Webex Meeting

I’m hosting a demo of the software we are planning to buy. This is hopefully the last “demo” before we sign the contract. Currently there are 17 people online; hopefully Webex will be stable since we need our CFO’s approval to buy the software. He is on the call, along with all his direct reports, and it’s the first time they have seen a demo of the software. We’re hoping no one will have an issue with our choice and we can move on and start implementing the new software.

If we continue with this software vendor, there’s a slight issue when we come to implementation. Due to the pandemic, there’s not much business travel going on, so their consultants will have to help us over the phone instead of in-person. Even worse, it’s a Canadian company so even if they travel to our office, they will have problems returning to Canada afterwards.

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For anyone that has set up meeting at a large company, it was almost impossible to find a free slot for everyone with only a few days notice. I don’t want to try and setup another meeting for all these people again.

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We just had a call to inform the second place vendor that we’re going with another solution. It was a weird call, kind of like breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend. We were trying to say “Hey, it’s not you. We just prefer something a bit different.” This one was a bit harder since we did a lot of demos with them. I had to reject a lot of other vendors but since there was less time invested, it was a bit easier. I’m glad I don’t work in Purchasing since it appears that this is a regular part of their work.