How We Approach Platform Selection
Over the years, something has shifted in how clients engage us in talking about platforms. A decade ago, most businesses showed up knowing they had a problem, in need of a solution, but not much else. Today, more of them arrive with real context. They've used platforms firsthand, read the comparisons, sat through vendor demos, and landed on a shortlist or a single name. Oftentimes, that name is the one with the most industry inertia, or the one with the best sales team, but not the one that fits their business best.
Those businesses aren't looking for a vendor to sell them something. They want a neutral party to pressure-test their thinking before they commit. That's core to our Digital Strategy and Consulting work.
You're Going to Live with This for a Long Time
A platform decision isn't a one-year bet anymore. Replatforming is expensive, disruptive, and slow, so once an organization commits, it tends to stay committed. Ten years is common. Sometimes longer.
That changes the math. A choice that looks fine for next quarter can cost you for the next decade if it doesn't fit how your business actually runs, or where it's headed. The platform is usually just the first move in a bigger Digital Transformation, so the wrong pick slows down everything that comes after it. That's why the decision deserves a real process.
Requirements First, Options Second
We're platform agnostic, and we mean it. There's no house favorite we're quietly steering everyone toward. Before we write down a list of platforms to consider, we spend time understanding the business. What are you trying to do? Who are your customers, and how do they buy? We also need to know what systems need to talk to each other, and where the business is headed over the next three to five years. That tells us what a platform actually has to support to get you there.
Only once we have those answers do we build the list of candidates. If you start with a platform name, you'll spend the rest of the process justifying it. Starting with requirements allows the shortlist to follow naturally.
This is why we push back on the question we get most often, which is some version of "so what's the best platform?" There isn't one. The best platform is the one that fits your requirements, your team, your budget, and your roadmap better than the alternatives. The right answer for a 200-person manufacturer with a complex ERP integration is almost never the right answer for a content-driven nonprofit.
Small Teams, By Design
These engagements don't require a huge team. We keep our side as lean as we can: usually two to four people. That keeps the work moving quickly, keeps handoffs to a minimum, and ensures clients are engaging with the folks actually doing the analysis.
More Than Just Ecommerce
We run the same process for CMS platforms like WordPress and Craft, for CRMs, and for other systems you'll depend on for years. Often the choice feeds straight into a Website Design & Development build, where the platform you pick shapes what that site can do.
That said, ecommerce evaluations are the ones we do most, and the most complex. While we always look across the landscape, the shortlist usually comes down to platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Adobe Commerce though the right fit depends entirely on the business behind it. More people typically have a stake in the outcome: marketing, merchandising, operations, finance, IT, sometimes a warehouse team. There are more integrations to account for, including payments, ERP, tax, shipping, and the CRM. The decision touches more of the business, so the evaluation has to as well.
What Typically Drives the Size of the Engagement
While there are many commonalities, no two of these engagements are the same size. The difference typically comes down to a handful of variables:
- How confident you want to be. A directional recommendation is faster than a rigorous, scored, defensible evaluation. Both are legitimate, but they're not the same amount of work.
- How many platforms we're evaluating. Comparing two finalists is different from narrowing a field of six down to a shortlist.
- Whether we're facilitating the vendor sales process. Taking shortlisted vendors through structured demos, scoping calls, and proposals on your behalf adds time (and value), and keeps the comparison consistent across options.
- How many stakeholders are involved. Every group you need to interview, align, and bring along adds coordination. It also makes the final decision a lot more durable.
- How much of a business case you need. A team that just needs to feel confident about the decision needs less than a team that has to win budget from a board or a CFO.
These vary by engagement. We help you figure out the right level of each before we start.
How Long These Take
Most of these engagements run four to eight weeks, driven largely by the factors above. That's a short window for a decision you'll live with for a long time, but a focused process gets you to a clear, defensible answer faster than the alternative. Without a defined process, we've seen these decisions drag on for months, often circling back to the same shortlist with less confidence than when they started.
Need Help Replatforming?
If you know a platform decision is coming, the earlier you start the process, the better. Vendor timelines, budget cycles, and internal alignment all take longer than expected. Starting with requirements tends to produce a better outcome than starting when the pressure is already on.
If you're staring down a platform decision and would rather not make it on a hunch, get in touch.
