How to choose a software vendor: 12 questions to ask before you sign

A bad vendor doesn’t just cost you the project fee. It costs you a year and management’s trust in any further IT investment. So when choosing, don’t test the portfolio — everyone will show you that. Test the answers to the questions where weaker vendors start talking about their “individual approach”.

Questions about price, timeline and risk

1. 01What makes up the price, and what isn’t included?
2. 02How do you handle it when the deadline moves?
3. 03How will we measure together whether the project met its goal?
4. 04Show me a project you talked a client out of.

The last question is the most revealing. A vendor who has never turned anything down takes on everything, including what they can’t do. And whatever a vendor promises you should be written in the proposal: a verbal promise can’t be checked.

Questions about people and ways of working

5. 05Who exactly will write the code, and can I talk to them?
6. 06How often will I see what’s done?
7. 07How many people on the team are juniors?
8. 08How do you test, and who is responsible for security?

Questions about ownership, data and leaving

9. 09Who owns the code and documentation, and from when do I have access to the source code?
10. 10What happens when I want to leave you?
11. 11What happens when something fails after launch?
12. 12Where will our data be, and who will have access to it?

What good answers sound like

There is one right answer on code ownership: you. You get access to the source code from day one, and once you have paid, you own all the code and documentation. The question “what happens when I leave you?” is the best litmus test of a vendor’s motivation.

On the course of the project, you want to hear a specific rhythm, for example a demo of finished work every week. On launch, you want to hear a support plan, not “we’ll let you know”. Post-launch support should be part of the price, and the rules for fixing bugs part of the contract, not of an e-mail. The fear that a vendor will disappear once paid is one of the most common reasons companies put off signing.

On data: a non-disclosure agreement before the first meeting, data in your infrastructure or in an EU cloud, named and logged access, and a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR. For a company with turnover in the millions, that isn’t a luxury but a requirement.

And if you have an old system, ask how the vendor will build on it. A “weekend switchover” is gambling with the whole business. The safe route goes module by module, and operations never stop.

What the first quote reveals

Even before the answers, the quote itself says a lot. Is the scope broken down into specific deliverables, or is it just “app development” for one sum? Does it state assumptions and boundaries, or just an optimistic number? A professional gives you a quote you can compare with another. An amateur gives you a number that changes at the first complication. The quote is the first piece of work you get from a vendor. Treat it as a sample of their quality.

Red flags between the lines

The answers matter, but how they are given reveals even more. “We’ll handle that as a scope change” in response to every other question means the scope will be flexible — upwards. “We don’t usually put that in the contract” about goals or code ownership means the risk stays with you. And if the price grows every time you mention a connection you hadn’t brought up before, you’re not building a partnership but running an open tab. A good vendor talks about limits before you even ask.

The biggest red flag: a vendor who says yes to everything

When every request you make is met with “yes, we’ll do that”, it isn’t helpfulness — it’s the absence of an opinion. A good vendor sometimes stops you: “Don’t do this, it’s expensive and you won’t use it.” Someone who never disagrees either doesn’t understand your business or doesn’t care what they build as long as they can invoice it. You recognise expertise by what a vendor talks you out of, not by what they nod through.

How to use the questions in one meeting

Don’t ask them like an interrogation. Put them all on the table at once and watch which answers come straight away and which are “we’ll send that later”. What a vendor has settled in their contracts, they’ll tell you immediately. What they’re making up, they’ll put off. In thirty minutes you can separate a firm that has worked this way for years from one that is inventing the rules on your project.

Feel free to ask us these questions too — in Bratislava or online.