I work on a good sized development contract. The customer wants us to accept input files in a different format next year. To assist in this, I think we are going to buy a product called XMLSpy to get the job done. The enterprise version of this product costs over $1000. Here is the challenge. Who pays for this software? And how do I get them to buy it for the project?My company would like the client to pay for the software. However procurement is a lengthy process. It seems to take forever just to get the client to buy the software they need right now. It may be even harder to get them to pony up the funds to purchase a product they might need in about a year. I think this is a job for our Software Development manager. He actually knows how good a product XML Spy is. So I do not think it will be hard to get him on my side. Unfortunately he is the decision maker.
Things like this seem to vary from contract to contract. In some arenas, procurement of up to $1 million or more is no sweat. But you need to be talking with the top man, the decision maker. Right now I do not have the ear of such a person. I guess it is time to make those contacts. They could only help our company and project out in the long run.
