Suppy Chain Software Selection Consultant
Viewpoint Analysis is a Technology Matchmaker, we sit between supply chain vendors and enterprise buyers, researching the supply chain market and helping the wider IT buyer community understand their supply chain software options. A key part of what we do is help buyers not only understand a busy technology marketplace, but also work through the selection process. As a Supply Chain Software Selection Consultant, we provide a range of services all designed to take the weight off the purchasing team and get the right solution every time.
What Does a Supply Chain Software Selection Consultant Do?
A supply chain software selection consultant is engaged by the buying organisation, not the vendor, to help find, evaluate, and select the right platform for the business, whether that is a warehouse management system, a transport management system, a planning tool, or a procurement platform. That can mean building a longlist of realistic candidates, running a formal RFI/RFP process, managing vendor demonstrations, or simply providing experienced, independent input on a shortlist a business has already drawn up itself or is already working through.
Organisations bring in a consultant rather than running the process alone for a simple reason: the supply chain technology market is enormous and full of overlapping categories, every vendor's marketing sounds equally convincing, and a wrong decision is expensive to reverse once operations depend on it. An experienced, neutral pair of eyes, one with no stake in which vendor wins, changes the odds considerably and takes the pressure off a team that already has a day job.
Independent, Impartial, and Always Fixed Price
Viewpoint Analysis was built on a single principle: strict neutrality. When we run a Supply Chain Selection Process for you, we work for you, the client, full stop. That is why we take no money, commission, or referral fee from supply chain vendors when we run our selection processes, and never will: our fee comes from you, not them, so our advice is never for sale to the vendor with the biggest budget.
That independence extends to how we charge. Every one of our buyer-facing services, the Technology Matchmaker, Rapid RFI, Rapid RFP, 30-Day Selection, Stick or Switch Assessment, is delivered at a fixed price, agreed before we start. You know exactly what the engagement costs are from day one; there is no surprise bill for extra vendor calls or additional evaluation rounds partway through.
Making Sense of a Crowded Supply Chain Market
The supply chain market is one of the busiest and most confusing corners of enterprise software: warehouse management, transport management, inventory, planning, procurement, manufacturing execution, industrial AI, and visibility platforms all overlap, and many vendors compete across several of these categories at once. Making sense of that noise quickly and objectively is what we do every day.
What sets us apart is that we don't just watch this market from a distance. We hold direct relationships with technology vendors across the supply chain space, and we research and build our own Supply Chain Buyer's Guides and Supply Chain Software Options reports, so when we sit down with you, we're bringing genuine, current market knowledge, not a generic consulting process applied to an unfamiliar category.
That closeness to the vendor side cuts both ways, and it's a real differentiator. We understand how vendor sales teams work, what they need from a process, how to bring them along, and how to get the best out of them, and we run our selection processes so that vendors enjoy being part of them, even the ones who don't win. A vendor that feels respected through the process gives you a better demo, a sharper proposal, and a more honest final conversation. That benefits you as the buyer just as much as it benefits the vendor.
For supply chain specifically, our published research gives you a head start before you even talk to us:
Supply Chain Technology Hub - all of our vendor profiles, buyer guides, and more, sit in our Supply Chain Technology Hub, a place where buyers can go to learn about the market.
Supply Chain Software Options 2026 - our independent, category-by-category view of the established supply chain vendor market, covering warehouse management, transport, inventory, planning, procurement, manufacturing execution, industrial AI, and visibility platforms.
Supply Chain AI Software Options 2026 - a dedicated look at AI-native supply chain planning platforms, for buyers whose supply chain decision is increasingly an AI decision.
Our Supply Chain Software Options 2026 report also sets out the practical factors we believe every organisation should evaluate before choosing a supply chain platform. A few of those factors come up in almost every supply chain selection we run: starting with the specific operational problem you are solving rather than a technology category, since the market is full of overlapping vendors who will all claim to serve your use case; pressure-testing integration requirements early, since a supply chain platform has to connect cleanly with your ERP, your WMS, and your carrier or supplier networks; and weighing a vendor's experience in your specific sector and operational model, since a platform built for e-commerce fulfilment can be entirely wrong for a food manufacturing operation.
How We Run a Supply Chain Selection
We offer several ways to engage us, depending on how much groundwork you have already done and how quickly you need to move, all fixed price, agreed upfront.
Stick or Switch Application Review
If you are not sure whether to stick or switch your current supply chain solution, our Stick or Switch Application Review answers the more fundamental question first: is your incumbent platform genuinely no longer fit for purpose, or could better configuration, adoption, or a renegotiated contract solve the problem without the cost and disruption of switching? It's a service no one else in this market offers, and it can save you from starting a vendor selection you didn't actually need to run. Running two parallel streams, whilst working through things with your current vendor, we bring a range of others to present to you, leaving you and your team to decide: do you stick, or do you look at switching to a new solution?
Matchmaker Service
For customers wanting a quick view of the marketplace before selecting who to run a selection process with, the Technology Matchmaker is ideal. Rather than a slow, paper-heavy RFI process, we write up your supply chain requirement, take it directly to the vendor community, and host a structured set of vendor presentations so you can see the market and compare options within days rather than months. It is an unusually quick way to move from we don't really know this market to a real shortlist that you can then spend time with. We liken it to Dragons' Den or Shark Tank, your team just needs to sit back and listen to the options, see our Matchmaker Service. It can be a free or paid service, depending on the business's needs.
Rapid RFI
A tightly scoped, fast turnaround Request for Information process for buyers who want a more formal paper trail than Matchmaker but still need pace, narrowing a long vendor list down to a manageable shortlist quickly. Part of our Rapid Vendor Selection service.
Rapid RFP
Once you have a shortlist, our Rapid RFP process runs a focused, structured evaluation against your specific requirements, so the final decision is evidence based rather than a gut call based on whoever presented best. Also delivered through Rapid Vendor Selection.
30-Day Supply Chain Selection
For organisations with an urgent deadline, our 30-Day Technology Selection service combines Rapid RFI and Rapid RFP into a single accelerated process, taking you from a standing start to a chosen supply chain vendor inside a month. It's the quickest selection process on the market today. You would be amazed how quickly a vendor selection process can move when all parties, buying team, vendor team, and selection consultant, are pulling in the same direction.
You can learn more about our IT Buyer Help Services here⬇️
Case Study: ArrowXL
When ArrowXL, the two-person home delivery company came to Viewpoint Analysis, they had little existing knowledge of the supply chain software market and needed to move quickly. We started with our Matchmaker Service, taking their requirement to a curated set of relevant vendors and running structured presentations so their team could see the realistic options within days rather than weeks. With a clear shortlist established, we moved straight into a Rapid RFP to evaluate the remaining vendors against ArrowXL's specific requirements. In a matter of a few short weeks, ArrowXL went from having no real visibility of the market to a confident, evidence-based decision.
Who This Service Is For
Our Supply Chain Selection Consulting services are built for any business, in any location, and in any industry. Typically we see that customers come from one of the following areas:
Organisations replacing an ageing or homegrown warehouse, transport, or planning system
Businesses who are busy and need an extra pair of hands to run their selection process
They may or may not have a procurement team. Often if they have an IT or operations procurement department, they need help to fill resource gaps, or to fill knowledge gaps
Teams with limited in-house knowledge of the supply chain vendor market
Buyers working to a tight deadline, often ahead of a peak trading period or a contract renewal.
Teams that need a defensible, evidence-based decision to take to their.
Anyone who would rather not rely on advice funded by the vendor trying to win the deal
FAQs
How much does a supply chain software selection consultant cost?
Every Viewpoint Analysis engagement is fixed price, agreed with you before work starts. The cost depends on which service fits your situation, Matchmaker, Rapid RFI, Rapid RFP, or the combined 30-Day Supply Chain Selection, not on how long the process happens to run.
How is Viewpoint Analysis different from a supply chain vendor or reseller?
We take no commission, referral fee, or payment of any kind from supply chain vendors. Our only commercial relationship is with the buying organisation, which means our recommendations are never influenced by which vendor pays us best. Some selection consultants run this the other way, they charge nothing, but they get a percentage of the deal, if this is something you would rather do, we can accommodate this approach too, but we prefer to ensure that there is no potential for confusion.
How fast can Viewpoint Analysis help me choose a supply chain solution?
It depends on the route you take. The Technology Matchmaker Service can produce a shortlist within days. A full evaluation, from standing start to chosen vendor, can be completed in as little as 30 days through our combined Rapid RFI/RFP process.
Do you only cover the big supply chain platforms like SAP and Blue Yonder?
No. Our research and our selection work covers the established enterprise platforms, AI-native challengers, and industry or size-specific specialists across warehouse management, transport, planning, procurement, and manufacturing execution, whichever segment of the market is genuinely relevant to your requirement. It's important to note that we work with every and any supply chain vendor, we are not limited because we work for the client, so all options are possible.
What is the difference between the Technology Matchmaker, Rapid RFI and Rapid RFP?
The Technology Matchmaker is the fastest route to a shortlist, built around structured vendor presentations rather than paperwork. When a buying team wants to pursue a traditional RFI/RFP process, our Rapid RFI is a formal, fast turnaround information gathering step used to narrow a long vendor list. Rapid RFP is the structured evaluation that follows, used to make the final, evidence-based decision between shortlisted vendors.
Talk to Viewpoint Analysis
If you are starting a supply chain software selection, or stuck partway through one, request a call with Viewpoint Analysis, or try our free Longlist Builder to get a first view of the supply chain vendors that fit your requirement.
