Questions to ask before signing an application vendor
Vendor demonstrations are built to show speed. Audit questions are built to show residue: what remains after the impressive import finishes. Before a contract is signed, we encourage clients to ask a short list that sales teams can answer in writing.
First: where do overrides live, who can create them, and do they expire? An application that allows a pinned price without a second reviewer and without an end date will produce a clean dashboard and an unsupportable file.
Second: can the vendor export the mapping tables and calculation settings in a form a non-developer can read? If the only description of a return method is inside a compiled module, you do not own your methodology. You rent a black box.
Third: what does a parallel run actually compare? Matching NAV totals can hide a fee that was hardcoded to zero for the demo. Ask for a position-level extract from both the old process and the new application for the same timestamp.
Fourth: how are Malaysian identifiers, withholding, and zakat or tax lots handled if they matter to your book? A global product may be excellent and still be incomplete for your policies.
We would rather be invited before the contract than after the first quarter-end. Pre-implementation review is not a veto on the vendor. It is a list of conditions that belong in the go-live memo rather than in a future remediation cycle.