The next morning Marcus Chen stares at the PDF. Six pages. Twenty questions. A form that promises to determine whether a £50k proof of concept is ‘feasible, valuable, and aligned with your transformation needs.’
He's filled in a hundred forms like this. Vendor assessments. SI questionnaires. Procurement checklists. They all blur together after a while. Tick boxes and text fields and the quiet understanding that nobody reads the answers anyway.
But this one's different.
He read the white paper first. The bit about the warehouse that didn't work on Day 1. The consultant who never walked the floor. The key user who suspected problems but couldn't articulate them.
That story hit close to home.
Ten years ago, In-House Secure lived that story. Different consultant, same outcome. The production line collapsed on go-live. They rebuilt it during Hypercare while trying to keep manufacturing. The MD at the time said words that can't be printed in professional documentation.
So when Marcus opens this questionnaire, he's not ticking boxes to satisfy procurement. He's trying to figure out if this guy actually means what he wrote.
"You're going to learn the truth eventually. The only variable is the price."
Let's see.
Name: Marcus Chen
Easy enough.
Company: In-House Secure Ltd
The company that keeps high-security installations across the UK supplied with everything from biometric locks to reinforced hinges. Not glamorous. Extremely necessary.
Role: Chief Operations Officer
The person who gets the phone call when something breaks. The person who sits in steering committees explaining why the planning team is burning out. The person who has to look Sarah in the eye and say "we're working on it" while knowing full well that "working on it" means "hoping S/4HANA fixes it somehow."
Email and Phone.
He hesitates over the phone number. Does he actually want this consultant calling him?
Yes. That's the point. If the form triggers a conversation, the conversation might trigger evidence. Evidence is what the board needs. Not another slide deck. Not another vendor promise. Evidence.