51 Questions to Ask When Hiring A Workplace Utilization Technology Company

If you landed on this, you’re probably considering hiring a workplace technology company.

But what questions should you ask to ensure you hire the right one?

We know vetting any company is no easy task – particularly when it comes to advanced technology solutions like occupancy sensors and workplace analytics software. That’s why we compiled the most comprehensive list of questions that you can use to help vet and hire your ideal workplace technology company. Let’s jump right into the list below.

Strategic Goals

1. Are they focused on serving clients in my market?
2. Are their goals aligned with my company’s goals for our space utilization?
3. How will this technology help me achieve these goals?
4. Does the company focus on short-term space studies or long-term deployments?

Offerings and Capabilities

5. Does the company offer solutions for my specific applications?
6. Do they make their own hardware? If not, where is it made?
7. Do they make their own software? If not, where is it made?
8. Is there any supply chain risk or dependencies?
9. How much notice is required before implementation can happen?
10. Is the company profitable? If not, where will they get additional funding?

Gauging Experience

11. How many years of experience do they have with this offering?
12. How old is the company?
13. How has their workplace technology evolved over the last 5 years?
14. What separates a quality workplace technology study (or company) from a mediocre one?
15. Can you share the results or a case study from a similar project?
16. Will you provide references from current or past customers?
17. Tell me about a workplace technology project that didn’t go well. What went wrong?
18. How will your approach with our company differ from others?
19. If you could only implement one workplace utilization tool, what would it be?
20. Is there anything specific to our industry that we should be aware of when implementing this technology?
21. What is your company working on for future product releases? What does your future product roadmap look like?
22. Do you have experience working in our geography?

Technical Questions

23. What types of sensors do they offer?
24. What is the life expectancy of the sensor?
25. What is the replacement cost of the sensor?
26. What is the power supply and energy usage of the system?
27. Does their software need to integrate with your company’s existing systems?
28. What devices is the software compatible with? What are the requirements to run the software?
29. What reports and capabilities are available out of the box vs. require custom development?
30. How accurate is the data?
31. How do they keep data secure?

The Team

32. Who will we be working with directly?
33. Will any third party contractors be used to install, maintain, or upgrade the system?
34. Can I use my own contractors for installation and maintenance of the hardware?

Account Management

35. How frequently will we meet?
36. What type of reporting will be provided, and how frequently?
37. What is the format for these reports?
38. Who monitors the health of the sensors?

Financial Questions

39. What is the upfront investment required?
40. What is the total investment required?
41. What is the projected ROI?

Contract Questions

42. How long is the contract?
43. What is the timeline for installation?
44. Who will be onsite for the installation?
45. What is the pricing model for the sensors, software and data?
46. What is included in the contract?
47. What is NOT included in the contract?
48. Are there any adjustments for inflation built into the contract?
49. How long is the warranty?
50. Who owns the data? Who owns the hardware?
51. How does post-sales support work? 

 

We hope you found this list of questions helpful. If you would like to consider AVUITY for your workplace technology project (and would like to ask us these questions), please visit our contact us page.