Why does buying software take so long?

Things that are notorious for taking a long time to complete: trips to the DMV, a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle…and buying enterprise software?

According to a survey of enterprise software buyers by AI procurement platform Levelpath, 57% of traditional software purchases take 11 weeks or longer to complete from the time of need to final approval. When it comes to AI software worth more than $10,000, that figure jumps to 72%.

And to make matters worse, many companies are taking too long to settle on the right software. Almost half (45%) of US software decision-makers surveyed in June by Software Finder said their buying experience was so prolonged that the original business need became “irrelevant” before the purchasing decision was finalized.

What’s the holdup? There are several reasons why the buying process can often drag out for enterprises. More than half (58%) of respondents pointed to security reviews as a factor delaying or derailing a purchase, according to Levelpath. A similar proportion (57%) said vendor evaluations held up the process.

Noe Ramos, VP of AI operations at Agiloft, said a lack of internal alignment can cause bottlenecks during the software purchases.

“The evaluations that stall are usually the ones where every stakeholder has veto power, but nobody has decision authority,” Ramos said. “And that can happen quite frequently, especially when you have these multiple stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Adam Shea, director of AI go-to-market at TEKsystems Global Services, said buying AI software is even more complicated. When it comes to such purchases, Shea said an increased need for “cross-functional alignment” within an organization can prolong the buying timeline.

“With a traditional software purchase, a business unit can often buy a few seats and get moving,” Shea said. “But with AI, you have to align with security, compliance, legal teams, [and] different enterprise architects before a tool is deployed or a single line of code is deployed.”

Short and sweet. We asked IT pros how companies can expedite software purchasing. Ramos said enterprises can start by assigning clear ownership roles in the process.

“You need those clear owners. You need to know who’s going to pull the plug if something goes awry. You need to have made those decisions,” Ramos said. “Don’t wait to make those decisions until after you’ve gotten a tool approved.”

Sharon Stufflebeme, managing director at Protiviti, added companies should have clear requirements during vendor evaluations that drive their decision-making process.

“There’s the functional requirements, and then there’s the non-functional requirements, like does it comply to data standards? Does it comply to security standards? Can I integrate this product with the other products in my portfolio that need that integration?” Stufflebeme said. “All of those things are part of the vendor evaluation process.”

Standby. While organizations may seek out ways to reduce the time it takes to get a new piece of software, Stufflebeme said some purchases will naturally take longer to complete: “Even though 11 weeks seems like a long thing, if it’s a big product that you’re going to use, that’s going to impact the entire organization, it’s probably going to take some time.”