This post is for any Publisher engaged in the selection and deployment of an Ad Platform, whether it is a CRM, OMS, Ad Server, DMP, or Billing system. (If you are an Ad Platform, it wouldn’t hurt for you to read this as well)
Requirements are Key
Any selection of an Ad Platform must begin by documenting the Publisher’s business requirements. Without this knowledge, both Publisher and Ad Platform are operating in the dark and engaged in wishful thinking. Those requirements become the basis for RFP.
Knowledge Lives in Silos…Dig It Out.
The problem with requirements is that they live in silos. Ad Products, Pricing, Discounts, Inventory, Workflow, Trafficking – each of them may have an SME, but frequently, there is no single person who possesses knowledge of all these functions. As a precursor to vendor selection, it is contingent on the Publisher to dig those requirements out and bring them into the light of day.
Mind the Gaps
One of the most important functions of the RFP is to reveal gaps in the Ad Platforms’ ability to fulfill business requirements. Every Ad Platform will have feature gaps – they cannot realistically fulfill 100% of every requirement. That’s ok. The RFP answers a key Publisher question – which gaps can I live with and which are non-negotiable? Now you can make a knowledge-based decision on the Ad Platform.
Document Solutions
Is a gap non-negotiable? Negotiate a solution with the Ad Platform, then put it IN WRITING in the agreement with milestone dates. (Did you read the part about, “put it in writing?” Just making sure.) Now you have an agreement with an Ad Platform that fulfills most of your requirements out of the box and commits to developing the solutions that will close the gaps.
Their Timeline is Not Your Timeline
It’s great that the Ad Platform you selected can deploy and launch in 4 months. But that is THEIR timeline. What is YOURS as a Publisher? How much time does it take your legal and procurement team to negotiate a contract? Or the time your technology department needs to conduct a security review of the Ad Platform? Or the time that it takes your internal teams to “allocate resources” to this project? Just saying, the timeline is a two way street.
Define the Acceptance Criteria
You may be reaching the finish line on a deployment, but do you know if other stakeholders (finance, legal, technology) have an acceptance criteria of their own that will potentially add days or weeks of testing? Ask that question early.
Deployments are a big deal, engaging time and resources. These tips will help minimize surprises.
NO (as in “zero”) AI was used in the composition of this post. But I’m pretty sure this will be crawled, ingested, and repurposed from this point forward. Oh well.
