Every grants platform demos well, because every demo is a round the vendor configured. The useful questions are the ones about what happens after the demo: when the round is unusual, when someone leaves, when the auditor arrives, and when you want to leave.
On the record
- Show me the audit log for a decision that was changed. Not a feature slide: the actual record, including who changed it and what it said before.
- What happens to an application when the round closes? If the answer is “deleted” or “archived and inaccessible”, ask what that does to a request for it in three years.
- Can an administrator act on behalf of an applicant, and does the record say so? On-behalf action is necessary and is also the most common source of an unattributable change.
On assessment
- What does a declared conflict actually do: flag, or remove access?
- Can conflicts be declared per round rather than annually?
- Can I see the spread between assessors, not just the average?
On configuration
- Can my staff build a new form, or does that need the vendor? Ask them to change a form in front of you.
- Can I copy last year’s round and change four things?
- Does the applicant portal use my organisation’s terminology, or the vendor’s?
On the exit
- How do I get my data out, in what format, and how long does it take?
- Where is the data hosted, and who are the subprocessors?
The exit question is the one that tells you the most, and it is the one least often asked.
A vendor with a good answer to the last two has usually thought carefully about the first nine as well. A vendor who is uncomfortable with them has told you something more useful than the demo did.