Gerard Rafie has written a post with good advice for firms looking to choose a capital markets processing platform. He offers an opinion to short circuit a long-list and jump straight into three leading vendors, and the advice on how to pick between them.

• Keep your RFP focussed
• Don't "boil the ocean" with a vast list of requirements
• Keep the demos global, time limited, and use them to eliminate vendors
• Keep your workshops short and jump to a preferred vendor
• Avoid beating the vendor down on price, but look for the best solution and team for your firm

A later post will give clues on how to implement your chosen platform. The full article is over here on Gerard's site.

From personal experience the method of choosing a vendor can expand to consume vast amounts of people and time and often for little improvement on the outcome. My own view is to select a team of people you can work with and have the committment you need.