Search for a software company or digital agency and the results quickly start to sound alike. Everyone designs, builds and cares about quality. How do you find a few suppliers worth speaking to?
Start with the problem they need to solve. A website shared by several branches calls for experience with editorial workflows. A booking system needs someone who understands availability and what happens when several people try to reserve the same slot.
Search by work delivered
The supplier directory is a starting point for finding companies named in similar Polish public contracts. Look at the buyer, the contract scope and when the agreement was signed.
An award record is a lead to investigate. It does not establish that delivery went well or tell you which members of today's team worked on it.
Make a short profile for each candidate
Record four things: a relevant project, the supplier's role, available evidence and an unanswered question. This gives you something more useful to compare than the appearance of company websites.
Three questions make a good opening conversation:
- Which project is closest to ours, and why?
- What did you deliver, and what came from the client or another partner?
- Who from the proposed team worked on it?
Ask to see part of the delivery process: a testing approach, a piece of documentation or a handover example. Anonymised material can be enough. You are trying to understand how the company works, not gain access to another client's confidential information.
Check whether the timing works
Ask about team availability, the earliest realistic start and day-to-day communication. Relevant experience is useful only if the supplier can put the right people on your project.
Finish with a shortlist supported by reasons, rather than a ranking of “best agencies”. For a public tender, this is market research; participation and selection follow the rules of the particular procurement process.
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