DPW Amsterdam 2025 opens this week. Before you walk the exhibition floor, try this experiment.

Posted on October 5, 2025

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The Three-Question Test: When you approach a solution provider booth, observe which path they take:

Option 1: Discovery-First

  • Ask what you’re trying to accomplish
  • Understand your current state and pain points
  • Inquire about organizational context
  • Then explain how their solution addresses your specific needs

Option 2: Readiness Assessment

  • Ask about your digital maturity level
  • Inquire about organizational readiness (HFS-type assessment)
  • Discuss whether you have the foundation to absorb their solution
  • Gate the demo based on fit

Option 3: Solution-First

  • Launch straight into product capabilities
  • Show canned demo regardless of your situation
  • Focus on features, not your readiness
  • Assume you’re ready because you’re at the booth

The Challenge: “Walk the exhibition floor and count:

  • How many vendors follow Option 1?
  • How many use Option 2?
  • How many default to Option 3?

Then ask yourself: If 70-80% of ProcureTech implementations fail, and most vendors skip readiness assessment, is there a connection?“

My prediction: 50+ of the 60+ vendors will go straight to Option 3. They’ll show you what their technology can do, not assess whether your organization can absorb it.

This isn’t because their technology is bad. It’s because the industry still leads with equation-based thinking (technology → process → people) instead of agent-based thinking (people → process → technology).

Fourteen years after I documented this pattern, DPW 2025 will validate it again—unless vendors finally start asking about readiness before pitching solutions.

Prove me wrong (I hope you do, but I doubt it). Count for yourself. Share your results in the comments.

TODAY’S TAKEAWAY

Work with the companies that follow Options 1 and 2 before showing you their solution. If a vendor jumps straight to the demo without understanding your needs or assessing your readiness, they’re revealing their methodology—and likely predicting your implementation outcome.

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BONUS COVERAGE – VENDOR METHODOLOGY TRACKER FORM

Use This Vendor Assessment Tracker:

  • View the image on their phone/laptop
  • Screenshot it again and fill it in digitally (using markup tools)
  • Print it and fill it in manually
  • Take photos of completed trackers to share

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Posted in: Commentary