Here's how you can choose the right Virtual Reality (VR) vendor or partner for your executive needs.

One thing I’ve found helpful is thoroughly assessing your organization's specific VR needs. Identify the primary goals of your VR initiatives, such as training, simulation, or customer engagement. Understanding these requirements helps narrow down potential vendors who specialize in the relevant applications and can deliver the necessary capabilities.

Begin by clearly defining your project requirements and objectives. Understand what specific features, functionalities, and outcomes you need from a VR solution to ensure it aligns with your business goals.

No one wants to be an experiment, you need to know your vendors has the creative, technical skill-set, experience and capacity to deliver your project. Likely, they will have delivered experiences you respect and enjoy. Also, you want to ensure the key skill set is housed within the vendor or if a third party is required for any elements that you are involved in that decision. I would generally issue a brief with budget parameters for vendors to respond to and ask questions. Going through the project in detail, ensuing you have a strong working relationship is critical. Clear agreement on the production, creative route, project budget and timeline are critical. You also want to know your project is a priority for the vendor.

Every vendor has an expertise in a segment better than others. For Experiences such as training and simulation, you need to find a vendor that has added expertise in IoT so that, if needed, they can also make custom hardware for your use case. Game developers are best at developing experiences that require engaging graphics and interactions, such as PR and marketing. For 360 videos, you'll need animators if it's an animated sequence and video producers if it's a real-time video recording project. A team of computer vision experts can help develop AR experiences.

In my experience, evaluating the expertise of potential VR vendors is crucial. Look for vendors with a proven track record in your industry and expertise in the type of VR solutions you require. Check their portfolio, case studies, and client testimonials to gauge their proficiency and success in delivering high-quality VR experiences.

Evaluate the vendor’s expertise and experience in the VR industry. Look for a track record of successful projects, client testimonials, and relevant case studies to gauge their capabilities and reliability.

Prioritize finding a vendor whose technology stack aligns with your existing infrastructure. Ensure that the vendor’s hardware and software solutions are compatible with your current systems and can integrate seamlessly. This reduces potential technical issues and maximizes the efficiency of the VR implementation.

Ensure the vendor’s technology stack is compatible with your existing systems and meets your technical requirements. Check for hardware and software integration capabilities, scalability, and the latest technological advancements.

One typical error that technology enthusiasts make when evaluating a headset is just considering the technical specifications. Actually, in enterprise contexts, there are many more factors to consider: one of them is the support that the VR vendor offers to its client. It's important that in case of problems, the faulty headset is substituted immediately, because, for a company, every hour without one of its production tools may translate into many thousands of dollars of losses. So a headset with fantastic support is more interesting for a company than a higher-end headset with no support. It's important so in B2B settings to assess which support every vendor is offering. And if it is not the manufacturer, may be the reseller offering it

One thing I’ve found helpful is ensuring the vendor offers robust support services. Post-implementation support, including training, troubleshooting, and regular updates, is vital for the smooth operation of VR solutions. Assess the vendor’s commitment to customer service and their ability to provide ongoing technical support.

Consider the level of support and maintenance services offered by the vendor. Look for comprehensive training, technical support, and post-implementation services to ensure smooth and continuous operation.

Cost is an important factor for businesses, of course. The cost of a VR HMD becomes very relevant if the company has to deploy VR usage at scale: if a company has to buy 5000 headsets, sparing 100$ per unit means sparing in total half a million dollars. If instead the company is planning just to buy a few headsets for experimenting with the technology, costs become less relevant: spending $500 or $1500 for a company that usually has a turnaround of millions, makes almost no difference.

In my experience, balancing cost with value is key. Compare pricing models of different vendors and consider the total cost of ownership, including setup, maintenance, and potential upgrades. Ensure that the vendor’s offerings deliver good value for the price and align with your budget constraints without compromising quality.

Analyze the cost structure and pricing models of potential vendors. Balance cost-effectiveness with the quality of services and solutions provided, ensuring you get the best value for your investment.

Evaluate the vendor’s company culture and values to ensure they align with your organization’s ethos. A good cultural fit fosters better communication, collaboration, and a stronger partnership.

Check for flexibility and adaptability in the vendor’s approach. Ensure they are open to feedback, willing to customize solutions, and can adapt to changing project requirements and industry trends. This adaptability is crucial for long-term success and innovation.

Make sure you and the vendor have the same hardware set where the application in development is going to be deployed. Having different hardware during development could result in fake satisfaction from trials. These devices and platforms are very different from each other. Some SDKs only work on particular headsets, while some platforms have their own set of limitations technically to be covered up in order to build an app that runs smoothly. So make sure you both are on the same page and are setting up milestones in between to keep validating the under-development project.