The Marina Software Buyer's Guide
The 15-Question Vendor Evaluation Scorecard
The five dimensions, turned into fifteen questions you'll actually finish
Everything in Part Two was building to this. The five dimensions become fifteen questions, three per dimension, that you run on every vendor the same way. Score three vendors against the same fifteen and you can finally compare them like for like, instead of comparing whoever gave the most impressive demo.
Why fifteen, not fifty
You could build a fifty-question evaluation. Plenty of buyers try. What happens next is always the same: they fill it in thoroughly for the first vendor, partly for the second, and not at all for the third, and then they decide on a gut feeling anyway. A fifty-question scorecard is a research project. It gets started and abandoned.
Fifteen questions get finished. Three per dimension is enough to separate a strong vendor from a weak one, and few enough that you'll actually score all three vendors on your shortlist. That's the whole point, because a scorecard only works if it's filled in the same way for everyone you're comparing.
Quality of evaluation beats depth of evaluation. A scorecard you finish for three vendors is worth more than a perfect one you finish for none.
So the fifteen below are deliberately the load-bearing questions, the three from each dimension that most reliably predict whether you'll be happy in two years. They map straight back to the five dimensions from Chapter 4.
The fifteen questions
Each dimension gets three questions. For every one, there's a signal that the answer is good and a red flag that it isn't. Score each vendor question by question, and the pattern across a dimension usually tells you more than any single answer.
Dimension One · How it works
Usability and daily workflow, from Chapter 5.
| Question | Good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Can daily users do the core tasks (check-in, take a payment, move a boat) on the device they'll really use? | Fast, a few taps, works on a tablet on the dock. | Desktop only, or the everyday task takes many steps. |
| How long until a new seasonal hire is productive? | Hours, with guidance built into the software. | Weeks, or a vague "we'll train them." |
| Will the vendor demo your busiest workflow, not their scripted one? | Happy to run your Saturday check-in live. | Only ever shows the canned demo path. |
Dimension Two · How it makes and loses money
Revenue and pricing, from Chapter 6.
| Question | Good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| What's the total annual cost at your current volume, and at double and half? | Transparent and predictable, and willing to model all three. | Per-booking pricing that balloons at scale, or vague on totals. |
| Where could revenue leak, and does the software catch it? | Automated billing, renewal reminders, margin tracking. | Manual steps that depend on staff remembering. |
| Who processes payments, and at what markup? | A transparent, native processing rate. | An opaque third-party markup you can't see. |
Dimension Three · What it shows you
Reporting and visibility, from Chapter 7.
| Question | Good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Can you see occupancy, paid and overdue and renewal-due, and revenue on demand? | Live dashboards and self-serve reports. | Basic answers require an export to a spreadsheet. |
| Can you get the specific reports you need, including multi-site rollups if relevant? | Flexible reporting, with per-site and consolidated views. | Rigid templates and no rollup. |
| Is the data current and consistent? | One system, real-time numbers that reconcile. | Reports that disagree with each other. |
Dimension Four · What it connects to
Integrations, from Chapter 8.
| Question | Good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Does it sync with your accounting, and at what quality (direction and frequency)? | Scheduled or real-time two-way sync, no re-keying. | A manual CSV, or "it's on the roadmap." |
| Does it connect to the systems you actually depend on (fuel, gate, payments, marketing)? | Owns and maintains the integrations you need. | Rented third-party connectors, or outright gaps. |
| Who fixes the integration when it breaks? | The vendor, with a track record of keeping it alive. | "That's the partner's job." |
Dimension Five · What happens when you leave
The exit, from Chapter 9.
| Question | Good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Can you get your data out in a structured, importable format on demand? | They'll show a sample export and put the rights in writing. | PDF only, or "contact support to arrange it." |
| What do the leaving clauses say (renewal, notice, termination fees, escalation)? | Reasonable notice, capped increases, a clear exit. | Long lock-in, steep termination fees, uncapped price hikes. |
| Will the vendor be here in five years, and how good is support when things go wrong? | Stable and profitable, with in-house support and real response times. | Cagey on ownership and finances; ticket-only support. |
Score it, weight it, compare
Scoring is simple. Give each vendor a mark on every question, say zero to three, where zero is a clear red flag and three is a clear good answer. Total each dimension, then total the card. Three filled-in cards side by side turn a fuzzy impression into a comparison you can actually defend.
Then weight it, because not every question matters equally to you. This is where your dimension ranking from Chapter 4 earns its keep. A transient-heavy marina should weight Dimension Two, the money questions, more heavily. A multi-property group should lean on Dimension Three, reporting and rollups. Multiply each dimension's score by how much it matters to you, and the totals start reflecting your operation instead of a generic average.
Vendor comparison scorecard
Enter up to three vendors and score each against the fifteen questions. Set your dimension weights and get a side-by-side comparison with weighted totals, so the strongest fit for your operation stands out at a glance. Save it and pick up where you left off.
Score your current vendor first, before you score anyone new. It calibrates the scale (you know exactly where they're strong and weak), and it quietly answers a bigger question: is switching even worth it, or are you about to trade one set of compromises for another?
A scorecard is only as good as the answers you put in it. Chapter 12 covers how to run a demo so you gather real answers to these fifteen, instead of the ones the vendor wants you to hear.
Fifteen questions, three vendors, one weighted total each. Keep it small enough to finish, score everyone the same way, and weight it toward the dimensions that matter to your operation. That's how you compare vendors on evidence instead of on who demoed best.
Demo strategy: what to look at when a vendor shows you their product
The scorecard needs real answers. Chapter 12 is how to run the demo so the seams show and you leave with fifteen honest scores, not a sales impression.
Read Chapter 12 →References and further reading
- Sharper MMS, Map the Switch Migration Assessment
- Association of Marina Industries (AMI), industry research and benchmark data. marinaassociation.org
- Storable Marine, AMI, and Marina Dock Age, Navigating the Numbers: 2026 Marina Operator Insights & Technology Automation