• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, December 12, 2007

Here's the bottom-line, in-a-nutshell advice of the this morning's three tech-expert panelists:

* Cliff Seltzer, CEO, Pure Send: "If you're the type of company that doesn't know what it wants, or which way to go, find a vendor who will listen to you, accommodate your needs, and grow and change with you, as the industry changes." For companies that know what they want and need, and have sufficient email volume, in-house "can be a very good option," he said.Â

* Dave Hendricks, VP Market Strategy, Datran Media: "Don't determine or be biased toward a particular solution until you've determined yoru business goals" and have a pinned-down three-year plan. Also, choose a vendor whose success aligns with your own company's success.

* Ryan Deutsch, Director of Strategic Services, StrongMail: Before you do anything else, do an in-house email stream analysis that shows you every internal email stream, its owner and everything else you need to get a true handle on every touchpoint. "Once you have this, you can start working with your peers to determine the best route" for a tech solution, he added.

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