There is an interesting tidbit in the article about the other vendor doing a proof of concept. I work for a large enterprise and I’m working with a company that has gone to great lengths to facilitate a proof of concept. We're using ~$250K worth of their equipment and weeks of their time, not to mention travel and all the expenses that entails. As far I know, we haven't given them a dime yet.

I don't know how a smaller company would be able to do this.