Finding ERP Products that will lead to your Success

Anytime you search for an ERP Software solution, the ERP vendor is going to present the latest and greatest ERP product features to you. The problem with this is that you will be looking at various software modules that may not even apply to your business process. There will be a lot of vendors showing you a lot of ERP Product offerings. This will be confusing. How do you make a clear choice?

When we talk about ERP Products, we are not only talking about complete ERP systems, but even specific add-on products that you may need, such as a Business Intelligence solution or a Customer Relationship Management system. The process is the same no matter what the ERP Product.

An ERP selection process starts with you evaluating various ERP solutions to determine a long list of vendors that you may want to consider. This long list is simply the broad universe of products that may work for your company. Usually this ERP products list comes from your research on the Internet, from trade publications, or from other sources, such as a friend’s suggestion. This is your starting point. From here, you will likely send out an RFI (Request for Information) or if the list is not to long, you may send an RFQ (request for quote).

You will receive back a lot of literature and start receiving phone calls. Although this will seem like information overflow, this is a good situation as the whole point of the long list is to get information from which you can perform an initial screening. erp products

From a long list of ERP Products to choose from, you need to narrow the list down to ideally two or three potential solutions. This is your short-list. The short-list will be those vendors that have the highest potential of being the chosen system. These are the vendors that you will want a complete demonstration from. This demonstration will be a detailed walk through of your business processes highlighting those ERP Products and features that directly apply to your business. From the demos you will have the price quote, a fair understanding of the products and will be able to have negotiations and ultimately select the best solution for you.

Criteria for finding the right ERP Products vendors to review

Before you even start meeting with ERP vendors, the best way to find the right software solutions for you to evaluate is to follow the a defined ERP Methodology. Following an established plan will help you stay on course and focus on the key things you need to do when running the evaluation.

There are three factors for selecting software that you need to figure into your plan. First is the people aspect. Next are the processes. And last is the technology components. Starting with the technology factor, here are some key ERP criteria that you should consider:

Software database and operating system
ERP products’ vendors history within your industry
The software’s Value Added Reseller’s ability to deliver and familiarity with your industry or business type

Some key questions you need to look at with regards to your processes before selecting the system are:

How ready your organization is for change?
How optimized are your current business processes? Do they need a lot of work. In other words, are you willing and able to adopt to a software system’s way of doing things, or do you need a system that has the flexibility to match your processes?
Have you documented or mapped the processes that the new system will need to help automate?

Lastly, some key things you need to examine

How willing are you staff to make the change?
Are they trainable?
How well do they adapt to new technology?

Once you have looked at these three factors, you will then be able to make a more educated decision on which of the ERP vendors is best for your company.

ERP Products Summary

It all comes down to People, Processes, and Technology. All three need to work together to make for a successful solution. When you are looking at ERP Products, you need to be sure consider the implications on your people and your processes first, then having mapped out the internal changes that need to be made and having a clear understanding of your business process flows, then you can look at ERP Products. Going through the self-examination of people, processes, and technology, you will much more prepared for an ERP selection process than a company who has not.

Running a selection in this way ensures that you are well-prepared to match up an ERP software system to your company’s needs, thus preparing you for a successful implementation.

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