The ERP Selection Process: Generating The Short-List

Now that your ERP selection power team has identified your top-tier business drivers, what’s next? The good news is that you’re halfway to the finish line, and you’ve successfully set yourself up for the next step: generating and prioritizing the short list to help you select the best ERP system to meet your established goals.

This next step is to create a list of what features are your “nice-to-haves,” which are value-added, and which are your “dealbreakers”? Many times, companies do this backwards or skip over organizational goalsetting altogether. If you have gotten to this step, your key business drivers have helped you narrow down your long list of possibilities to a short list of viable options. Just make sure that, as you begin demoing potential ERP systems, your short list includes the following five issues that could become dealbreakers:

Issue 1: Customize or Specialize?

Today, specialized ERP systems focus on industries ranging from fashion to pharmaceuticals and mid-size businesses to global enterprises. Be sure to include on your short list systems that recognize and accommodate your business’s unique requirements. First assess “turnkey” systems based on what’s built in, not what could be tacked on or customized. Ideally, you want a system that can adapt to your unique processes, not the other way around, but if your system needs customization to function, then add to the short list the need to select a vendor best suited for the job.

Issue 2: Location, Location, Location

If you are updating an aging ERP system, chances are your old system was run on-premises. Perhaps you have robust IT resources to help you manage the hardware, upgrades and maintenance tasks that go into system upkeep. However, if your business is growing, IT may struggle to stay ahead of the basics, often spreading themselves too thin to adequality support the organization’s more strategic initiatives to facilitate change and modernize the business. Now is a good time to consider the benefits of a cloud-based ERP system. Most models allow you to license the software from your vendor at a per-user rate, and with the responsibility of IT support and complete data center management rests on your vendor’s shoulders, not yours.

Issue 3: User Experience

As you begin demoing ERP systems, keep in mind the comfort level your workforce has exhibited with new technologies in the past. Yes, an ERP system is a large investment, but a successful implementation ensures more efficient processes, centralized data, and reduced errors and costs. Is the ERP interface user-friendly? Do the dashboards provide the info users need in a format they can follow? Will the platform integrate with existing programs, or will users need to toggle between windows and log into multiple systems? Remember, at the end of the day, your employees should use the system comfortably and efficiently for your organization to fully experience the benefits of a successful ERP system implementation.

Issue 4: Accessibility

Can your users access the system whenever and wherever they need it, be that on a laptop during a conference call or from their mobile device while visiting a client? A system’s accessibility will depend on the servers, security mechanisms and other technologies supporting it. While some on-premises ERP systems hold their ground, the system up-time levels of cloud-based equipment is difficult for them to match.

Issue 5: Protection

Simply stated, whichever system you choose, ensure that it allows you to minimize downtime and protect your data in the event of a disruption. Now that you’ve narrowed down your ERP selection criteria to a short list that addresses your key business needs, it’s time to move to the final stage of the selection process, so stay tuned for our next blog.

About the Author
Jim Reilly is the VP of Sales & Marketing for The Copley Consulting Group, an Infor Gold Channel Partner. With more than 30 years of experience in consulting, ERP solutions, and business analytics, Copley provides organizations with all the necessary tools and expertise to successfully construct your digital landscape. Their extensive knowledge with business systems, collaborative planning, project management and technical application support helps businesses both enhance and streamline operations for maximum efficiency. Learn more about The Copley Consulting Group here.