With so many vendors and platforms to choose from, you need a fail-safe formula for evaluating which one will ultimately be right for your organization. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, we will discuss the best
ERP software selection criteria and provide a sneak peek at our Total Certainty System for vetting enterprise software solutions.
With so many vendors and platforms to choose from, you need a fail-safe formula for evaluating which one will ultimately be right for your organization. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, we will discuss the best ERP system selection criteria and provide a sneak peek at our Total Certainty System for vetting enterprise software solutions. Check out our selection guide here.
If you are wondering how to select an ERP solution, it helps to have a breakdown of what tasks are involved. The process can be complex, so we condensed all major components of the ERP Selection Process into simple milestones to help you plan your project. (We also provided some guideposts to the hazards that can spoil an ERP selection, so you know what not to do.)
- Gather User Requirements
Collect feedback from the people who will use the software, paying particular attention to any manual processes that can slow down your users. Make sure to engage the subject matter experts who will eventually help you to implement the system — without input on what their issues and challenges are, you can face resistance or protest. Missing critical considerations that should have been known in the very beginning can ultimately result in ERP implementation failure, so take care to be thorough and comprehensive in your requirements gathering.
- Request for Information vs. Request for Proposal
A Request for Information (RFI) provides background information on why you select software and only asks for high-level pricing information. This is in contrast to a Request for Proposal (RFP), which asks the vendor to provide detailed cost information. Important note: with either an RFI or an RFP, any cost information the vendor provides at this stage is only an estimate. The software demonstration process, discovery, and due diligence are all necessary to provide an accurate software and professional services quote.
- Requirements Document
Write your requirements in a logical format that breaks down the primary workflow of your company. For instance, a wholesale distribution company sells an order, passes it to Fulfillment, and Accounting sends out an invoice. Start the document with the requirements for your sales process, then outline the unique requirements for your inventory management and fulfillment processes, including whether a purchase needs to be made to procure items for the order. Then, lay out the sequence of unique steps Accounting must take with the incoming order and billings. While your users may have their own workarounds and unique ways to handle their business processes, you do not have to spell this out in your requirements document. Just tell the software vendor what you would like the software to do (i.e., tracking revenue recognition schedules, or automatically sending out invoices for upcoming due payments). You are looking for new software to bypass faulty workarounds, so don’t include the workarounds as a requirement.
- Avoid Boilerplate Requirements Documents
We advise against using a boilerplate requirements document or template from an online service. These often include thousands of lines of requirements, and they are a big turn-off to vendors because they are so difficult to digest. Vendors won’t pay attention to your deal if you provide them with a lengthy, convoluted document. Companies that rely on boilerplate documents usually do not know what their requirements actually are, and thus they fail to understand what functionality they need from their new software.
- Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
To have honest discussions with the vendor, you will need to share sensitive information with them. Get an NDA in place before sharing your company’s private information, or an RFI. Most vendor NDAs are acceptable — and while some of them will sign your NDA, most vendors will want you to sign theirs.
Check out more resources on selecting a software solution for your business.