Selecting an ERP Solution? Here’s how to start.
With the growing pace of new and disruptive technologies, new IT solutions are being developed at a faster rate than ever! As great as it is to have abundant options on the market, for a solution that suits your needs, it is even more challenging to pick the right option for your organisation as having more options does not necessarily help in making better decisions.
Below are some tips you can take to ensure that you select the right ERP solution for your organisation;
1. Select a Team
Before diving into all the different solutions and vendors. It is important to start by setting up a team with expert knowledge. This can include the ERP implementation project manager, top management representatives e.g. CIO and people from the various departments (the functional experts), and consultants (external experts) supervisors, clerical staff, QA people, technical leaders and project managers. All can provide relevant insight and ensure that their requirements are met, while providing their own experiences in developing functional performance and whether the requirements are scalable.
2. Create a Business Case
The Business Case establishes the ultimate goal of the project to implementing a new ERP system for all stakeholders. Creating the Business Case draws the discussion from “What do we want to build?” to “Why do we want to build it?” This provides the justification for selecting and implementing an ERP system
3. Develop your software requirements
These requirements describe the services that the ERP solution must provide and the controls under which it must operate types of requirements can include, business requirements, interface requirements, security requirements and Regulatory/Compliance requirements. The combined list of the requirements is called the Statement of user requirements (SOUR).
4. Carefully evaluate your options before deciding on an ERP system
It’s important to consult management and key stakeholders and ask them for their input in the evaluation phase. It’s also worth considering how the shortlisted ERP solutions affect integration with your existing office systems and the ERP system’s reporting abilities.
5. Have a short list of software vendors
Determine which vendors best serve your industry, requirements and budget. Remember that it’s best to have no more than four vendors and products to evaluate.
6. Cautiously evaluate software demos
Prepare brief demo scripts that point out specific workflows that you want to evaluate in the demo. This can be very helpful in finalising your decision on picking the right solution for your organisation, that would enable you to quickly pick up any gaps after each demo. Meet with your team to discuss the pros and cons of the demo.
7. Get references from vendors
Ask the vendor you’ve chosen for a reference that shares a similar business need and size. When talking to the reference, don’t hesitate to ask about challenges that they faced with the system and how the vendor was able to address issues.
8. Compare Prices
Once you’ve narrowed down your list of vendors, you can now ask the vendors for a detailed price quote and compare in terms of what vendors will offer with support, training, third-party hardware and pricing models.
9. Decide
Given all of the information that you’ve gathered from the process, decide if the vendor and ERP solution is the right fit for your organisation. Ensure that all the agreements and requirements that must be fulfilled are noted in writing from the vendor.
