What to know about finding an ERP for your business.
An ERP selection guide for businesses.
Finding an ERP for your business can be a critical part of the success of your organization. Finding the right ERP program involves organizing the needs of several different departments, aligning them with the overall needs and goals of the business, and finding an ERP solution that can help to create a way to meet those goals. Here are some things to think about when choosing an ERP.
What is ERP?
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It’s an integrative platform that helps to manage various parts of business, including purchasing, inventory, sales, marketing, finance, and even human resources planning and management. A comprehensive ERP software can help to build a platform for success that can help a company manage the various needs of goals of different departments and help them support the overall goals of the business. ERP allows better interaction in a business.
How to Choose an ERP
What are the criteria for choosing the best ERP solution for your business? Finding the right ERP vendor starts with understanding your business goals and objectives.
- What’s your budget? Understanding how much money you have to implement an ERP system – as well as if that investment will help you grow revenue or reduce cost – is one of the first steps to narrowing down your vendor search.
- Who will support the system? Do you have a team in places that will help you install the software, monitor progress, troubleshoot any issues or bugs? One of the ERP implementation best practices is having a strong team in place that has researched the ERP program chosen sand understands the process for executing and supporting the software.
- Is everyone in the organization on board? Having buy-in from all members of leadership, IT, and department heads is an important step to ERP success.
Choosing an ERP Vendor
Once you understand your internal business resources you can begin to find the right ERP solution for your business. One way to start narrowing your search is to use an ERP selection criteria checklist. Here are some ERP vendor selection criteria your business may want to think about.
- Inquire about customization. Can systems be customized for the specific or unique needs of your business?
- Ask if they have experience in your industry. Don’t just look for price or newest technology, but make sure it’s a good fit for your business and product.
- Make sure you can work together with the vendor on a complete timeline and strategy and that you feel comfortably communicating with the potential ERP team.
- Ask for references. Once you find an ERP vendor that you think may be a good fit, don’t be afraid to ask for references for other projects they’ve worked on and ask other businesses about the success of their project.
One you’ve gone through interviews, product presentations, and a complete ERP evaluation checklist, you can confidently move forward with your ERP implementation. Has your business gone through an ERP implementation or change? What tips would you add to the ERP selection checklist?
