Does your ERP vendor woo you?

Here are the top six emotional considerations when choosing the best ERP system and provider: 1 Getting to know you – do they understand you and your pain areas? Having a deep and forever expanding understanding of customer industries and companies is a prerequisite to designing, developing and implementing a comprehensive technology solution. As a customer, you should be inspired by new technology as it is a vehicle of discovery when skillfully implemented. It should also help you to realise and visualise opportunities that can support the growth and expansion of your business. Many ERP providers do not have deep vertical expertise and cannot fully comprehend your business from end to end. It is critical to get to the bottom of problem areas and help you find solutions and identify problems that you may not even have realised exist. 2 What you put into a relationship is what you get out: As the world evolves, technology advances and business needs change, and so should your ERP system. ERP providers must invest heavily in R&D to keep abreast of change. Evaluation resources like the Gartner Magic Quadrant can help to position players within the ERP market to assist with the selection process. The annual report is a culmination of research in a specific market, providing a wide-angle view of the relative positions of the market's competitors. By applying a graphical treatment and a uniform set of evaluation criteria, a Gartner Magic Quadrant quickly helps you digest how well technology providers are executing against their stated vision. 3 Previous relationships show a lot about a person: Look at the implementation track record of the provider and the level of expertise and experience of their team. They must deliver on time and on budget – if not, this could be disastrous to your business and bottom line. ERP providers with a global reach have multiple offices and a network of partners to support customers with offices in multiple geographical locations. This is critical to ensure a consolidated approach to a global implementation. 4 Stability and financial viability: Big names don't necessarily guarantee big results and they may come with a large price tag. They often have a cookie-cutter approach with little flexibility and a lack of understanding when it comes to the intricacies of your business. Stability is all about consistency and prudent decision making. The ERP provider that you select must have a proven track record and a strong financial position. This is critical to the longevity of your implementation. ERP providers must have ongoing R&D and maintain support structures. This will ensure that you can trust that your system will evolve as technology changes and your business grows. 5 Commitment, transparency and intimacy make for a healthy relationship: Before you commit to an ERP provider, make sure they offer comprehensive support to ease the transition and ensure the smooth running of the system. Without this you could face costly downtime. They should offer ample support in local languages, with both telephonic and online support 24/7 in multiple languages. This ensures that users are able to understand and interact with all levels of support to minimize downtime and ease the transition to a new system for both new and existing staff. 6 Successful relationships are about partnerships: Proven ERP vendors have high standards in place for implementation, service and support. This will carry through to the direct and indirect vendor network. Resellers must be certified to sell and implement a solution backed up by an ongoing education programme. This, coupled with consistency and in-depth product knowledge, is a critical factor to the success of an ERP project. In order to maximize the software and enable a quicker time to value, the right ERP provider will offer comprehensive training to make sure that all users feel comfortable and embrace the new system. Leading ERP providers ensure that their products are easy to use and intuitive which enables a smoother transition to the new system due to easier employee orientation and adoption. New personnel can be up-to-speed quickly and with little effort. This can influence the speed at which an ERP system can bring value to your operations. The investment in an ERP system is not only significant from a financial point of view; it is also a long term commitment to a vendor. The strength of the relationship – one that places you, the customer, at the centre of the partnership – will significantly influence the success of your system and your ability to maximise efficiency and grow your business more confidently. Ensuring that your ERP selection goes beyond the feature function criteria will set you on the right path to a long and prosperous future.