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ERP Software Selection Criteria Best Practices
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Choosing the Best ERP Solution is an Important Decision Evaluation Criteria For Making The Best ERP Software Selection For Your Company
Which ERP solution you select is a high-visibility decision precisely because it directly impacts day-to-day operations of so many areas within your company.
At the same time, IT projects in general and ERP projects in particular are notorious for under-delivering on their intended business value. The reasons vary but often include both client and solution provider-centric, flawed product and implementation approach issues and assumptions.
Best Practice: Use a Risk-Based Planning Approach for your new ERP Project
Seek the right balance between "How rigorous a procurement process is prudent for your organization?" and "How much work do you want to create for yourselves?" Depending how simple vs. complex your business needs and project risks are, either a top-down (more issues/ exceptions-based) or a bottom-up (more comprehensive) software evaluation and solution provider selection approach may be more appropriate and cost-effective.
For example, if your current ERP product knowledge and experience are already high, you have standard and relatively simple business needs, and the probability and consequences of a failed project are low, then you likely won’t want/need as rigorous a procurement process in selecting your new ERP and provider (i.e. your solution decision will be a more straightforward and lower risk).
Conversely, if your current ERP product knowledge and experience are less, you know you have unique or complex business needs, and/or your delivery risk is higher, then you’ll want to use a more thorough procurement approach to ensure your new ERP solution and provider indeed meet all your needs (i.e. your solution decision criteria should be more comprehensive given any potential delivery issues are more material and consequential to the business).
For more insights in this area, contact us for a copy of our ERP Project Readiness & Risk Assessment white paper.
Analyzing the root-causes of why so many ERP projects fail to deliver as expected, we've developed a four-part model to aid business technology managers and stakeholders in making the best ERP software selection for their company while mitigating these predictable risks.
We submit there are four cornerstones to making a good ERP selection to enable your business requirement-driven CFO Evolution program.
Product Solution Fit
Solution Provider Implementation & Support Services Approach
Risk Management Approach
Optimize Total Cost of Ownership
Summary ERP Software Selection Best Practices
"If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my ax" - Abraham Lincoln
Accordingly, we advocate you spend the necessary time upfront to 'sharpen your ax' and carefully define the comprehensive ERP solution evaluation criteria and desired attributes of each for your company.
Likewise, we have aligned our Armanino Consulting IT strategic planning and implementation methodology to mitigate the predictable issues/ risks encountered on new ERP implementations and position our clients to maximize their IT technology ROI.
We Invite You To Learn More About Us
To qualify whether an Armanino Consulting-centric solution is a good fit for your ERP software selection criteria, explore the links on the right or contact us to schedule an initial meeting and product demo to take a closer look. We look forward to discussing your selection criteria with you.