The complete Guide for selecting the proper ERP software

Many Small to Medium Sized Businesses are confused and overwhelmed by their ERP Software selection process. Applying the proper Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software means setting your business up and increasing it’s productivity and operational efficiencies. However, choosing an implementation partner, selecting the proper ERP vendor and managing the project are often stressful process.

But everyone want to implement a perfect ERP software solution , so that they don’t have to stress about every single thing. So, let me help you in this tiring process of selecting a proper ERP software solution by sharing few simple steps that you can easily follow .

1. Define your specific requirements and budget.

Every business is different and it’s obvious that there requirements will be different too. Get all of your departments – including Accounting & Finance, Logistic & Distribution, Research & Development, Human Resources, Marketing & Sales and Production – to list their specific requirements. Determine what budget you're allocating to your ERP implementation process. When you decide the requirements and budget your have, it’s easy for you to filter out the ERP software solution which doesn’t suits you.

2. Research your ERP options online –

Easiest way to know about anything in today’s world is by searching about it online, so that’s what we are going to do in our next step. Using your requirements list and allocated budget, get a thought of what ERP software you'll research further by looking them up online. Use software comparison sites like Software Advice and Capterra to research the choices by Industry, Business Size, Price range, Modules and more.

3. Choose whether to deploy the ERP Software On-Premise or within the Cloud –

If you ask me then, I will tell you that there are a lot of advantages of Cloud-based ERP software. For me the best one is that you don’t have to be at the same place to operate with a Cloud-based ERP software solution, you can travel to any place and get your work done. However, the Cloud not always yields an equivalent results for each business as every business have a different requirement.

4. Take a look at you competitive companies –

Contact other companies in your field or use industry specific sites to get what ERP platforms work for other businesses which is as same as yours. Collect information from other businesses, government bodies, trade publications, industry associations, and market reports. This is going to help you to understand about new trends and what’sworking in your field.

5. Shortlist possible ERP providers –

All the investigation you have done till now is going to help you in this step. After collecting all the information, shortlist few possible ERP providers which suits you company type, it’s requirements and off course which fits in your budget.

6. Contact ERP Providers –

Contact ERP companies that specialize in consulting and implementation of your selected ERP systems, if you have any questions, ask about them. This step will help you in clearing up your mind and will give you a clear idea about the ERP provider you want to go forward with.

7. Conduct a discover meeting –

After you have contacted with your selected ERP providers and filtering out the providers you are going further with, meet the potential ERP implementation partner to travel through your list of requirements, budget, implementation timeframe.

8. Feedback from the primary meeting –

The next step is to ask the potential vendor / reseller to supply a budgetary estimate for the project. Confirm to incorporate Hardware, Cloud, Software, Services and annual fees.

9. Demo presentation –

Ask the potential suppliers to demonstrate the ERP software for you and your team. The demonstration should be tailored to your requirements, using a number of your data. Before selecting one ERP providers and investing your money, you should see that is that vendor is efficient in providing you with the kind of service you want for your company.

10. Shortlist ERP Software –

you've got previously contacted ERP implementation companies and conducted a primary assessment of varied ERP software. It’s now time to conduct a more detailed investigation of the software and vendor, and become more sure about what you want.

11. Scope of labor –

Ask your potential software provider to try to a high-level scope of work. The result of the scope of labor should be a project proposal with timeline for implementation.

12. Always invite a hard and fast price ERP Implementation –

SMEs should invite a hard and fast price proposal supported the scope of labor by the provider.

13. Review the proposal –

Now that you simply have completed the ERP demonstration, evaluation and scope of labor, you're now in a position to require an informed and confirmed decision. During this stage ask to interview the key folks that are going to be involved within the implementation of the Enterprise Resource planning system for your business.

14. References –

At least ask them to give you 2references of the prior customers they worked with to find out more about their experience. If the experience prior customer have is not good then you should reconsider your decision.

15. Sign the Agreement –

Log off typically include user License Agreement and repair Agreement, so that’s exactly what you are going to do. Clearly mention every clause you and ERP providers agreed on, so that there will be no misunderstanding in the future.

16.Project kick-off.

By now you got to a transparent idea of how the method for choosing the proper ERP software seems like. I can assure you that these are the simplest steps you have to follow and you will have a ERP software solution provider which fits perfectly to your company.