QUESTIONS TO ASK AN ERP SELECTION CONSULTANT

Are you surprised by seeing an article on such a topic from BatchMaster ERP?

You must be wondering why a software making organization is writing about the questions to ask an ERP vendor or ERP consultant than writing the benefits of an ERP software!

You might be thinking why the company wants readers to ask questions rather than straight away buy the product!

The answer to all your questions and surprises lies in our motive!

Throughout our series of newsletters, we have been trying to make you more aware, wipe out your doubts, and clear concepts regarding an ERP software .

Pick any of our newsletters, our endeavour has been to inform you and give you as much information as we could regarding ERP software. We have been trying that during your journey of finalizing ERP software, you have no doubt left.

We wish your decision of investing in ERP software be based on knowledge and just not based on just recommendations.

The article will take you one step ahead of your ERP journey. If you are at the brink of meeting an ERP vendor, the article will help you understand the software more deeply.?

The deep understanding of the software will enable to take an informed decision. ?

Before starting, let us go through major milestones of the blog:

• Why is ERP Selection Important?
• How to choose an ERP Vendor?
• Questions to ask an ERP Vendor
• Conclusion

Why is ERP Selection Important?

As you know ERP is a business management software which manages your day-to-day business functions. It streamlines and automates various functions of your business. With a centralized repository of data, it floats the same information among various departments.

Different departments of organizations might face different challenges. Organizations have different priorities and have different expansion plans.

Here comes the role of an ERP software. But all ERPs are not the same. Besides some basic functionalities, each ERP has different role. Hence, selecting an ERP which caters to your specific needs and goals is necessary.

Major reason why many ERP implementations fail is the gap between the challenges an organization face and capabilities of the ERP to cater those challenges.

Hence, for successful implementation of an ERP project, selecting the right ERP is important.

How to choose an ERP Vendor?

As you are convinced? ?ERP selection is very important, now it’s time to move to the next step. Follow the below processes to select some of the ERP solutions for your business:

1. Prepare a list of your requirement – Find out and list all your requirement. Once you have an exhaustive list, you can find out if the vendor meets your requirement.
2. Do market research – Research the market and learn about various options available. Schedule a call with ERP provider, share your requirement, ask your peers in the industry, and verify if the vendor fulfils his commitment.
3. Set your budget – Decide a budget. This will help you to filter out various options moving out of the range.

Questions to ask an ERP Vendor

Once you have some handful of ERP software options available based on above vendor scrutiny process, it’s time to go in depth.

Schedule a call with the ERP vendor or ERP consultant and again tell him about your requirement in detail. During conversation, following questions might help you to get full knowledge of the product. ?Ask the vendors questions like:

How your product fits in my requirements? – The question gives the vendor a platform to explain various features of the software. During his explanation, tick all the requirements you have, or challenges you face and see how the software solves the issues.

How do you provide training and support?? - Implementation of the software is just one process. After implementation your staff needs training and support. Make sure that the vendor is there for you in time of needs. Also ask if this training and support will be chargeable?

How is the software licensed? - Get a clear view of the license. Is it one time license or on monthly or yearly renewal basis. Also ask about annual maintenance cost.

Is the software customizable and can it be integrated with other systems? – As your business grows, you will need to customize the software for new requirements. Also, there are various systems that you might be already using, be sure that the ERP can be integrated to those system.

Is your system cloud -based or on-premises?? - ?On -premises systems are installed and operated on company’s own server and hardware in the premises of the organization. Hence, it requires more IT staff, more space and shoots up the cost.

Cloud-based ERP software are installed on vendor’s server, hence require no extra IT staff. Cloud-based ERP are therefore cheaper than on-premises system.

Click here to know more about cloud-based ERP.?

?Cloud-based or on-premises software , read it and decide yourself.

?These are some of the questions that you must ask ERP vendor in your meeting / communication.

Besides the above, there are many more questions which will give you clarity about the software and about the vendor.

1. How do you assure security of data?
2. What is your implementation timeline for an organization of our size?
3. Describe your consulting resources, like numbers, their education and experience?
4. Do you have any references in our field of working?
5. How much do you charge to add new user?
6. Does your system create a trail of user activity?
7. What differentiates your system from available alternatives in the market?
8. How can you ensure that we will grow with your system?
9. Will we have to pay for updates? How much will they cost? How frequently do you update?
10. Who will handle implementation? Do you have any implementation partner?

Conclusion:

Investing in an ERP should be a well thought of decision. It should not be in haste. Hence, knowing the vendors available, asking as many questions as possible to the probable vendors is very necessary. Questions stated above might have given you a fair idea related to queries you must put to the vendor.

The list is not exhaustive, so add as many questions as you like at your end. Some questions can be your business specific, some might be process specific and some might be generic.

Also, consider experience of the ERP software system vendor before finalizing vendor. With wide experience, a vendor can suggest many easy solutions to your core problems. It can support on various fronts and suggest ways to cut down your cost.

BatchMaster ERP software is one such vendor with almost 40 years of experience in ERP implementation for process manufacturers. With more than 3000 implementations across the globe, BatchMaster has helped numerous businesses to streamline their processes.

If you are looking for a shift towards ERP software, consider the questions mentioned above and choose BatchMaster for your journey.