The first Challenge of your Project
Why you should
be aware of what
you are not getting Three helpful Tips for your ERP Selection
be
you
Bids or proposals are usually the first legal documents in an ERP selection process. However, most proposals are unfortunately rather incomplete. They are often not clear enough and/or not structured enough to give a complete picture of your investments, your own tasks and your risks. Three tips, each formulated as a question, will help you to optimize your ERP selection in this respect. 💡
Three Tips to help you filter out the right ERP Vendor
If you clarify the following questions regarding your potential ERP vendors at an early stage, your selection process can benefit enormously. This gives you the opportunity to put the vendors to the test once again - and avoid making the wrong decision.
1. What is out-of-scope?
In their offers, ERP vendors usually describe what their offer includes. They will show you a list of functionalities, modules and functional areas and provide information on the scope of work required and project planning. They also address the terms of use for software licenses and services. Finally, they will also tell you what support you can expect after the go-live.
However, if you have little experience in the field, it is anything but obvious that you understand the significance of all these factors. The risk of wrong assumptions you might make is immense. And by the time you finally understand what you’ve really bought, it may be too late to make changes.
To avoid such problems, you should ask your vendors to also describe areas and functionalities that are explicitly not covered. What is “out-of-scope”?
Another advantage is that you will be less tempted to expand the scope of your project during implementation.
2. What Tasks do you need to take on?
A similar approach makes sense for services. Of course, you need the specific knowledge and experience of your preferred implementation partner. Think of project management, business consulting, change consulting, development and training. However, these offerings don’t mean much unless you know what part of the required activities you are responsible for.
Ask the vendors for an overview listing all activities required for a complete project launch including go-live support and post go-live support.
Insist on a formulated, unambiguous “division of tasks”. For which part is the vendor responsible? And which part is not included in the service offer and must be provided by you? This will certainly give you important information about the capacity, the costs and the effort that you have to provide.
Finding the right ERP Vendor 🤥 Lies (do not) have
long Noses
3. What are your Risks?
The third aspect concerns the project risks. It is clear that the implementation of new software is always associated with risks. Just as it is quite risky not to modernize your ERP software! These risks can be divided into two parts: the general risks and the specific risks for your company.
You can benefit from your vendors’ years of experience by asking them for an appropriate risk analysis. Then discuss in detail with your preferred vendor how they will deal with these risks before you sign a contract.
Successful ERP Selection makes Project Success more likely
Improving the quality and relevance of your tenders can help you to better understand and evaluate the offer of your preferred vendor. With the knowledge gained in this way, the probability of an all-round successful project increases considerably.
