Guide
How to choose the right ERP
Ten criteria, what to ask and why it matters. A decision guide, not a sales pitch. Do not request quotations before you have worked through this list.
The decision starts before the product comparison
These ten questions are the ones to answer internally before you approach anyone. Quotations gathered without them cannot be compared.
What do your processes actually require?
Write down your own processes before you start comparing products. Where does information get stuck, which report is produced by hand? Without that list every demo looks impressive.
How many users, in which roles?
User count drives price directly. But the real question is the role mix: twenty people who only read reports are not the same as twenty who enter data.
Cloud or your own servers?
In the cloud, hardware and maintenance are not yours, but the data sits in the provider's data centre. On your own servers you keep control, and the backup and update responsibility.
How much data has to be migrated?
This is where projects slip most. How many customer records, stock items and years of history? If the data is dirty, cleaning time has to be added to the project.
Which integrations are mandatory?
Banking, e-commerce, marketplaces, shipping, shop floor devices. List the ones that are genuinely required. Integrations discovered late are what break budgets.
How is regulatory compliance handled?
E-document thresholds and data protection requirements change. Ask how quickly the provider ships updates.
Who will do the implementation?
Who implements matters more than who sells the licence. Ask whether the implementing team has references in your industry.
Is training included?
Without user training the system does not get used. How many days, for how many people, on site or remote? Get it in writing in the quotation.
What happens after go-live?
The first month is the critical period. Is there a support line, is a response time committed, is it in the contract?
What is the total cost of ownership?
The licence is the visible part. Add setup, data migration, training, integrations, annual maintenance and hardware, and calculate a three year total.
ERP selection checklist
You should be able to answer yes to all of these before entering a quotation process.
- Have you written down your process map?
- Have you split user count by role?
- Have you decided cloud or on premise?
- Have you measured the volume of data to migrate?
- Have you listed the mandatory integrations?
- Have you asked for industry references?
- Are training days written into the quotation?
- Is the support response time in the contract?
- Have you calculated a three year total cost?
- Have you planned the transition around your busy season?
Work through the criteria with us
We can go through this list with you in a discovery call and tell you honestly where we do and do not fit.