ERP has become an indispensable tool of the business as it greatly influences the everyday operations and productivity of the organization. The integrated management affirms the departments coordinate and collaborate with each other efficiently and effectively. However, choosing an ERP isn’t that easy as we think of. There are many criteria that have to be taken care of while choosing ERP for your business. From cost to functionality, scalability to deployment there goes endless things to consider while selecting ERP at your business end. The finest method to assess and evaluate ERP software is to weigh its strengths and weaknesses.
This article walks you through certain criteria that you should follow while selecting ERP software.
Listing Business Requirements
To start with any project, be it the implementation of an ERP application or giving away a presentation, first and foremost treated is gathering the requirements. Without defining a comprehensive list of the needs, no action can bring changes as desired especially in ERP implementation. Therefore, clearly lists the requirements for your ERP in a prior note.
Utilize every resource accessible to make these lists complete. Converse with every employee from workers, managers, team leaders, suppliers, customers on the needs, and things to incorporate in the application. Write down every suggestion and later prioritize the must-have’s in the application.
Once you are done with the must-have lists, go for the lower category say nice-to-have lists in the application. These may include the feature listings that aren’t mandatory, however incorporating them will benefit the company in its long run.
You can assure of the lists via taking back the records to those individuals who provided with information sources earlier. Check whether they agree with the listed needs. This helps you add all the essentials needed in the application to make things quicker and better.
Going For Scalar
It is always good to go for those software applications that captain the power of managing the rising amount of work and the rising amount of users. Software that is scalar can only continuously support your business for its growth. Some ERP sellers target enormous associations with complex activities without properly noting whether the product models can constantly scale to help the developing business.
In the event that your client base expands, the product should mandatorily have the option to deal with an expanding number of clients and exchanges. It should keep on giving ongoing information in spite of an increase in information volume.
Scalability can be costly for some on-premise arrangements. You may need to buy extra servers to help with the increased burden. Therefore it's critical to ask ERP merchants what their products can offer to the business and whether they can be scaled in case of need.
Return on Investment
While the total cost of ownership is the typical thought during ERP software selection. However, understand the return on investment (ROI) from the software is also equally significant.
If the business makes a choice of picking an ERP framework dependent on ROI as opposed to the total cost of ownership, it is definite that the chosen ERP undertaking will bring about great business benefits.
Building up a business case will assist you in evaluating the advantages you expect. This will direct you in improving your procedures and characterizing your business necessities. Your ERP framework will be bound to convey a high ROI if it's designed dependent on optimized processes.
Product Viability
Do you know the long term outlook of the ERP programming you're assessing? While SAP and Odoo aren't probably going to leave the business at any point in the near future, they will continue supporting the customers with extensive features and functionalities. However, this may not be the case with many other ERP businesses. There can be many who are planning to discontinue their products and quit supporting certain items.
Therefore, prior to selecting your ERP application for your business, knowing where the merchant intends to put their R&D later on, will help you choose wiser an application that can support you in the long term. This is one distinct advantage of Odoo ERP. The open-source platform is becoming a stiff competitor to other ERPs in the market and is constantly upgrading its architecture keeping in pace with changing market trends. There is a large community of Odoo developers who are constantly working on the application improving its extensivity and functionality. Therefore, one can easily ascertain Odoo ERP is viable and can support it in the long haul.
Likewise, you should go for industry research to decide whether the chosen ERP product is keeping pace with its competitors. If not, the seller might be intending to stop the product. And you end up with great business losses say investing much on customization so as to remain innovative.
References
For every kind of purchase, references are always advocated as it helps to ascertain the capabilities and offerings of the service provider. References, however, have high relevance when it comes to selecting ERP as it helps to discover and make out whether the claims made by the ERP vendors are true or not. Meanwhile, it also helps to access the system’s capabilities and ease of use. In order to validate the claims made by the vendor, the best method is to go for reference or asking previous customers about their experience with a particular vendor or the application. One can check for several aspects like what functionalities did they implement and how many benefits they reap out of it, how far the vendor will support and provide training on the ERP, and so on. Via taking references from similar organizations can get you with the most valuable inputs matching your requirements. For instance, if you plan to deploy cloud ERP, ask for references who have deployed cloud ERP applications in their business end.
Looking for more Criteria? Continue Reading…
We walk you through those selection processes, which incorporates exercises associated with organizational alignment and business plan. We guarantee you select ERP that keeps going to your association for many long years.
Upper Management Support
Too often, upper management support is not so given much importance. One can choose the most perfect ERP for their association, yet without upper administration support, the task is likely damned. If you think upper management support only can back you with spending approvals you are indeed wrong. You can effectively incorporate their help for several other purposes. For instance, the manager can smoother progress by giving warm supports in between.
User Support
People in every functional area will be users of the new ERP. Gain their support by ensuring their needs and also adding their desires in the requirement lists. If the business ensures giving users with adequate documentation on the ERP and sufficient training, one makes the resources settled fast with new changes. Via offering comprehensive training and equipment tools to use the new ERP application, the businesses can make the best from their employees.
Functional Requirements
Every business has certain functional requirements that must be fulfilled before you change your ERP or update its requirements. It is very important that your new ERP answers every functional requirement that is detrimental to the smooth running of business operations.
For instance, whether your new ERP supports both the selling of physical products as well as service, or say whether your ERP will support multiple currencies as your business operates in multiple countries. The list thus goes endless. Therefore, ensure all your functional requirements are answered while you choose your ERP.
Integration With Existing Systems
There are common data components in ERP. The question is, therefore, could new ERP read and make use of the current information in that other framework? The question is how would you enable similar information to exist and by what method will you keep those independently updated information components compatible? Will you be ideally serviced by making use of the data from ERP?
In order to answer all the above, you need to know which integration tools come with this ERP? Primarily, the application must possess simple integration such as .csv files for occasional data updates. Similarly, web services and XML records enable rapidly moving the information between frameworks. Also, there are numerous clients and providers who make use of EDI (electronic data interface) to share information between organizations. In the event that this is required, be certain your ERP supports that need.
Budget and Resources
What amount of cash is accessible for an ERP framework? On the off chance that you just have $20, at that point you must have an extremely strict selection criterion. According to a report published by Software Path in 2019, it is estimated that you spend about $7,200 on every user of your ERP framework -which is indeed a major investment. As most ERP frameworks will be utilized for 10 years or longer, the maintenance and support related infrastructures always remains a matter of concern.
Therefore, the spending plan should be precisely taken into consideration by making viable choices. For instance, if you dedicate full-time resources, say hire developers on a project basis, you can optimally reduce the cost. However, many dreaming of saving money go for short time resources. However, this can take a toll often, as you may have to frequently hire them whenever there pops issues or changes. However, hiring for the longer-term gets you full benefits of maintenance and support comparing to that of the short term.
Technology Fit
Every organization has its own technical establishments or system supported by top administration and IT. Similarly, you will find that an ERP vendor also having their very own strategy of technology. Despite the fact that most ERP vendors declare they are open frameworks, in truth, every seller has their innovation "sweet spot."
Therefore, while you choose your ERP, it is very important to understand the vendor’s technology strategies and measure it against your technique.
Customization
The ideal ERP will never require any customization. However, none are probably going to be great and perfect in all aspects. Thus demands certain customization so as to make it fit the business. However, make a clear understanding of what customization is wanted and whether it is really significant for your business. If your customization can be worked around effectively, that customization isn't a selection criterion. However, if it can be put off for a later period, it isn't promptly a necessary thing and is definitely an ERP selection criterion.
Then again, if your ideal customization is required, keenly consider the factors like simplicity and productivity of that customization. Make sure you are equipped with developers and designers who are gifted in the programming language required for the customization. Cybrosys Technologies, the leading Odoo partner possess both technical and functional experts who can guide you effectively in Odoo Customization services and other allied Odoo services.
To conclude,
Before beginning your ERP venture, it is highly significant that you put a lot of ERP selection criteria. From our experience of more than 10 years in the ERP sector, we have acknowledged here 12 Selection Criteria. By considering, assessing, and reporting these key criteria, our customers can settle on the best and most instructed choices for their organization. If you are looking for any Odoo support or consultation for your business, write to us at odoo@cybrosys.com.
Read to know more about the ERP Software from our Previously Published blog: What is ERP