5 Tips on How to Select an ERP System
Between cost, features, vendors, and many other criteria, choosing the right ERP system can be a difficult decision to make. So, we wanted to share 5 tips on how to select an ERP system.
Be Sure About the Needs of Your Business
To begin with, it helps to have an in-depth understanding of what you need your ERP system to achieve. At the outset, this seems like a simple enough objective, but the best results require deep and careful thought.
We recommend engaging a team of internal stakeholders from different departments to gather information on what they hope the new system will achieve and any desired features they might wish to have. This will help you narrow down the best ERP system for your needs.
Factor Scalability into Your Considerations
What is your business strategy in the short and long term? How will an ERP system help achieve those goals? These are some of the questions you need to ask yourself when selecting an ERP system.
Why? Because answering these questions during the evaluation stage will save your organisation a lot of time and effort in the long run - especially if future plans include growth, mergers, or even expansion into new markets. This is relevant because scalability varies across ERP systems.
Make Sure the ERP System Fits with the Needs of Your Industry
When selecting an ERP system, it helps if you take into account the type or standard of ERP software used in your industry. While ERP systems are not exactly industry-specific, quite a number of ERP solutions are optimised to work well in certain industries such as retail, distribution, or manufacturing.
The same consideration should go for ERP vendors. In evaluating the vendors, consider their history - particularly with similar companies in your industry. Be sure to check references, both good and bad, to get a full picture of how the ERP system will fit in with the needs of your company.
Evaluate the Total Cost of Ownership
Look into how much it costs to implement an ERP system. This will vary based on the deployment model. But generally, you’ll have to consider training costs, maintenance, and support. Some costs might be one-off, others ongoing - even the number of users may have an impact on the final cost.
Largely, with on-premise ERP, your company will be responsible for hardware and software costs. It’ll also be responsible for implementation, customisation, security, and upgrades. Whereas with cloud ERP maintenance, security, and updates are managed by the cloud vendor which makes it a popular pick for many.
Pay Attention to the Culture of Support and Training
During the initial stages of deploying an ERP system, your company will need support from the ERP vendor. Support will also be required during daily ongoing operations and employee training. Before selecting an ERP vendor, learn what support is available for your business needs, including details such as response time, cost, and the vendor's level of expertise in your business segment.
Final Thoughts
Selecting an ERP system requires a great deal of thought. Factors such as support, cost, scalability, and features play a significant role in determining how an ERP system performs in years to come. At Eurostop, we are governed by a mission to develop established systems that make managing merchandise and business processes efficient and easy. Our efforts have culminated in a variety of retail software including retail ERP, enterprise point of sale (POS), tenant management system and more. For a demo or to learn more about what we have to offer, you can reach us here.
