If you’ve made your way to this article, you’ve taken the first step toward an ERP system in your business… Now you’ve got the hard part to deal with. What system will you choose?
Selecting an ERP system is no small undertaking. Not only do you have many factors to consider, you also have a learning curve and training to anticipate. Of course, the largest concern for many people is cost. Because every organization has different needs (and budgets), the decision you make will be specific you YOUR needs – but we’re here to help!
Let’s start with some basics:
Assess Your Needs
The first hurdle to jump is knowing what you want your ERP system to achieve. This may change and expand as you get things up and running, but initial goals are essential. Consider your existing problem areas. What’s slipping through the cracks? What needs to be systematized? What information is simply unavailable (or too complex to gather) with your current reporting?
Before you even consider purchasing an ERP system, gather your company’s decision makers. Evaluate what you would like to achieve and create priority lists. “Must-haves,” “nice-to-haves,” and “is-this-possible?” are good categories to begin with. This stage is all about painting a picture of how you’d like ERP to work for you.
Crunch The Numbers
Once you know what you want, figure out how much you can spend. Cloud-based ERP systems will require an ongoing subscription cost – and these can vary by provider, number of users, and so on. On-site ERP systems will have much higher up front costs, and will likely require IT personnel and equipment installation. Your team can do some exploration of these potential costs up front, likely in combination with the features you’re looking for.
On the internal side, assess your finances to see what your ERP budget looks like. Even if you can’t make set-in-stone decisions at this point, you can get working figures for acceptable up-front and ongoing costs. The more budgetary knowledge you have at the outset of your search, the closer you’ll be able to consider your options.
Plan Training
If money were no object, and you could implement every last ERP function you brainstormed – how would you get everyone on board? Is your workforce already relatively tech savvy? Will you have to train every employee, or just key leaders?
Like budgets, thinking ahead about the actual usage of your ERP system can help you make informed decisions. There are costs and time associated with training, and the more complex of a system you implement, the more training will be required. If you can roll ERP out across departments slowly, that may influence the system you choose. If immediate, “hit the ground running” functionality is what you need, you may select something else entirely.
Until you begin to imagine the actual implementation, you won’t have your ERP needs fully formulated.
Explore Your Options
Now that you’ve got a working knowledge of what you want to achieve – and what you’re willing to spend – it’s time to shop! From PeopleSoft to Workday, Lawson to Cerner, and a variety of others, you have plenty of options for ERP. With customization, the possibilities become almost endless.
This can be fairly overwhelming, so some broad exploration is a great place to start. Get a feel for the different companies. Read reviews. Talk to people in your industry who may have experience with various ERP providers. You’ve already gathered internal information about your needs and budget – this step is all about collecting external, broad view ideas about the available solutions.
Anticipate Roadblocks
As you create an increasingly detailed picture of what an ERP system might look like for your organization, make a point to imagine problems as well. Think about worst case scenarios. What might derail your efforts? What are potential costs you didn’t anticipate? What could go wrong with training?
Of course, you won’t be able to predict every possible problem. Unexpected roadblocks and delays are bound to happen, but if you put some time into imagining what could go wrong, you’ll be more prepared to resolve issues. Also, by anticipating problems based on what you know of your business and employees, you’ll make more informed decisions about which ERP option will work best for you.
Reach Out for Help
Last but certainly not least, get help from professionals! People with experience building and implementing ERP systems (like Belmero) are an invaluable resource. It’s a good idea to do as much research as possible beforehand, but expertise can make the difference between achieving your ERP goals and spending money on a system that doesn’t quite meet your needs.
Consultations, recommendations, help with training, and ongoing support all make implementing an ERP system more successful. The more effectively you can use your system, the more ROI you will enjoy.
The ERP experts at Belmero can help you through this process, and ensure your journey into ERP goes as smoothly as possible. We encourage you to do as much research as you can beforehand, but we’re also more than happy to guide you through every step of the process. Contact us today to get started.
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