Top 5 Mistakes To Be Avoided During ERP Selection

Implementing ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning could be the best investment that you should make in your business. Most of the small business at present are even not aware of how an ERP software can drastically improve the productivity and growth. Whether your intended target is to maximize employee efficiency, improved database management, increased revenues or cost-cutting, ERP applications are going to help you immensely by applying automation to all your firm’s devices.

Further, ERP incorporates digitization of machines and devices in your enterprise while infusing IoT capabilities alongside so as to make your firm’s devices connect directly to the web. And that makes it possible for the devices (for ex - computers etc.) to share data among themselves in real-time. This way, managers can easily make future strategies having access to real time information from various departments within the organisation.

Besides, the most important thing is to choose the Best ERP software among many keeping in mind your specific business needs. During this blog, we will discuss the most common mistakes which managers and business owners make during ERP selection. We will also discuss how to avoid these common mistakes which most of the people make while implementing ERP to their enterprises.

Top 5 Mistakes People Make While Selecting the Best ERP Softwares

#1. Not Having the Understanding of Choosing the Best In Accordance To their Business

Not having a clear idea of what features in an ERP software your firm is exactly looking for. If one is not crystal clear about what is needed and what is not can lead to waste of money, time and resources. ERP software installation can make you spend a lot initially but if you have chosen the correct Enterprise Resource Planning software, then you don't need to worry at all. Just make sure to implement the correct one which would eventually make you reap unlimited benefits and an impressive return on investment.

Discuss the use of applying ERP with people who manage each of your respective departments - HR, marketing, production, sales, logistics and financial department. This will make you decide the  budget as well as enlighten you with the specific requirements of different departments in context of ERP implementation.

#2. Unable To Document The Exact Requirements

You might be knowing what you exactly need, but communicating and submitting your exact requirements with the vendor is a different thing altogether. You must ensure to choose not only the software that suits your business needs, but also should possess features that could help differentiate your product or service in the market. The implemented ERP must set you apart from among the competition you are going to face in the near future.

Make sure to discuss those features with your vendor that can give you the much required competitive edge and superiority.

#3. Wrong Vendor Selection

Selecting the inappropriate vendor can make you face a lot of trouble and is one of the most common mistakes people often make. The vendors usually demonstrate more than what they could actually offer in reality. Don't make your decisions totally based on what your vendor has shown you during their software demonstration. They might deceive you with the demonstration that could lead to an unsuccessful merger. Keep in mind that not all vendors can deliver what they have promised during the demonstration.

What you can possibly do is to conduct a research on the reputation of the vendor and the prior successful implementations they had delivered. Recommendations and advice from your industry peers can help you in the best possible manner.

Also Read : The ERP And Big Data Challenges

#4. Not Able To Prioritize Criterias For ERP Selection

Deciding priorities according to your specific business needs is a must in order to succeed at selecting the best ERP software for your organisation. While documenting the selection criteria, try to keep it brief and mention all the critical functionalities and features that your people eventually would need.

Some important criterias which you should focus upon while deciding an ERP for your organisation are listed below :

Cost : Is the intended software suits your budget or is it too costly that could eventually make you suffer in the near future.

Ease of Use : Ask yourself about whether your employees will be able to learn about how to use the said software application or not.

Mobility : Does the said software support mobile access or not.

Vendor Reliability : Has your Vendor been able to deliver satisfactory services to his previous clients.

Option to Customize : Will you be able to modify the user-interface of the software application according to your business preferences, if needed in the near future.

#5. Not Taking Care Of After-Sales Support

It is one of the common mistakes among the businesses worldwide not to ask for the customer support from the vendor after the software application was installed and system has gone live. Not asking for phone support or consultant help might lead to some unresolved issues with the vendor as there could appear some kind of problem in the near future when the system has already gone live.

Always seek support for these things - User Documentation, Phone Support, Consultants, User Groups and Implementation Guidelines.

Further, the modern ERP automation softwares comes with IoT integration and machine learning algorithms embedded with it which makes it more efficient and fast.