Posted by When choosing an ERP, it’s important to look at the company with which you would work. Choosing an ERP is a big decision that will affect your business for years to come. However, it’s not all about the product itself (although making sure it has a good evaluation is important). The partnership you form with the seller must also be advantageous for your business. You should be comfortable on multiple levels with the company, but here are the three most important factors to consider when selecting an ERP Software Development company for your business:
1. Company Dimensions
How huge is the ERP development company? Your ERP system will be the core of all of your business’s processes, so its reliability is key to your future success. If the vendor supporting your ERP is unstable, so is your ERP. Implementing ERP should minimize the risk, not increase it, in your organization. This is a good sign if you are collaborating with a vendor that has a huge history of stability and is financially sound. You want a company with a large footprint and a large number of satisfied clients who can attest to its longevity.
2. Strategy
What is the ERP vendor’s overall product strategy? Do they have one? ERP software is so important to a company’s performance that it is important to choose a provider that keeps investing in the product to improve its functionality and keep it up to date with the latest technological standards. You desire for your investment to “live and breathe” by adapting to market fluctuations.
You can determine what an ERP business is doing with its software by analyzing its prior actions. Ask how many releases there have been in the last five years and how often you can expect releases to happen in the future. What is the retention rate of current clients on annual maintenance if you choose on-premise deployment with annual maintenance. These kinds of inquiries can provide insight into the company’s product development plan.
3. Sales and Support
How does “signing on the dotted line” affect your relationship at a later stage? This is an open-ended question that many individuals disregard. If an ERP system is set up correctly, the company that makes ERP systems will work with the company for 20 years. So, it is important to find out if the ERP vendor has the same point of view or if a sale is just seen as a one-time deal.
At some businesses, you’ll receive a salesperson for the sale, a new contact for implementation, and a third contact after going live. Others have a single point of contact who stays with you throughout the entire process, from becoming a customer to going live on the roadmap for continuous improvement. It may sound trivial, but organizations with a single point of contact for the duration of your relationship treat you very differently than those who employ sales people solely to make a sale. Consider the type of partnership you wish to have!