ERP Solutions: Is ERP right for you?
Posted by Len Diana on Mon, May 17, 2010 @ 09:09 AM
From a Focus Research 2010 report: "The business tasks, functions and applications referred to collectively as enterprise resource planning or ERP are some of the most business-critical in existence. After all, optimized resource planning helps to maximize business agility and revenues. But once you've surveyed the ERP market and assessed and prioritized your business' specific needs for ERP solutions, you're still challenged to craft your best possible short list of candidate offerings and vendors."
Your basic buyer has between 25 to 250 employees and is in search of solutions that have core functions like accounting, finance, HR, payroll management, CRM and basic resource planning. They may be looking for a simple off-the-shelf ERP package that's easy to use and inexpensive. Vendors must offer an edition that is designed for easy installation and configuration as well as integration and consulting services.
When choosing a solution, it has been reported that "meets my feature requirements" as the number one criteria. Also highly ranked are:
- Reliability and performance
- Customer service
- Vendor would be a good partner.
This quote by a director of finance of a manufacturing firm with 26-50 employees from Focus Research's ERP Systems Buyer's Guide 2009 sums it up: "Know your existing system. Whoever is heading the project needs to talk to everyone to know the way company functions. Know the problems you are trying to solve, research all sides of it and make sure vendor can solve it."
If you'd like copies of these research reports from Focus Research, email Len at LDiana@baesis.com
