A Fresh
Approach to
selecting ERP
Systems
How can we speed up the ERP selection process, yet not fall into the same traps as the majority do, which fail?
This 3-Step Plan is only common sense. But best of all, it will take far less time to complete and your results will be guaranteed!
Step 1 - Define the critical requirements that are unique to your company and match to the vendors on your short list. Please note: Critical requirements only. You have to assume that all systems will have an "Aged Trial Balance". This list should not be longer than two pages. Only continue to step 2 with those that sufficiently match.
Step 2 - Visit a company using the system, preferably one you can drive to, in a similar industry and size as your own. You may not get all criteria matched, but ask. With these demands, it is more difficult for the vendor to select who you visit. A visit is so much better than a phone call that in fact, it can take the place of the "sales demo" entirely.
Step 3 - After the first two steps, you should have a favorite system. If you are still not comfortable enough to take the plunge, this final step eliminates any further risk. Ask this vendor to bring in the trainer you will work with after the sale is complete, not the professional presenter. Trainers have to live with their promises after the sale, and will be quite forward about what the system can, or cannot do.
The most important factor in selecting a system is to make sure your company is successful with the new system.
If you fail
to
implement,
why do you
care what
the software
does?
If time is money, then speed is profit
ERP is an enterprise re-engineering
solution that uses new business computing
paradigms to integrate IT processes across
company divisions and departments. Some of
the key ERP solution modules can be listed
as follows:
* Sales Management
* Staff Management
* Stock and Inventory Management
* Supply-chain management
* Production planning
* Project Management
* Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
* Financial Accounting and Bookkeeping
* Data analysis and workflow management
* Business Intelligence and Reporting (MIS)
* Document and Workflow Management
Currently ERP market is experiencing a transformation from vertical product-centric architectures into horizontal customer-centric architectures. Generally, traditional product centric approach is tightly inter-coupled and ends up being inflexible and insular. On the other-hand the horizontal approach is more loosely coupled and adaptive. It is built for an era of specialization. We recommend this enterprise Service Oriented Approach (SOA) to ERP application development.
Following trends are reshaping ERP development and delivery approaches to great extent:
* Adaptability to the Internet: Need for internet enabling ERP solutions which provide anytime, anywhere access is a growing trend.
* Improvement on integration and flexibility: Integrating two applications from the same vendor is generally a challenge, but integrating applications from a variety of vendors is further difficult, which is major requirement for current ERP solutions. We use our expertise in XML, Web Services and other integration standards for development and integration of current ERP solutions with other applications in organizations.
* Embracing e-business: Increasing demand for integration of e-business services such as CRM, Business Intelligence, e-Procurement and Supply-chain Management solutions within ERP platform.
* Reaching out to new users: Need for using ERP data by multi-enterprise and mobile users.
GRIFFIN Ltd. excels at enterprise IT solutions. From your software platform, optimized for the ERP environment, to your support and services infrastructure, we support you every step of the way in your re-engineering journey. We focus on the vision for the application and not simply the current technology.
This vision determines the appropriate architecture, customization features, installation procedures, and level of complexity. We work with software vendors to ensure that you have the correct suite of integration applications integral to a successful ERP solution. These applications are used to identify and plan the enterprise-wide resources you need to best serve your customers. We partner with these experts to skillfully ally applications with our strong team, technology, service, and support to provide the best, next generation IT solutions.