Sheldon,

I have never personally managed or implemented an ERP rollout, but here are my thoughts on the costs and benefits of Direct vs. Reseller purchases:

1. Unless you are a very large enterprise, the odds of getting adequate (and cost effective) support on the implementation and training during the rollout are reduced. The stigma associated with large vendors working with smaller businesses is that they spend their time and resources keeping the highest paying customers happy and leave the smaller businesses behind.

2. A reseller is typically local and specialized. Why do all of your business over the phone with someone half way across the country? Dealing with a reseller can mean a more personalized and in-person experience. Generally speaking, you can also find resellers who work exclusively in your industry; they know your pain points, your industry lingo and often have pre-built solutions to suit your needs.

3. A reseller might not have the backbone or staying power of the direct vendor. In today’s economic climate, choosing a small, local reseller might have long term consequences for support or even completion of the implementation should they go out of business. To some extent, this fear exists even with the direct vendor (as evidenced by the myriad financial institutions no longer in business), but choosing a to go direct may help you mitigate these risks. Note: should a local reseller go out of business during an implementation or at any point after your purchase, the direct vendor can most likely take over support or introduce you to another one of their resellers.

4. Resellers might offer additional services you may not be able to receive when dealing with the direct vendor. Direct Vendor X may be able to sell you the software system, but can they provide you with the servers to run it on? The database to manage it? The data networking architecture and bandwidth to run it? If you want to integrate your new software with a current ancillary system, does Direct Vendor X integrate the systems for you? You will often see resellers that offer all of the services and applications needed to be a one stop shop for your IT or business application needs.

There are clearly MANY more considerations than these 4, but hopefully this helps as a starting point.

Most of the larger ERP companies do not sell directly to end users. You almost always go through a certified reseller. Even if you contacted the vendor directly, they will usually refer you to one of their resellers.

I would recommend using www.findaccountingsoftware.com to help you through the process. They have a ton of resources available -- You can even have them send you the providers that best match your needs after a quick phone assessment.

The best route depends on a variety of factors. Microsoft, Sage, Exact only sell through partners. Epicor, Lawson sell direct. Infor sells through partners on certain size deals and direct on bigger deals. SAP uses partners as integrators and they pass through the software. Some companies like the local presence while others like to have the best resources they can get and are willing to pay the travel expenses to get them. Some ISV's bring specialized domain expertise and products to the market that may have value to you. You'll need to conduct due diligence on the publisher and the partner. Regardless, we always start with your critical business process requirements that differentiate you from your competition and use that for selecting a long list. Then we deal with whoever we need to in order to satisfy those requirements.

As Mr. Keith Fawcett mentioned if you are going for a estrablished brand for an ERP its the Reseller you have to approach as the big players hardly gets involved in this, Instead if you are Small or Mid sized corporation I would suggest you to go for a ERP from a local vendor(Lot of options available now a days) who has implemented his product in past and have a sucessful track record.The benefit you get from a local vendor is good quality support which most of the Resellars fail to give, Affordable ERP, Customisation as per your needs and many more. One such ERP is EazyERP, Check this out at
www.eazyerp.com and feel free to contact for any other queries or questions.

Depends, what's the size of ERP you're looking for? 10 / 100 / 1,000 / 10,000 users?

As Jeff pointed out earlier, the use of resellers varies quite a bit by vendor, and the size of the vendor or size of the deal has little to do with it. Some large vendors (e.g. Microsoft) use resellers exclusively. Some smaller vendors sell mostly direct. With others it is a mix. Generally, however, I think that if a vendor does use VARs or resellers, establishing a relationship with a good local reseller is a good way to go.

What vendor(s) are you considering?

Sheldon,
As Frank (a bona fide expert who also publishes a great blog) and Jeff answered above, the software company will generally set their own methods for either selling direct or through a reseller. I would add that the team that will actually get your system up and running - whether the software reseller or another services firm - is a crucial component of your project's success. Whoever sells the software, make sure that the integration team understands what is being sold to you and fully understands your business. This team's technical skills and ability to manage the project will in many cases contribute more to your success than the software itself.