What questions should I ask my ERP vendor before committing to buy?

The question is simple - why do I have to deal with you instead of any other vendors of the same Tier. Another question is - guarantee on successful implemetation and adequate support

Good questions by Oleg and Eric --

Couple more I would add are

1. The complete cost estimate - many vendors do not tell you all the costs upfront
2. Also try and meet the analyst or implementation expert from the service provider (not the sales person) who will finally help you go live and find out whether you are comfortable with that person.

As a vendor what I have observed is that customers that have implemented ERPs well have a clearly identified pain area that they need a solution for. If you are clear of that pain area is then you will get faster ROI (and gratification) and are more likely to succeed in your implementation.

- Rushabh

ERPNext.com

There are four cornerstones to making a good ERP software selection:

Product Solution Fit
•Functional Fit
•Usability Fit
•Compliance Management Fit
•Technical Fit
•Deployment Model Fit

Solution Provider Implementation & Support Services Approach
•Understanding of Requirements
•Ability to Execute (Breadth and Depth of Capabilities)
•Implementation Approach
•Post Go-Live Support Approach
•Ability to Meet Project Timelines
•Business Relationship Value-add

Mitigate Predictable Risks
•Business Risk
•Pricing/Contract Structure Risk
•Change Management Risk
•Compliance Risk
•Product Risk
•Project Delivery Risk
•Operations Risk

Optimize Total Cost of Ownership
•Factor Hard/ Tangible Costs
•Factor Soft/ Intangible Costs

For more info, check out http://www.dynamics-software-amllp.com/ERP_SW_Criteria.html

These are all good question areas. An additional question is to find out the expertise the vendor has in your vertical and application. If they do indeed have vertical expertise, do they have a vertical application; e.g., workflow, KPIs, BI, etc.? All good ERPs can do most anything you configure and/or customize them to do. However, the more of this, the longer/costlier the project, the higher the cost-of-ownership and the more difficult to stay current with revisions and required 3rd party add-ons. Perhaps more important is the potential to have to change your busines processs to match the ERP software if your business is somehow special. This very often can kill the long-term value of the ERP as your business processes are your competitive advantage.

I would suggest going on the ERP page at ITtoolbox. they have some wonderful threads on ERP implementation and best practices.

I work with IBM and handle SAP and Oracle ERP implementations from a back end and consulting perspective. If you have questions I can some resources prepared for you that will allow you to ask the appropriate questions.

Hi Steve,

Selecting an ERP solutions is an important decision for your company, so you should do more than asking questions. First of all, you need to do some research on all vendors that seem to be providing what you need and filter them to make sure they cover your area, they are not too expensive, they can provide all services you need (implementation, training, support, etc) and create a short list.

You then need an RFI (Request for information) or RFP (Request for proposal) that all vendors should fill in so you can compare them - it's for you to decide how detailed you want the file to be.

Next step is to have demos with the vendors you think may provide you what you need, but don't let them show you what they do best - ask them to show you how they handle your key pain points.