ERP is a software tool that we all use, and it is at the heart of our businesses, assisting us in reaching our objectives. Choosing the best one for our company is one of the most important decisions we’ll make. The choice must be correct. Here are some ERP system selection criteria to consider during your selection project.
Requirements for business
Create a concise and detailed list of your ERP specifications. Make use of all available resources to make this list the best it can be. Speak with your manufacturing employees and your buying officer. Pay attention to senior management, as well as the clients and vendors. Involve retired and existing staff and salespeople. Once you’ve written down every thought, prioritise the entire list. Determine the specifications are unquestionable “must-haves.” The following priority rank covers items that are not required, but there is widespread consensus that adding them would help the organisation. Any additional pieces mentioned are in a lower range, simply “good to have.”
Higher management support
This can seem to be a self-evident criterion. Too many, its significance is overlooked. And if a company chooses the right ERP for their needs, the project would almost certainly fail if upper management does not accept it. Support entails more than just having a budget approved. You want the management to consciously demonstrate their respect for you. When another department’s capital is needed, the manager can stifle development by offering lukewarm assistance. When the decision to support the latest ERP to use the current method happens, you want to know if the boss genuinely favours the ERP, even though there is a short-term expense at the time of the decision.
User assistance
The latest ERP will be used by people from all usable areas. Gain their approval by including their wants and wishes in the criteria list. Those consumers, everywhere they serve, will stand to benefit greatly from the effectiveness of your ERP implementation. Inform such consumers that they will have the necessary resources, such as training and supplies, to use the ERP and gain benefit for themselves as well as the organisation as a whole. Assure them that they would have assistance in navigating the necessary improvements. In exchange, they will assist you in implementing and reaping the benefits of your new ERP.
Integration for existing software
Most companies considering ERP have other systems that are perfectly satisfactory for their needs, and they do not want to change many systems in addition to their ERP. The concern now is how such systems can interact with ERP. There are almost always similar data elements. Is it possible for ERP to read and use the current data in the other system? Would you permit the existence of the same data, and how will you keep such separately modified data elements compatible? Can modify the other system to use the ERP data best serve you?
Future scalability and infrastructure
These issues refer to both the applications used to create the ERP system and the hardware used to run it. We know that both domains will continue to evolve and change. We don’t want either to be on the cutting side of technology, but we also don’t want either to be using outdated technology now. Simultaneously, we want to purchase our ERP from a vendor with a track record of success in keeping up with technological advances and who wants to stick to the approach.
ROI and Total cost of ownership
Add up all of the additional costs you can face as a result of this ERP. There will be an upfront selling price as well as any initial consultation costs. You can need urgent upgrades to your servers and networks. When the employees are adopting ERP, you can lose resources on recruitment and temporary labour. Any year when you use the ERP, you will incur service and repair costs.
Around the same time, you will benefit from reductions in labour costs. You may see increased sales because you will now deliver services and goods to your consumers that were previously impossible to do without this ERP.
Measures must be evaluated and chosen
The standard ERP system, which runs on an on-premises server and is operated by an in-house IT workforce, is no longer the only option. Many companies opt for an ERP that operates in the cloud through a SaaS platform. The initial expenditure is minimised in favour of recurring “rental” fees that cover the programme and the majority of maintenance requirements.
You can take a hybrid solution in which your company controls the ERP but runs it in the cloud on shared servers.
How can the customization be handled by your ERP? Is it possible to use business artefacts or other authentication methods to ensure consistency with other ERP components? Will you implement the customization without affecting other ERP components?
Some ERP systems can have better answers to your questions than others, limiting your options across ERP systems.
If you have answers to all of these ERP selection criteria, you are well on the way to choosing an ERP that can represent your company now and in the future.
AxolonERP, one of the best ERP software in UAE, can benefit your company in the ways mentioned above, and more. To find out how our ERP solution can work for your business, You can visit our website www.axolonerp.com or below you can request a free demo.
