7 questions to ask when choosing an ERP
Choosing the right ERP means looking at your processes, your team and your growth plans more than at the demo screen.
An ERP project is a decision a business lives with for years. A poor choice means a stretched timeline, unused modules and investments made twice. Before you walk into a demo, here are seven questions to ask yourself and your vendor.
1. Which problem are we trying to solve?
"Bringing everything into one system" is not a goal but an outcome. Start by writing down the three processes where you lose the most time: is month-end close too slow, are stock differences too high, is order status unknown? During selection, ask every vendor to show concretely how they would solve these three problems.
2. Will we change our processes, or the software?
Every ERP assumes certain ways of working. Tailoring the software to your processes is tempting at first, but every customisation makes upgrades harder. A good rule of thumb: protect the processes that set you apart from competitors, and adopt the software's standard flow for the rest.
3. What is the total cost of ownership?
The licence fee is the tip of the iceberg. Build a five-year table:
- Licence or subscription
- Implementation and consulting
- Hardware or cloud infrastructure
- Annual maintenance and support
- The time your own team will spend on the project
4. Who will implement it?
The same software delivers very different results with different teams. Ask how many projects the consultants on your project have done in your sector, and request a reference call. When you speak to the reference, ask not only about successes but about what made the project difficult.
5. Where will our data live and how will it be protected?
For cloud solutions, the country where data is stored, how often it is backed up and how restores are tested should be written into the contract. Make sure a data processing agreement will be signed to meet personal data protection legislation.
6. How will it talk to other systems?
Your online shop, your bank, your courier and your e-document provider will all exchange data with the ERP. Ask the vendor for a list of ready-made integrations and the documentation for its open application programming interface.
7. What happens after go-live?
A project does not end at go-live. In the first months user questions increase and new reporting needs appear. Agree up front on support channels, response times and the scope of regular health checks.
A final word
A good ERP choice is not about finding the product with the most features, but the product and team that will solve your problems with the least risk. Always involve your key users in the demo before deciding; the people who will use the system every day are the first to notice the details others miss.