ERP Discussion
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Though today, the meaning of ERP needs no explanation every alternate company is re-engineering & ERP is around for quite some time. Why do we still have ERP disasters? A wrong selection could lead to this disaster. But if one has to make a right decision, where does one get information from?
With unlimited expertise available around, why nor formulate 'best-practices' for everybody's benefits.Author: Purnima Varadrajan
email: purnima_varadrajan@ipott.com
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Where do companies (who do not have any prior exposure or experience of ERP) start looking for which ERP is the nearest best-fit for their kind of business? I guess this forum can come together to help solve this query. I would like to call upon all the experienced members who regularly post replies in this forum to join together in building a basic level document which can be circulated in this site and made available to the novices. I have been observing the responses and respondents in this site for last couple of months and feel there is lot of knowledge available which can be utilized for the cause of building a free database. Let us first try to build a consensus on the parameters on which we can segregate various ERP applications available in the global market. (For example - No. of users, domain, cost (in terms of licenses, hardware, application, maintenance), customization, country-specific, tier 1 or 2 etc.)
It sounds like a really nice idea to begin with. If a simple database of various products could be put together. But I think you’ll find that the very people you would like to build that database will generally tell you that such a database or document is not what people should use to pick an ERP solution.
Sure you can put together a list of various packages and the industries they have customers in and the user counts they range in, etc. But the fundamental question cannot be answered by those parameters - is the piece of software the right fit for my business? Two customers in "medical devices" (to use an example that has come up recently here on the list) might have the exact same number of users, the same relative revenue in the business, making similar products yet one does lots of business overseas and needs serious multi-language and multi-currency support yet the other cares more about EDI and integrating their own in-house systems. All the parameters you gather might say the exact same set of products are right yet the requirements quickly rule out some products, and others are actually better fits than they seem on the surface.
I think Daniel Pillipow's message was right on in saying the same thing I'm getting at - every ERP evaluation is a custom project because every company has its own set of requirements. The number of those possible requirements and the complexity involved in extracting those needs from the client are such that a database can't provide the data required in an ERP evaluation.
So it's a nice idea on the surface that unfortunately doesn't help. At best you might be able to come up with a very simplistic list of industries and products. That list probably is not much better than a simple search of the list on IT Toolbox.
Author: Geoff Crawford
email: geoff@innov8cs.com
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Creating a check list of ERP Functionality has been done, and some companies are making a good dollar 'selling' it.To do ERP Selection correctly, the checklist is a simple way to eliminate packages you may NOT want to look at and nothing more. Finding ERP Software is a company wide activity a project that will shape the destiny of a company for many years to come and a project that needs the attention from TOP Management that few other projects require. You will not be successful at finding software to manage your business if you believe that creating an RFP is most of the work necessary to find an ERP Package.
Author: Mike
email: mike.roman@manufacturingpractices.com
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I agree with Mike, although I think that it would be fair to say that many companies - particularly those embarking upon their first ERP selection process - want to look at companies of a similar size and industry to themselves to see what ERP they are using, principally due to the perceived reduction in the risk involved by selecting a similar package.
Geoff quite rightly points out that you can have two companies that are practically identical in terms of size, industry, location etc. however, they have very different requirements. Very true, yet most companies (in the mid market, at least) will still insist on this step (of looking at similar companies) in the selection process - certainly if it is their first ERP project. Hopefully, many of them will also have found this group...
An interesting statement, Geoff: I think Daniel Pillipow's message was right on in saying the same thing I'm getting at - every ERP evaluation is a custom project because every company has its own set of requirements.
Without meaning to deviate from the topic too much, I can't decide whether or not I agree. While the custom project is certainly the 'classic' way to approach a project; how about a 'best practices' approach with out of the box functionality? I would imagine it is Quite rare for a company to have a 100% fit out of the box, but that is certainly an option. At the very least, a company should avoid reinventing the wheel for the majority of common requirements (i.e. Financials, HR, Sales Order Processing etc), for the obvious reason of realising the benefits and ROI of the ERP as soon as possible.
In addition, a company must not only look at their current requirements, but also to where they want to be as a business, and select a package that will be flexible enough to adapt to any future requirements.
Author: Paul Godden
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Hi all,
I agree that keeping a database of what software is good and what is not is a full time job and would only apply to one country at best, one region in many cases. What I would love to see, and there must be one around, is a good, simple, fairly short article on software selection that I would be happy to publish on my web site (at www.bpic.co.uk/articles.htm) that does not need to go into the current status of software packages but just a summary of the general principles many of which have been mentioned in this thread. Ideally also a spreadsheet with a simple scoring system as well.
Author: Phil Robinson
email: erp@bpic.co.uk
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Hi all,
should say the discussion is getting more and more interesting. Like many of you I too think that it is hard to formulate a rule or formula for companies to just apply and select the ERP and feel great. It is also quite right it works, to look into a next door company with similar functionalities and size and go for the product, but logically will both the companies grow, develop and expand in the same proportion. What if one company expands faster than they themselves anticipated, what then, should they do away with their present ERP and look for another similar company using ERP? It's a little unfair.
By comparing functionalities of big ERPs its money making and is set, why cant a simple 'best practices' or some 'must be functionalities' be listed for other ERP and again as Phil said - In a simple excel sheet with rating? Does it sound close to impossible?
What if each one of us in this group talk on 'one most important function' then we can debate on the list.
Author: Purnima Varadrajan
email: purnima_varadrajan@ipott.com
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yeah,
I think the idea of Purnima is a good one. Lets start. One function which is a must in ERP for selection will at the end of the day give you a list. We can eliminate duplicates and then may be group it.
I begin with this, not that it's the most important, but just that I want to say it. AGE OF SOFTWARE
Author: pankaj
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