With around 300 different ERP standard solutions and an estimated 1,500 industry-specific solutions for business software, companies are often spoiled for choice.
If the decision is made to introduce a new ERP S-metric system, it is advisable to formalize the process. In this phase, it is important to ask the right questions – and enough time for careful answers, in which other responsible persons should be involved in addition to the management.
The individual criteria that apply to a company depend, among other things, on whether the decision is in favour of an on-premise solution, ie permanent installation on the company’s server, or a software-as-a-service solution in the cloud. Not every company wants to outsource its data, and the commitment to a provider is usually viewed sceptically about the selection, operation and maintenance of an ERP solution. Many fear that they will financially take on the license and follow-up costs through the purchase.
Which criteria serve the ERP software selection?
A basic prerequisite for a successful introduction is the existence of a specification. This means a list of requirements that can also be created as an Excel spreadsheet, for example. The company must be clear about what it wants to achieve with the ERP system and which requirements have to be covered.
Not only should the wishes of existing departments be taken into account, but the identified requirements of future areas of responsibility should also be taken into account in a foresighted manner. For companies in the start-up phase, the business plan can provide important cornerstones from which future processes can be derived.
