White Paper Navigating the ERP Selection Process 7 Time Saving Steps with Insights
Contents Introduction... 2 Navigating the ERP Selection Process... 3 Be Organized: Organization is the Key to Success... 3 Understand Enterprise- Wide Requirements, Goals and Objectives... 4 Know Your In- House Expertise and Resources... 5 Know Your Budget and Its Components... 5 Knowledge is Power... 6 Engaging a Software Vendor or Reseller: Which is Better?... 7 Take Charge of Your ERP Demo... 8 Conclusion... 10 About MIS... 11 Contact Us... 11 1
Introduction Like your business, technology continues to evolve, bringing with it new opportunities for streamlining business processes and improving operations. If you are using an ERP system that is five years old or older consider it technologically outdated. With outdated technology, you are inefficient and thus putting your company at risk in a very competitive global marketplace. Modern ERP capabilities allow for quicker access to real- time information, collaboration, mobility, personalized dashboards and more. Such capabilities are helping businesses improve their business processes and operations while paving the path for greater efficiencies throughout the enterprise. In addition, access to real- time data means more informed, proactive decisions, greater responsiveness to trends, customer and supplier needs, supply chain challenges and more. In short, today s technology provides you with the tools and quick access to data to help you be more competitive today and tomorrow. With the range of ERP solutions available today, you might be feeling overwhelmed by the abundance of choices, rightfully so when you hear about Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, On- Premise, SaaS, Hybrid technology platforms, and more. You're not alone. Where do you begin? You begin with a good strategy. Your biggest success will come with organization and incorporating best practices into the process. Best practices not only include being well organized from the start, but also identifying the right people for your project team, getting buy- in from key players, understanding enterprise- wide goals and objectives and more. Navigating the ERP Selection Process was written as a guideline to help you create a short list relatively quickly and effectively navigate through your demonstration cycle. With the right information, you and your project team will shorten the selection process while being armed with the right type of information to make a recommendation with confidence. 2
Navigating the ERP Selection Process To help you navigate through the process of identifying your ERP solution, here are best practice strategies to keep your project under your control and on time. Be Organized: Organization is the Key to Success Take the time to get organized from the beginning. A well- organized project will save you valuable time throughout the selection process as well as time and money later during your implementation. Start by identifying a project team including a strong project team lead. A strong project team lead with team members representing the various roles in your organization will help to identify your key requirements faster while also minimizing surprises later in the process. Value Added Reseller (VAR) or consultant should be engaged. A seasoned consultant should have enough experience with working with organizations that share some of your challenges from which they can draw from when guiding you through the process. Tip: Identify an ERP Project Team upfront to save valuable time later. Allocating appropriate resources and incorporating discipline and best practices in identifying an ERP solution will: Save time by speeding up the decision process without sacrificing knowledge. Provide a clear understanding of the requirements, goals and objectives of the organization as a whole. You and your colleagues know your business best, and it is therefore optimal if your team consists of internal resources. If however, this is not possible, and you don't at a minimum have an internal resource available to head up your project, then a Result in a more focused effort resulting in a relatively faster identification of your short list without your team getting confused by fancy sales demonstrations. 3
Allow your team to be empowered and in control throughout the selection process. Improve your implementation timeline because expectations are set appropriately. Understand Enterprise- Wide Requirements, Goals and Objectives For your project to be managed efficiently and to be a success, you need to understand which features and functionality are most important to all areas within your organization. Start the process early. Ask your C- Level, department managers, IT and anyone else who interfaces with your current ERP system about their likes and dislikes and what their ideal ERP solution would look like and put together a Requirements Document. Gathering and prioritizing key requirements, goals and objectives from the start will keep your project on track, saving you time later. Tip: Prioritize key requirements, goals and objectives early to keep your ERP project on track. MIS has been helping organizations of all sizes identify and implement accounting and ERP systems for three decades. Based on our experience, most decisions to switch ERP systems are based around a company that is: Outgrowing their current ERP capabilities Seeking cost savings through gains in efficiencies Changing business goals and direction Needing better integration capabilities with other systems Needing a system that is more flexible and scalable Wanting access to real- time analytics Need for mobility for sales, field service, or other areas Looking for an ERP system with lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Using an ERP system that is obsolete and no longer supported 4
Using an old homegrown system with disparate third- party solutions Perceived benefits of new technology. Know Your In- House Expertise and Resources What in- house resources do you have available to dedicate to this project? Do you have IT personnel with the required skillset necessary to support and maintain your new ERP solution? Or, will you need to hire a consultant each time a report or dashboard needs to be modified? In house expertise, or lack of, will affect your overall budget including long- term cost of ownership and should therefore be considered when evaluating ERP solutions. Tip: In house expertise, or lack of, will affect your overall budget. Know Your Budget and Its Components Deploying an ERP solution is one of the most costly projects your business will undertake from both a monetary and a resource perspective. Not only must one consider the initial cost of the software, but one must also consider the cost of supporting, maintaining and training associated with an ERP system after the initial implementation. Knowing your overall budget will save you time as solutions are targeted to organizations of all sizes. It is important that you understand your overall budget both from a purchasing and maintenance perspective as this can vary greatly from system to system, as follows: Hardware upgrades Software and user license fees Maintenance and support contracts Project management, IT staff, and/or third party consultants Implementation Data migration Customizations Third party integrations Training, including refresher or new employee training. If your budget is limited, but you want all the bells and whistles that come with the latest technologies, or if you don't have the in house IT resources to adequately 5
support a new ERP solution, you may want to consider a SaaS or hybrid ERP solution rather than an on- premises solution. With a SaaS agreement, the ERP vendor provides you with monthly access to the software and handles all of your software and hardware upgrades in the cloud. A SaaS ERP solution can have its limitations, especially when compared to a full- blown ERP solution. The benefit of SaaS is that it doesn t require in- house IT expertise or an annual maintenance contract as software updates and upgrades are managed by the software vendor and part of the monthly service fee you are paying for. According to Gartner, Hybrid ERP, a combination of in- house ERP and cloud- based applications, are growing in popularity. Hybrid solutions can work well for companies with multiple locations. For example, with a hybrid solution, one could deploy the corporate location in- house and the subsidiaries in the cloud with all accessing the same database. Knowledge is Power Knowledge is power. Before you engage an ERP reseller or software vendor, spend time researching your options. With a project team in place, you should have a general idea of your requirements and budget. If you haven t already, now is the time to see what the industry experts say online and to talk to colleagues, your trusted advisor and others that are familiar with today s ERP solutions as well as those that have recent experience moving to a new ERP solution. Ask questions such as: Which ERP systems were considered? Why did they select the system they did? How was their experience with implementation and training? How was their experience with the consultants? Have they continued to receive good support? Having the knowledge to ask pointed questions throughout the process will serve you well as features and functionality can be easily blurred. This is especially true during software demonstrations as a good 6
demonstration team is trained to draw you in and get you emotionally excited about their products; you have to be able to see through the show and determine whether a system best meets the majority of your requirements. Engaging a Software Vendor or Reseller: Which is Better? Choosing whether to contact the vendor directly or a local Value Added Reseller is worth discussion. For a Value Added Reseller (VAR) to represent the software their salespeople have to be trained and their consultants certified on the products they represent. Consultants typically go through the same technical training courses regardless of whether they work for a vendor or a value added reseller. Over time, even though consultants may be trained on the full range of products offered, they tend to specialize. For example, a consultant that has had many clients in a specific industry will gain a certain level of industry expertise whereas another consultant might be very good with complex financials, processes or reporting. Aligning expertise with your needs is important, but there are other factors that should be considered: Personality You may have found what you believe to be the absolute best consultant for your job, but if their personality does not work well with yours or the company s culture, then you need to move on and quickly identify another consultant. You will be spending many long hours together on your implementation and it is important that you find someone that you and your team are comfortable with and will be easy to work with. Type of Relationship The long- term relationship you will have with a software vendor is different from the long- term relationship you will have with a reseller. A software vendor has many rolls to fill your needs a consultant to handle your implementation, an account manger to periodically follow up with you after the implementation and a technical support team to address your support questions. In contrast, the relationship you build with a value added reseller has the potential to be more personalized. For example, at MIS your implementation consultant will continue to be available to advise you when future needs arise as they have 7
the deepest understanding of your unique business, it s goals and challenges as they have been in the trenches with your team. Local Presence- is local presence important to you? A software vendor will send their team in from corporate headquarters or a regional office and for some, these locations are near their business, but for most they are not. Software vendors recognize the value local presence offers and therefore authorize local resellers to further their reach in the marketplace. Consider the availability of local expertise and the type of relationship you want in the long run. Take Charge of Your ERP Demo Take charge of your software demonstrations by providing the vendors with a list of features and business processes that you would like to see demonstrated. A good approach in developing your list is to assume that most ERP packages within a tier (i.e., Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3) will have a similar set of core features and will therefore be able to meet 70-80% of your requirements out of the box. Your list should therefore focus on your top 10, those features, functionality and processes that your organization cannot live without in an ERP solution. Tip: Focus your demo on the top 10 features or functionality that your organization can t live without. By having a list, you will be better able to see the similarities and differences based on your key requirements and how the software handles the areas of greatest importance to your organization, making it easier to identify the best solutions for your business. ERP software demonstrations typically start with a high level overview inclusive of all the bells and whistles to get you engaged and excited. The vendor will also demonstrate features and functionality that they think differentiate their ERP 8
solution from their competitors and those features they think would be of greatest interest to your organization. For very specific demonstrations, the vendor may tell you that you need to engage them in a Proof of Concept Demo (POC). 9
Return on Investment Technology is changing at a rapid pace. Today s ERP systems enable businesses to do so much more with less even compared to five years ago. Take a look at some of the return on investment you should expect: Improved business processes and automation for gains in efficiencies Faster access to real time information for better decision- making Collaboration for teamwork and fewer bottlenecks Improved customer service levels Mobility for anytime anywhere access. Designed with the future in mind, Epicor ERP will continue to deliver returns on your investment over time. The solution is scalable and flexible to fit your needs and budget today and leave you with room to change and grow tomorrow. Whether you deploy Epicor ERP in the cloud, on- premise or as a hybrid solution, or choose to start with a few modules and add additional functionality over time, you ve made an investment for the long run. Epicor ERP is unique in that it uses the same database and code set regardless of deployment, making upgrades easier and faster, saving you money on future upgrades. Conclusion Selecting a new ERP system is one of the biggest and most expensive decisions your business will make. Taking the time to navigate through the process using the best practices outlined here will make the transition easier as you will be better able to identify a solution that will best meet your needs. Having a clear understanding of your needs before the start of your implementation means that your project should run more smoothly and with fewer surprises. As a result, your organization will recognize cost savings during the implementation process as both the project team and the consultants will have a clearer understanding of the scope of the project. Often a project is considered unsuccessful because the project scope was not detailed well enough. Using the methods outlined in this white paper will help you reach your goals leading to project success. 10
About MIS MIS Consulting & Sales, Inc. and its subsidiary, MIS Solutions Canada, is an Epicor Gold Partner that has been helping clients meet their vision with business strategies every day since 1987. Not all ERP systems are created alike, and neither are all ERP implementation partners. Through long- term relationships we inspire our clients to achieve their business goals and have an Exceptional ERP experience. As an experienced firm, we believe that clear communications with repeatable, proven methodologies using certified consultants leads to ERP success with the greatest ROI. Our goal is to help you build your solution today and be your trusted advisor tomorrow. Contact Us MIS US Headquarters 1260 NW Waterhouse Avenue, Suite 190, Beaverton, OR 97006 Telephone: 503-614- 1919 MIS Canadian Headquarters 8661 201st Street, 2nd Floor, Langley BC V2Y 0G9 Telephone: 604-837- 0002 Sales Information: sales@mis- c.com Consulting and Support: services@mis- c.com www.mis- c.com We welcome your comments and reserve the right to revise this publication and/or make improvements or changes to the products or programs described in this publication at any time, without notice. Copyright MIS Consulting & Sales, Inc. 2017 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of MIS Consulting & Sales, Inc. Epicor is a registered trademark and/or trademark of Epicor Software Corporation in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Copyright Epicor Software Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of Epicor Software Corporation. Exceptional ERP is a trademark of MIS Consulting & Sales in the United States and MIS Solutions Canada in Canada. 11