Top 20 Questions You Should Ask Your ERP System Software Vendor Or Company

When you select ERP software, you are selecting both the software as well as the organization that provides it to you. You would have to form some sort of partnership with your ERP Vendor or ERP Company. You will be inevitably linked with the new vendor throughout the entire life cycle of the ERP system within your organization as well as post that. Hence, it is important for you to have a clear communication with the vendors and make sure there is no room for ambiguity. You can start by asking the following questions to your ERP software vendor.

1. How long has the company been around?

ERPs are long term relationships and it is important that you choose a company which has a long term future.

2. How many clients do they have?

An  ERP software which has been used by a large number of Customers is likely to have more functionality as well as a Stable Product.

3. Do they have an option of “on-premise” as well as “Cloud”?

Do not choose Cloud just because it’s a buzz word and at the same time do not choose “on-premise model” just because you have fears of data security on Cloud. Both models have their advantages and disadvantages.

4. Product Fitment/Functionality matching

You must see how the ERP System is fitting your existing processes or how good processes are there in the ERP Software and their fitment to your company.

5. What is the functional coverage of the system?

Look at the ERP modules and features that the Software has.

6. Is the ERP Software Configurable?

A configurable ERP software would mean that even after the vendor has done the implementation, you should be able to manage the usual changes in Business Rules using the system.

7. Is the ERP software customizable, if required?

Even with the best of configurability, you may need some amount of customization sometimes.

8. Can it be integrated with my other systems?

In many cases ERP integration with 3rd party systems/hardware is required and it becomes important that the vendor has these capabilities.

9. Reporting flexibility

Reports and Changes in existing reports is one of the most important reasons for the Post Go-Live support because of the dynamic nature of the business.

10. Devices

The Software that you choose must be compatible with all devices like Laptops, Tabs and Mobiles and should support Android as well as iOS.

11. Technology

The Technology aspect is important in terms of the Product supporting latest concepts such as SOA(Services Oriented Architecture). Secondly the database and the programming language being used should not be products nearing the end of their life.

12. Do they design and sell their own ERP system solution or are they a Partner of some OEM?

13. How long does the ERP implementation generally take for a company your size and what kind of training would be provided to the end users?

14. Which database, hardware platform, network, or operating system environment the ERP software can run on

15. How often do they provide upgrades and enhancements? What sort of support do they provide at this time?

16. Do you have the liberty to choose only those ERP modules that you need?

17. What is their ERP implementation methodology? Do they follow defined processes?

18. What are the options for ERP support after go-live?

19. What is the pricing structure? What is the true cost of the ERP software often termed as TCO(Total cost of ownership)?

20.Cost

Last but not the least; let cost not be the sole or the most important deciding factor for your ERP System Software.