A good evaluator of ERP and financial
A great ERP evaluator will start with the question, "How do we evaluate our processes to make sure we are solving business problems we might not even be aware of yet?"
A truly superlative ERP evaluator will ask both questions, but will make sure to do it over lunch at a nice, but reasonably priced local eatery appropriate to business communication--all on the ERP vendors dime.
But seriously, lunch or no, let's go ahead and assume you're doing a quality job with the software review. It seems like a safe bet. After all, you've gone beyond simply reading product profiles to seek out advice on how to get the most out of your ERP decision.
If my guess is correct, you may even already be deep into the critical step of working on internal process evaluation to get a strong understanding of the issues that a new ERP system should solve. Perhaps providers have already begun helping to surface some of these challenges and opportunities. Very frequently providers will assist in this process with interviews with key decision makers, surveys of power users and process owners, business process modeling, SWOT analyses, and other techniques designed to identify key requirements. (And, if they have taken these steps, go ahead and go easy on that surf and turf, as you've found a good prospective
But if you haven't asked two very specific questions of your prospective ERP vendors, you're missing an enormous opportunity. ERP vendors own a tremendous business intelligence asset which likely you do not: namely, insight into what your competitors are doing internally to promote effective financial and operational management. While they may not be able to ethically connect the specifics to names (and if they do, this is a red-flag), that's not the important part. What is important is that ERP providers have have a unique and privileged perspective on the tactics and technologies that are helping companies succeed across the market.
So, what are the two key questions you should be asking?
1. What are our competitors doing that we are not?
When you ask this question, you are digging deep into the WOT covered in a SWOT analysis. The answers to this question will of course vary too widely to accurately summarize. But the answers will unquestionably provide valuable insight.
2. What are we doing that our competitors are not?
An enormous part of successful
When you meet with your ERP providers, it's good to be thinking about what you are getting out of the interaction. If the answer is that it's just an explanation of how a product works and what it does, that's not enough. Don't be afraid to tap into the knowledge and expertise ERP providers carry about what they are seeing in the market in terms of what's working and what's not. There's tremendous business intelligence value there that's hard to come by otherwise. And, hey, if you can get a delicious meal out of the process, too--that's not bad either.
Author: Adam Bluemner is the Project Specialist Manager with FindAccountingSoftware.com, a company providing free software search assistance.