ERP Software Selection - how to select the right solution for your business

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Master the ERP Software Selection Process

Many companies have traditionally leaned on “Requests for Proposal” (RFP)s to guide their organizations during a software selection process in order to choose their new accounting software and supply chain solution. However, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software as well as cloud software evaluation tools have evolved tremendously. These changes are making accounting software RFPs no longer ideal for advanced software selection or ERP and accounting software partner decisions.

With RFPs no longer ideal for software selection or partner decisions.
ERP or CRM software offerings are oftentimes non-comparable, consulting partner expertise and team composition can be difficult to estimate in packed RFP process and RFP timeline. For these reasons, an RFP may not serve your organization well in the ERP evaluation and ERP and software comparison process.

your guide to selecting software

Get Help Evaluating Your New ERP Software

Today’s modern organizations should first identify and look at solving specific business problems rather than building feature comparisons. More features are not always more value for your organization. With a predefined list of “high value business issues” your departments and subject matter experts participating in the software evaluation process will be able to compare and contrast business applications against your prioritized set of core business challenges. With the help of Microsoft funded programs, senior Avantiico solution implementors help your team through scenarios and a data driven process to identify the core ERP and automation needs, focusing on your concrete business and solution needs.

Through upfront envisioning workshops, business value assessments, and concrete solution review sessions, Avantiico facilitates selection and enables company alignment on business challenges and priorities for your entire organization, ensuring the selection team finds the ideal ERP for your needs.

A study by InformationWeek reported that “nearly half (49%) of enterprise software selection projects take longer than six months to complete”

(InformationWeek, 2018).

Choosing the right Microsoft Partner for your organization

Organizations across the globe are in a never-ending state of digital and business process evolution increasing their reliance on cloud software. Mature and modern businesses don’t rely on a single enterprise application to meet the needs of all departments. Instead, organizations make cohesive decisions around a suite of products that will enable certain personas and roles in the company in an agile way. This diversity necessitates a careful ERP selection and implementation process.

For this reason, selecting a Microsoft Partner familiar with your business model and/or unique industry business processes represents an opportunity for faster implementations and time to value. A Microsoft Partner can help customers scale with Microsoft technology to meet their ever-changing needs. Long before a Microsoft Partner implements or deploys software, the right partner plays an 360-degree advisory role ranging from envision new solutions, prioritizing needs versus nice-to-have, implementation options and training needs, thereby ensuring the success of your ERP project.

A good starting point for any large-scale ERP project is a Business Value Assessment (BVA) to identify the value drivers, measure investments against benefits, assessing a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). As a Microsoft Partner, Avantiico teams focus on building a data driven business case, delivered via a phased implementation approach and ensuring the benefits of a new ERP are maximized.

Full Guide to Finding Your Microsoft Solutions Partner

What goes into selecting software?

ERP Selection Criteria to Select the Right ERP Solution

When it comes to selecting a new accounting automation software, inventory management, WMS, or any other cloud software, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind in order to select the best possible option for your business. The first and most important step is to understand your objective in what you are looking for the software to accomplish. You cannot be successful in your search for solutions without understanding what you are looking for, whether that involves updating existing ERP systems, implementing a new ERP system, or exploring different ERP solutions optimized for your needs.

A Microsoft Partner can help you understand current processes, pain points, and the benefits of transitioning to a cloud-based ERP. Even more importantly, a partner can help you quantify the strategic benefits, cost savings, and time savings of new solutions, making it easier to choose the best ERP system for your needs. Once you understand your why, leveraging your business users’ knowledge of the business and considering ERP selection criteria, you’ll want to put together a comprehensive list of requirements. This includes not only looking for an ERP system that meets your functional, usability, budgetary, technological, and reporting needs but also considering the scalability and software vendor support of the ERP cloud options. A Microsoft Partner can help capture these requirements and prioritize their value to the organization, guiding you through every step of the ERP system selection and ensuring a successful ERP implementation.

Facilitating Your ERP Selection Process

Business and Solution Evaluation

Through pre-defined assessments, envisioning workshops, and modernization workshops, a Microsoft partner can help you make decisions faster and avoid costly technology and licensing decisions. These funding opportunities can help you reduce your software investment and uncover ways to fund your Microsoft technology usage, thereby supporting the adoption of today’s ERP systems. A Microsoft Partner can:

Ensure you have access to all available funding programs, aiding with ERP consulting for top ERP solutions.
Accelerate your time to value for technology investments, particularly when conducting an ERP selection process to find the right ERP software for your business.
Remove the barrier of time to value for solution investments, critical for businesses transitioning from many ERP systems or looking to optimize ERP installations.
Provide information about relevant assessments and workshops to help determine which is the ideal ERP system for your business.
Aid with right-sizing your agreements through discussions with licensing experts, ensuring you receive the best ERP solutions tailored to your specific needs.