ERP Implementation Myth Number 4: All functionality is created equal.
Despite how much fun it may be to sit through hour after hour, day after day of software demonstrations, work piles up on your desk and your email inbox grows ever bigger. You have better things to do. But making the right decision in choosing the primary tool you will be using to run your business is a critical decision worthy of your investment in time. How do you balance competing demands for your time?
The answer to this question is simple: Do it like you do everything else, by prioritizing. Ask yourself and your team what business functions drive your operations. Try to understand where you have the most opportunity to drive value from a new system. Some companies are very sales driven and need a system that can enable sales and customer service to maximize interactions with customers. Others are cost driven and need to seek ways to reduce inventory or cut inefficiencies. Know what gets the job done and what drives your business.
Prioritizing your business requirements not only save you time, it helps your software vendors focus their discovery and demonstration efforts on the areas of your business that mean the most to you. This insures that your vendors show you the functionality to run critical areas of your business with the level of detail you need to see to feel confident in your selection decision. It also means that you will be less likely to be ‘wow-ed’ by flashy demo techniques and dazzling technology. Once the selection process is made, the priorities you identified in the process will help you streamline your implementation by allowing you to accept pre-configured or best practice functionality for lower priority areas and focus your time and efforts on higher priority ones.
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If you missed Myths #1, #2 or #3 check them out here:
ERP Implementation Myth Number 1: One size fits all
ERP Implementation Myth Number 2: Your current system defines your needs
ERP Implementation Myth Number 3: You will have a no modification policy
Richard Garraputa, VP Sales and Marketing, brij Image and Information
