Be Pragmatic!
This is the first advice for someone looking to choose an ERP implementation consultant. This decision will live with you for atleast five to ten years.
You often read that the role of an ERP consulting firm determines the success or failure of an ERP project.
Guess What! You, as someone, who understands business day in and day out, has even bigger role. Before we dive into key considerations for selecting an ERP consultant, let’s start with you. Ask yourself these two important questions.
- Is your business ready for an ERP implementation?
- What are the business challenges you are trying to solve?
Setting up clear goals and objectives go a long way in starting your vendor or consultant selection process, so first talk to your internal team of stake holders like managers, and get a list of challenges that they face, this doesn’t need to be exhausitive but should capture the major challenges, include the ones that you feel are obstructing the smooth working, build a list and then move forward with your selection process.
Remember! This important lesson from our founder, Its rarely the technology that fails.
Major Considerations in ERP consultant Selection
- The desired ERP consultant or firm should possess industry-relevant experience. For example, if you are a manufacturing firm, then someone experienced in implementing manufacturing, warehouse, supply chain related modules is more relevant than someone with experience in implementing the CRM module. Trustfort specializes in manufacturing, e-commerce, distribution and retail operation management through Microsoft Business Central for highly regulated industries like pharma, cosmetics, skin care, fashion and food.
- Ask for case studies, client references, and reviews to verify the provider’s credibility.
- Look for their LinkedIn profile for references to their previous work.
- Have discussions on total cost of ownership(TCO); this will help you plan your budget effectively. You can have a bird’s-eye view of ERP support services involved and typical project implementation milestones costs involved. Different ERP consultants charge differently depending on their expertise and relevance in industry.
- A pragmatic approach is starting with critical modules first, and then implementing others as the need arises. This approach reduces risks for both parties involved. Trustfort offers you Schedule Your Free ERP Consultation Call, with no strings attached to discuss your requirements.
- Another critical aspect is the availability of post-implementation support. As you will need help with upgrades, configuration settings and other routine optimization and maintenance tasks.
You may want to evaluate yourself for ERP readiness using our ERP readiness scoring guide.
