An ERP system is a powerful tool that can streamline your business operations. Order processing, billing, inventory management, and more can be controlled from one software suite instead of multiple programs. And today’s IT executives have more choices than ever when it comes to ERP software. There are multiple vendors to choose from providing on-premises or cloud-based systems.

With all these choices, it can be overwhelming to choose, upgrade, or customize an ERP system. To help you evaluate the possibilities, we’ll look at five factors you need to review before implementing a solution.

Let your requirements guide you, and configure it to fit those requirements, not what you think you may need someday.

– Shalakay Gibbs

1. What should an ERP system do for your company?

Gathering requirements is an important part of choosing an ERP system. The tool you choose can only do its job well if you know what you want it to accomplish.

Also, implementing or upgrading an ERP system should be an opportunity for your business to improve its processes. It’s time to dig deeper and make real changes. Don’t use an ERP system to automate a bad or outdated process.

2. Have you evaluated all the options?

Once you’ve gathered your requirements, you’ll be in a perfect position to match your needs with the many ERP solutions available. The ERP system you choose will have plenty of options. Now isn’t the time to get dazzled by features you may not need. Let your requirements guide you, and configure it to fit those requirements, not what you think you may need someday.

3. Have you accounted for change management?

Employees need to know what changes are coming. Sometimes ERP projects change the structure of a company dramatically. Job descriptions may have to change, disappear, or be added. These changes can affect your company’s culture. It’s important to communicate these changes and get feedback early so that implementation and adoption go smoothly.

4. How difficult can training and implementation be?

There are quite a few questions that fall into this category. How much time do you have to get the ERP system up and running? What level of support are you looking for from your implementation partner? You want to make sure the system can be ready for use when you need it, and that any issues you may have can be solved quickly.

Your company is in for a big change. It will take significant time and resources, initially, for everyone to get used to this change. That makes developing and delivering a training program for your new ERP system something that should be done early in the process.

It’s also good to ask your implementation partner if any advanced training is available. Sending a few employees for in-depth training will create an on-premises support staff that can react more quickly to help with issues.

5. What should you migrate?

Data migration can be a time-consuming process. If you don’t have an ERP system, data can be housed in multiple systems both on-premises and in the cloud. Some of this data is important. Some of it isn’t. And some of it may be duplicated. Deciding what you should migrate is the most important consideration and should be carefully discussed with your implementation partner.

Choosing an ERP system and a partner to help implement it should not be taken lightly. The right choices can work miracles on your business processes.