8 reasons why your business should think twice before buying an ERP system
I bet that got your attention, didn’t it? Now that you’re reading this, I am going to add the following caveat: you should buy an ERP system … but not before you’ve done a Mint ProActive™ Discover.
First, let me give you the issues that should give you pause for thought before you reach into the company coffers:
1 – It’s your business
Sounds obvious but the truth is that nobody knows your business as intimately as you do. It is a crazy notion to expect an outside company to come in for a few sessions and completely understand your business in order to offer you the correct solution
2 – Too many partner choices
There are many different partners representing different ERP solutions that arguably offer the same services and the software is all very similar. So how do you, in a time-sensitive manner, select the partner that is right for you?
3 – Too many solution choices
By the same token, how do you, with confidence and certainty, select the right software for your business and your strategy? After all, most solutions sound fairly similar on the surface, don’t they?
4 – Mind the target
Knowing that salespeople have KPIs and targets, how sure are you that their intention to sell you a certain solution is based on your business needs? Is this an unbiased approach to your actual requirements?
5 – It’s in the detail
How sure are you that you have covered and understood all the requirements needed to run your business effectively? Have all your needs been addressed in terms of agility, future-proofing your business, or do you have to adjust your business process to adapt to your software?
6 – Counting the cost
Can you be assured that the cost of the software and implementation is accurate? Are you confident that the price quoted is going to achieve what you expect or will the cost continue to rise?
7 – Reports vs summaries
Are you able to get a comprehensive report from your chosen partner that gives you a clearly defined output describing exactly what you need as a minimum “must have” to run your business or does it just give you an overview of the features and costs?
8 – Only the first step
Are you able to take the initial proposal and use it as an unbiased RFP should you choose to go that route?
Right, so you understand the problems. Now in true Mint style, let me give you the solutions.
What can ProActive™ do for my business as we ponder the ERP dilemma?
ProActive™ gives you the hard facts
The first phase of ProActive™, ProActive™ Discover, generates a comprehensive output report and BI dashboard detailing:
1 – Fit/Gap analysis of standard Dynamics 365 against your business needs – allows you to decide if it’s an ‘Adopt’ or ‘Adapt’ strategy
2 – Potential Solutions to meet any gaps
3 – Software Licensing and Implementation Services estimates to help you build a business case with confidence
ProActive™ is a cloud-based, survey-driven platform
The traditional selection process is resource intensive and impacts your day job – a lot of work is required to map out what your business needs (RFI/RFP) and then conduct market research.
Once a shortlist is identified, you need to understand what each one can offer and evaluate whether their solution is right for your business. This typically involves a number of face-to-face workshops with each supplier for them to gather information about your business – it can be difficult to align diaries and get access to the subject matter experts that you need.
Then you need to wait for suppliers to document and feedback on their findings (often more workshops). Then, time for you to evaluate/assess the suitability of the different solutions.
ProActive™ puts you in the driver’s seat
Lack of control is often one of the challenges of the ERP journey – although you may be the ones with the requirement, once you engage with suppliers, it is very much a supplier-led sales process. ProActive™ ensures that you are not left out of the process. A comprehensive, user-friendly report details everything you need to know – including answers to questions you never thought to ask.
ProActive™ is quick, accurate, and consistent
An end-to-end process takes anything from 6 to 12 months, depending on size and complexity of the business. ProActive™ can reduce your project time by up to 60%. In fact, you can get the complete unbiased facts and costs within 2 weeks.
