ERP and More!

ERPandmore.com is excited to announce that we have updated our ERP Vendor directory to include a lot more features and functionality.

This directory is a great resource for discovering ERP, CRM, and other enterprise software for your selection, or for other research.  It is searchable and very fast.   We will continue to be building the listings out over time, so continue to check back!

The directory includes listings for many common Enterprise Software:

• Business Intelligence Software
• Customer Relationship Managemen
• Enterprise Resource Planning
• Human Resources Management
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Professional Services Software
• Supply Chain Management
• Time and Attendance

Some of the key features that you will find:

• Social media login
• Demo Requests and Pricing links on many of the listings (where available)
• The ability to search by category or location

Additionally, there are listings for Implementors and Service Providers.

If you are a software vendor, please claim your listing and update it with the latest software.   If it doesn’t exist, please add it!  We have listed many of the common providers in the United States, but we welcome any non-USA providers as well.

Further, we ask everyone who is familiar with these software companies and providers to provide a rating and review.

Ultimately, we would like this to be a very useful tool for the Industry, especially for those who are doing research, or wanting to find the latest software available.

View the ERP Vendor Directory here!

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Process Manufacturing Software – Process manufacturing is a unique vertical market that is unlike traditional manufacturing as a company in that companies in this niche process liquids, chemicals, and fine blended ingredients. Usually the inventory is combined in a batch based on a recipe or a formula, the inventory is not assembled, but rather blended. This results in some unique properties, including yield factors and re-blended waste products. Because of these unique factors, traditional manufacturing software does not fit these manufacturers. As such, we have listed below our Top 10 Process Manufacturing ERP Software solutions (in no particular order):

1. Batchmaster Software
About | Demo | Pricing

2. JD Edwards
About | Demo | Pricing

3. Syspro
About | Demo | Pricing

4. Infor Process Manufacturing Essentials
About | Demo | Pricing

5. SAP Business All-in-One
About | Demo | Pricing

6. Ross Enterprise
About | Demo | Pricing

7. Microsoft Dynamics AX
About | Demo | Pricing

8. PRIMS
About | Demo | Pricing

9. Deacom
About | Demo | Pricing

10. Sage ERP X3 Process Suite
About | Demo | Pricing

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When evaluating ERP Software, a key step in the process is the vendor’s software demonstration. This is usually performed by the software provider, but sometimes it is the value added reseller who demonstrates the software. There are usually two software demos provided by each vendor during the process.

The first is an high-level demonstration of the overall look and feel of the software and it shows general functionality. This is usually to help you narrow down your list of prospective vendors.

The second demonstration is very detailed and speaks directly to your unique software requirements. Ideally, you have provided a list of requirements and even better a demonstration script to the vendor that explains step-by-step what you want to see from the software.

We’ve compiled a list of seven items that you should watch out for when evaluating ERP software. These are common things to tune into when watching the software demonstration to ensure that you are getting to see the real software functionality in action.

6 Things to Watch Out for in ERP Demonstrations. Click Image to schedule your free ERP demos

Vendors tell you, but do not show you

One of the most often used tricks in demos is where the vendor discusses a requirement and yet does not show how the system works. You should enforce a demonstration of the methods that the software uses to fulfill the requirements. Often this maybe on oversight on the person demonstrating the software, but many times this could be a very difficult process that they don’t want to show you.

2. Unnatural fit to requirements

Vendors spend time working on getting your requirements to work in the demo but, does it feel natural that it can be done in “real life”?

Often a complex requirement can be done by the system, but it takes a number of “unnatural acts” to make it work in real life. This is a red flag for a process problem. There are two solutions, one is that you adapt the business process of the software, or two, you live with the complex processing in order to fit your business method. If you think you can live with the software process, then mark this down as a good function. If you cannot live with the software’s best practice and you must use your process, resulting in a work around method in the software, then consider this feature as a negative response to your requirement.

3. The “herky jerky” demo

The speed of the demo changes with certain functionality

This can be related to number 2 above. This is more a feeling to the flow of the software. An unaturally paced demonstration usually means that there are some features that the software does not do well. Sometimes it relates to your evaluating user’s questions. Be aware of the pace and determine if the unnatural flow is due to software issues or some factor in your demonstration script.

Many times the vendor will ask if they change the order of the demonstration script to fit the flow of the software. This is usually okay, so long as they have hit upon all the areas that your script requires. If you limit them to sticking strictly to your script, then you may end up with an unusual flow to your demonstration.

4. “Its in the next release!”

Vendors offer solutions that are they are not able to show

This is a classic demonstration maneuver. Your requirements cannot be fulfilled by the current revision of the software, but the vendor assures you that it is slated for the next release. According to them, this will be available by the time you go live on the software. This is often true, but keep in mind that new release features often bring bugs with them and are not as polished as older functionality. Further, you may end up being the first ones to use this new functionality. Just keep this mind and consider using this as a point of negotiation, or simply document these features for your reference so that during the implementation you can keep track of when these items will actually be released. It is not uncommon for something that is slated for next release to be bumped and postponed until a later release.

5. How can I get there from here?

Vendors fly around the screens, but there is little sense to how they are navigating

Many systems have shortcut keystrokes. You sometimes can type in a short code and the screen will jump to another window. Or, the code is a numeric value representing the screen you want to go to. So the real question is how useful is this to the typical user within your company? Will they be able to grasp the jumping around shortcuts or will they rely on the navigation menus. Are the menus cumbersome? Often these shortcuts are implemented in systems where the navigation is not so straightforward. Test a few use cases out on how a typical clerical person might get around in their daily work. Good systems allow you to create custom menus for individual users.

6. Great feel getting data in, but can’t get data out

Overall feel to the software: is it efficient, can you see yourself using it on a daily basis, and does it provide the information you need?

Often you will run across a great ERP software. The look and feel is good and your users will really like it. But the question is, can you get the information you need out of it? How are the lookup screens? How are the data views (information providing screens)? You need to be careful of systems that require all data inquiries in the system to be only output as a report. Ask the vendor to demonstrate things such as an A/R or A/P account information screen, or Supplier/Customer profile screens. How easy is it to see on-screen the data you need to run your business? How easy will it be to answer customer inquiries?

7. The mystery reporting system

Input screens, Output screens and Reports

This is closely related to number 5 above. There are some ERP systems that don’t have a native reporting system and require you to use Crystal Reports, or some other tool to get at your data. Be aware of this and be sure to have a demonstration of the reporting system. Don’t look solely at the reports themselves, but find out how easy or hard it will be to create and organize custom reports. This is especially true of financial reports as they often have their own report writer separate from the main system report writer.

Lastly, if you are in the process of looking at vendors and deciding who you should have demo, you should look at this free vendor analysis tool from SoftwareAdvice.com that helps you evaluate the best vendors for your company.

Any other useful Demo tips? Please post your comments below.

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Starting an ERP selection and Implementation seems like a huge undertaking. It can be, but it can also be straightforward if you do things properly.

Where to Start with your ERP Selection and Implementation

1. ERP Vendors – who should you look at? There are many different ERP vendors. The easiest way is to use a free evaluation service such as SoftwareAdvice.com. Their advisors ask you some questions to profile the type of business you are in and then from that they can give you a short list of candidates to focus on. One good article you should examine is to help you understand how ERP vendors are categorized is “ERP – What Tier are you in?” You can also reference our ERP directory for a listing of various ERP vendors.

2. What questions should you be asking the ERP vendors? This is really a questions of how well do you know what you do. Take a look at “How to determine your ERP Evaluation Criteria” to learn more about how you should self examine your company to then have the criteria for evaluating the vendors. You can also get some free templates that will help you in evaluating erp vendors here on our site.

3. ERP Negotiation – How to reach a successful outcome? Negotiation can be stressful, but really it doesn’t have to be. It is a dance that the vendors go through everyday, so they know how to work it and how to make you come to their desired decision point. You can learn more about negotiation through various books, or you can start with this article on ERP Negotiation.

4. ERP Implementation Planning – There are a lot of details to implementing an ERP solution. Here are the Top 20 ERP Implementation tips. Find out also What makes for a successful ERP Implementation. You can also learn about four corners stones to any successful implementations with this article on RICE. Here is a great article on the 12 Steps to a better ERP Launch. Lastly, here is a tongue-in-cheek look at implementations.

We hope these links and articles will help you sort out resources as to where you can start with your ERP project. For more information, please also see our ERP Bookstore where we have a lot of useful books on ERP Selections and Implmentations.

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ERP Software done correctly can be a great tool for improving a business.  Done badly, it can demoralize employees and drive down business results.

Case-in-point:

ERP Software should enable business processes, not torture the employees.

Now from a business standpoint this is all well and good. But what about the employee? A lot of days, clocking and clocking out I felt as though it did not matter whether or not I was even there. There were simply no jobs to be done for entire weeks at a time, but that did not change that I had to “clock out” for certain jobs. Of course, a business wants to make sure that all of its employees are being as productive as possible, but clocking out on cleaning out the same area 3 times during a week seemed redundant and absurd. Not to mention clocking out on an activity such as “material handling” or “lean labor” is fairly arbitrary. This of course necessitated a manager to scold me when my productivity levels fell (ie playing Frisbee with a cardboard box in the back). It is important to note that I was simply summer-hired as well. Working full time at a job as a number would eventually get fairly tedious. As one of my co-workers noted to me, they had simply clocked in and clocked out for a couple of weeks and clocked off on none of the jobs they were doing. No one said anything to him. So who’s checking these jobs?”  - Andrew Mellino

Implementing technology to collect data is one thing, but ERP should not be just about the numbers. ERP ideally should be “process improvement enabled by technology.” It should not be a tool to harass the employees. This is a key concept to understand when implementing and going through the design phase. Which processes are broken and which processes are working fine. Once you have defined that, then see where the ERP software can enable best business practices. It is essential that the employees have a buy in and provide feedback to this step.

If you get the employees to buy into the implementation and how it will change their jobs, you will gain the benefits of higher utilization of the system and overall better adoption. If you fail this step, you will have a failed ERP implementation. There is a saying that you should “drive data collection to the source.” This means that you should have the person who is directly responsible for the source of that data be the one who is entering it. When the ERP system is not implemented with the employees in mind, the employees will be unmotivated to use the system, ensure that the data is accurate, or even bother to put in correct information.

With the help of your line employees, design in best practices and work with them to build a system that they will use and will benefit not only them by making their jobs easier, but also benefit the whole company by driving positive results.

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Defining your ERP Evaluation Criteria is essential for paring down the vendors and getting to the final choice.  There are two focus areas for determining your selection criteria:

1. ERP Process Evaluation Criteria

Process Criteria is the evaluation tool you would use to determine the flow of data through the system and how it would follow along your established or to-be business processes.  For example, following a process flow of quoting an order, receiving the order, manufacturing or purchasing the product, shipping, and finally invoicing the order is known as an order-to-cash process flow.

By mapping out these processes in a visio diagram or even on a whiteboard, you will have a good understanding of how your business operates.  With this knowledge, your evaluation of various business management software will be a lot easier.  Further, you can see how closely the software’s process flow mirrors your company’s or how disjointed the software is when it comes to your business.

2. ERP System Functional Evaluation Criteria

System Functional Criteria is the detailed list of all of the things you need the system to do, from processing purchase orders, processing a sales order, to invoicing a client and producing financial reports.  These are the nitty gritty things that your system should do.  A good place to start is to evaluate your current system.  What are the functions that the current system does well?  Include these in your list.  What are the things that your system does poorly, include the desired functionality in your list.

Your list should not be 10,000 lines, but rather it should look at those items that make your business unique.  For example, most every business has to cut A/P checks.  So most systems can do that.  So do not list as a requirement that the software should be able to cut A/P checks, rather make your requirement specific to your company, such as “System should be able to cut 3 copy laser checks, with reprint capability.”  That very specific requirement will help you distinguish the vendors from one another.

A good place to start is with an ERP Evaluation Criteria Template.  ERPandMore has many different templates to assist you in evaluating various ERP software venders and have best practices built in.  In using these as a starting point, you will save yourself countless hours in both preparing these criteria templates as well as in differentiating the vendors your are looking at.

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Social Networking has become the mainstay of the internet now.  Facebook, Twitter, and the like are all drawing people in and essentially training the next generation of computer users.  These social media sites are like magnets that people have to go to each and every day to keep up with their friends and share their updates.  People are accessing these media sources from all types of devices.  It is all absorbing.

One of the biggest problems in most business applications is user adoption.  Getting the users to use the system is a key challenge in many applications.  So how does the business applications market combine the social media attraction to a financial or manufacturing system?  Combining a social media approach to a business management system would seem to be a logical conclusion.  But there are obstacles.   You have two different elements playing here.  The cold hard facts of transactional data and the emotional connectedness of the social media.  How can these gel together?

Salesforce.com has begun a trend in combining social media with a business application through their Chatter application.  Essentially, Chatter is a Twitter for Salesforce.com.  It is an embedded part of Salesforce.com.  Users can post status updates and see all of the updates from their chosen connections (friends).  But the power of this application is that you can follow business objects within Salesforce.com such as Accounts, Opportunities, Contracts, etc.  So anytime an update occurs on these objects, you get a status update, not from a friend, but rather from an application.

So how would this likely work in an ERP solution?  First you could enhance any alerts to post to a status page.  Next you could potentially use it to notify you on any changes to any master record, such as customer, supplier, inventory, or BOMs.   The next thing you might consider is to have criteria based alerts be in the form of status updates.  Post an update when a customer exceeds their credit limit, or post an alert when a critical inventory part is below its optimal stocking level.

The next logical extension of this would be to extend the ERP to the social web.  Imagine getting private posts on Facebook when your major customer falls past due or when your shipment that absolutely must go out notifies you that it shipped on time.

The problem with this whole concept is the ability for traditional client server based ERP solutions to move in this direction.  Some of the new systems (or recently re-written) solutions may be able to implement this type of functionality quickly, but some of the older technology solutions may have difficulty bringing a social media function quickly to bear.

As this is a topic with no clear solution yet, what do you our readers think?  Where is this going?  When will we see it?  Please post your comments and thoughts.  Thank you.

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One of the most critical plans you can make is to prepare for the worst, especially when it comes to your enterprise software system and the database of all of the company’s critical information. A proper disaster recovery plan is essential, if you are running an ERP system, as it touches all aspects of the company. The plan can be as simple as a backup and recovery strategy, or as extensive as a global hot site fail-over plan. In either case, you need to prepare and test your plan.

Testing the plan is often where people fail. You often plan for the eventuality of a hard drive crash (and thus you use a RAID array), or you plan for the possibility of natural disaster, but what if you have a hidden hardware problem that is corrupting the database a little at a time?

That happened with one company we worked with. A failing motherboard caused problems with the email virus scanner, which in turn corrupted the email store a little at a time, so that it was unrecoverable. What do you do then? Well, in that case it was restore to the point in time that the email store database was usable. So the net impact was a few weeks of data loss. That is one illustration, but what happens if something like that occurs in your ERP database? Again the key is backups.

If backups are so critical, then why do people choose not to bother with testing and restoring them? Many people happily back up night after night, but never try to restore a data file or much less a database. Is it too expensive to have a test server? The real question is it too expensive to not have your ERP data after a disaster? What is the company worth? Millions? A few thousand dollars for a test environment seems like a reasonable investment.

Here are some of the things you need to think through:

1. Backups and Recovery procedures
2. Off-site storage of backup media
3. Security of backup media
4. Remote site backups (In a disaster, can you get the business up if the server site is destroyed?)
5. Personnel (In a disaster, can the right people be there to recover?)
6. Priority levels and potential downtime acceptability
7. Costs

There are some excellent disaster recovery resources on the web on this topic. One article that we liked was on making proper backups for your ERP system. We would suggest that you invest the time to learn more about this topic before it bites you. Remember that disaster always strikes at the most inconvenient time, so make the time now.

ERP Disaster Recovery

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