ERP and More!

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.

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

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.

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

If you have ever been through the ERP Evaluation process, you understand the stress and pressure that is involved with selecting ERP Software. Selecting ERP software is like getting married. It can have a lot of unknowns. If you are just beginning the process, hopefully this article will provide you useful tools to streamline your efforts. An ERP Evaluation process takes time and the level of effort for properly selecting a provider and implementer can be tremendous. Here are some key things that you need to keep in mind.

The nuts and bolts of an ERP Evaluation

A company only goes through an ERP Evaluation, on average, only once every seven to ten years. As such, they usually do not have resident experts in selecting software. Companies do everything from the extremely methodical analysis taking years, to the rash signing of the contract at a software convention with no investigation at all. How long should a proper search take from start to finish? If done in a thoughtful and yet expedient manner, it should take anywhere from three to six months. This really depends upon the number of candidate software vendors you are looking at and the degree upon which you investigate the implementers.

One of the best ways to keep the selection time down is to hire a coach. This coach can be a consultant, a seasoned colleague from a trade association such as APICS, or a Software Selection Service. In either case, they will be able to steer you clear of some of the obstacles that you are likely to run into. You want to choose someone that has a clear understanding of the ERP Software landscape. They must have been through several ERP Evaluations previously.

Once you choose your guide, you then need to look at your internal processes. Ideally, you can document your business and answer the following questions:

1. What is the general industry of the business are you in? (ie. Manufacturing, Distribution, Professional Services, Retail, Property Management, or Construction, etc.)
2. What are the things that distinguish your company from others in your industry? (ie. We have a retail store, we only sell through distributors, we manufacturer locally [or offshore], we have a strong customer support staff.) Don’t stop at one item, list out as many as possible.
3. What is your budget? Are you looking at $50,000 or a $1,000,000 system? (Including implementation services and maintenance contracts)
4. What does your current system do today that you want to keep as functionality and what does it do horribly that you want to improve upon?
5. What are the key requirements for each of your various departments or functional areas? Both #4 and #5 should be documented in a spreadsheet with columns to indicate if they are “Must-haves” or “Nice-to-Haves.”
6. What are the key business process that the system must enable? This is usually a flow from Order to Cash receipts (ie. Order, Inventory management, manufacturing, shipment, Invoicing, and finally payment) or on the other side, Procure to Pay (Inventory Shortage, Requirements Planning, Purchase Requisition, Purchase Order, Delivery, Stocking, Invoice Receipt, Accounts Payable) and ultimately financial reporting and analysis. Today, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) plays a large part in a business processes. This includes marketing to lead to account management to sales opportunity processes and product support with customer service processes. These processes should be mapped or at least documented to both a current state and a wishful future state.

With these evaluation factors, you now have the basis for an objective ERP Evaluation. You can use the list of requirements for your analysis of the vendors. Often the requirements are sent out as a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the vendors are scored based on their requirements. The top two or three vendors are then invited in to demonstrate their product. Usually that begins with a walk through of the company and an extensive question and answer session so that the vendors can get a sense of who you are as a company and learn more about your requirements in preparation for the demonstration.

Using your process documentation, a script should be provided to the vendors that will be evaluated. You can then use the script as an evaluation factor to compare the process flow of the various software candidates. The vendors should be held closely to the scripts processes. Many times, they will want to deviate to the latest release module that has nothing to do with your business, but looks “really cool.” Keep them on track.

Once all the demonstrations are completed, there is usually a sense of which vendor showed their software in a way the more clearly demonstrated that they could fulfill your requirements. You may have eliminated the last place contender, But this is not the decision point yet! Along with the demos, the vendors also need to provide a price proposal. These proposals should include the following:

1. Software License cost
2. Annual Support Agreement cost
3. Implementation costs
4. Estimate of hardware infrastructure costs
5. Any other miscellaneous costs

You can also get references that you can either call or visit. In our experience though, these are only good to find out about the user’s experience with the software as they will tell you nothing but good things about the vendor, since they were selected because they are favorable references. But it might be good to hear about their implementation and their user’s reaction to the software.

Once you have all of these facts, you are ready to begin the next phase, which is the negotiation. Your evaluation still needs to look at the financial and contractual obligation you will be signing up for. At this point, you usually are down to the final two. One strategy is to play the vendors against one another, but this is sometimes not a good strategy. They are wise to this and will often dig in their heels. The best thing to do is to give them financial and contractual targets that will convince you that they are the right vendor for them. Don’t be afraid to ask for a lot more than you think they will give. They might just give it to you. Another key strategy is to negotiate at the end of the month. Ideally, the end of the month at the end of their fiscal quarter or year is ideal. The vendors are hungry to show the sale on their books and will often give deeper discounts.

Now with all the facts, you can make your choice. Once chosen, both you and the software provider will need to learn to compromise and respect the other’s view as you proceed to implement. Software can only be configured so far, before you need to change your processes. However, if you ran the evaluation process correctly, you will have selected the best fit for your business, so if there is any change to your processes, it will be by adopting the software system’s best practices. Thus, with your well-run ERP Evaluation, you have laid the groundwork for an even happier marriage!

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

Many times companies try to select and implement ERP software on their own. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. So the question is, when should a company use an ERP Software Consultant to guide them in their ERP Selection or ERP Implementation?

The answer is not so simple. If a company is mature and has the resources that can look independently at the business processes, then it may make sense to embark on a selection on their own. Most of the time in mid-market sized or even smaller clients, then it is difficult for them to 1. Spare the resources and 2. Look at the business processes objectively.

Any good ERP Selection begins with a company evaluating their business processes. Borrowing from the Toyota Production system (aka Lean Manufacturing), a company should first eliminate waste and then consider automating. Automating bad processes will only make things worse faster. However, automating good processes will help grow the business and promote better communication.

The real question becomes how much is the company willing to flex their processes to adapt to “best practices” that are usually built into a commercial software system. If the company is flexible (and this takes a lot of leadership to make happen), they can select a system and model their business around that system. The larger commercial systems, such as those from Microsoft, Infor, SAP, Oracle, and others have all grown up from thousands of implementations from all sorts of companies. They have developed efficiencies that many companies who adopt the software’s methodology can benefit from.

The real key is understanding the fit of a software package to the business. If the company does some niche processing, then a mainstream commercial package may not fit. However it the company is a Read the rest of this entry »

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

ERP implementations can turn a young project into a grey haired war veteran in no time. The stress of the implementation from Kick-off, configuration, data conversion, training, and all the other component parts up through Go-Live are no easy task.

If you have done everything right, then the Go-live should be a non-event. But in order to ensure that there is no catastrophic fallout from the cut-over, you need to prepare.

There is a good list of items that will help you to plan and prepare for the day that all eyes are on you and your launch. These steps are items that should be planned for early in the project, allowing for a smooth transition.

These 12 items include such things as planning the ROI, Utilizing outside help if needed, getting buy-in from all levels of the organization and several other key planning topics. Take a look at this list and use it the next time you are planning an implementation, You might just save a few grey hairs.

You can find the 12 Steps to a Better ERP Launch listing here.

Modern ERP: Select, Implement & Use Today’s Advanced Business Systems

• del.icio.us
• digg this
• Recommend on Facebook
• Buzz it up
• Buzz it up
• Share on Linkedin
• Mixx it up
• rddit this
• Stumble Upon
• Tumblr it
• Tweet This
• Subscribe to the comments on this post
• Tell a friend
• Print for later

Twitter
RSS Feed
Facebook