{"id":8966,"date":"2014-12-11T07:21:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T07:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ca.syspro.com\/blog\/how-to-pick-an-erp-system-that-benefits-the-entire-company\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T10:32:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T08:32:58","slug":"how-to-pick-an-erp-system-that-benefits-the-entire-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ca.syspro.com\/blog\/planning-for-erp-or-purchasing-erp\/how-to-pick-an-erp-system-that-benefits-the-entire-company\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Pick an ERP System that Benefits the Entire Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

ERP projects touch all aspects of a business. Small- and medium-sized companies can typically only afford to have one person do most of the research and that person usually ends up having the most influence over the selection.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this scenario often results in missing opportunities to make other departments more efficient, as the person doing the research rarely knows the most pressing business problems in the other departments.<\/p>\n

If you happen to find yourself in this situation, then read on as I\u2019m going to share with you the questions that you should ask other departments that will help you solve their problems as well as yours. The business will get more value from the ERP project and you\u2019ll be helping your co-workers rather than forcing changes on them that primarily benefit you.<\/p>\n

Questions to ask Senior Management<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you really committed to purchasing an ERP system and committing everyone\u2019s time and effort to make it work?<\/p>\n

What are the specific benefits you expect to get from an ERP system? How long do you expect it will take to realize the benefits? In other words, what are the goalposts of a successful implementation?<\/p>\n

Are you aware of other companies that have gone through a similar project, and what have you learned from the experience that those business owners had?<\/p>\n

Questions to ask Everyone<\/strong><\/p>\n

Has anyone ever successfully used or implemented an ERP system? What did you like and dislike about that system and the project?<\/p>\n

Which features of your current system do you love? Are there any features that you can\u2019t do without?<\/p>\n

Which features of your current system do you hate or find annoying?<\/p>\n

List all of the software systems you currently use in your job, e.g. ERP, Excel, CAD, etc. Briefly describe how the data passes from system to system. For example, where does the production schedule data come from?<\/p>\n

What task takes the most time out of your day that really should be automated?<\/p>\n

Which metrics do you wish for, but currently cannot get because the data doesn\u2019t exist, or it\u2019s too difficult (e.g. data is scattered across separate systems; takes too long to manually crunch data, close the month, etc.)?<\/p>\n

Which pockets of data are scattered among multiple departments, such as customer information, that would benefit from being brought together into a single source available to everyone?<\/p>\n

Questions to ask Finance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which of the following are your biggest challenges?<\/p>\n