Step by Step Guide to Evaluating Your ERP System

Posted on: September 8, 2016 | By: Craig Thompson | Acumatica, ERP Selection

Understanding and evaluating your ERP system before you make a purchase is a crucial step in any successful ERP implementation that can make or break the effectiveness and ROI of your ERP project. It can also help determine whether or not an upgrade to a newer ERP software is a wise decision for your business. Evaluating your ERP system is necessary no matter what stage you are in. Read on for some of the most important steps to evaluating your ERP System.


Step 1: Flexibility

Finding an ERP system that is flexible enough to adjust as your business grows is a key step to ensure the proper evaluation of your current or perspective ERP system. Does this make adding additional users difficult or costly? Do you find yourself consistently entering redundant data or are you limited by ridged forms? ERP should make your life easier not more difficult.

 

Step 2: Upgrade Cycle

Technology is quickly changing, which is why it's so important to be sure that your ERP system has a history of timely and effective upgrades. Dated technology makes it difficult to integrate other useful activities and applications within your ERP, resulting in strategic losses. While you may not want to or need to upgrade every cycle, having a vendor that consistently is putting fresh and innovative software out there is an ERP system that you want to implement.

 

Step 3: Cost

Cost is an important step to consider while evaluating your ERP system, especially when determining whether or not it’s time to upgrade to a new software, is the pricing or cost of an ERP system. Is your current system costly to maintain? Does it frequently crash, decreasing your businesses productivity and day to day operations? Finding an ERP system that is both reliable and flexibly priced like Acumatica Cloud ERP is crucial for reaching your maximum amount of success within your organization.


Step 4: Visibility

Deploying your ERP System in the cloud generally gives much more visibility than an on premise ERP solution. Cloud based software allows users to access their data securely from any device, taking your business mobile and empowering your users to get the job done even if they are out of the office. Many cloud based solutions like Acumatica also offer real time visibility and analytics into your current operations. Finding an ERP system with visibility is a very beneficial step to evaluate when choosing a new ERP software.

 

Of course these are only a few of the steps that you should take to evaluate your current or potential ERP system, however they are still crucial factors to consider when evaluating your ERP system. If you’re in the market for a new system, and are looking for potential new solutions, feel free to reach out to your Chicago based Acumatica and Microsoft Partners at Logan Consulting to schedule a consultation.

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