Whether you are still looking or already in firm hands: The provider briefing is a real opportunity to find the ERP provider with all the important information about your company.
If you read our articles frequently, you will have noticed that we urge companies to provide their ERP provider with sufficient information. After all, every customer is a little different and this should and can be catered for accordingly - if you know how.
Now the legitimate question arises: what information should be passed on to the provider? And when?
The supplier briefing
This is already a good time to start this during the ERP selection process. Even when searching for the right provider, what you need can be THE decisive criterion. A provider with great references and versatile solution offerings may look good – if they don’t understand you and your company, the project is doomed to fail. A good provider isn’t necessarily the right provider. A popular method for better assessing ERP providers is the so-called „provider briefing“.
The aim here is to make it clear to the various providers - or even a specific provider - what you are about and what the project should be about. A presentation of the company, a tour of the company and a description of the processes are often on the agenda.
What sounds mundane here, however, are exactly the things that are at stake. So let's go a little deeper into the individual points.
The company
When you present your company, it is best to involve everyone who is involved in the ERP project. Depending on the size, this may be more or less, all or just the department heads. This shows the complexity of your company and gives the contact persons a face. Yes, that has never hurt anyone in an IT project.
Otherwise: You don't want to sell anything here, but rather spend a lot of money to improve and modernise the processes in your company. Disclose your key figures, present your core products and/or services and show the structure behind the scenes. Your plans for the future are also important.
Important information here can be, for example: the departments and interactions, external service providerlocations, foreign countries or new markets.
The tour
Following the motto „twice as good as one“, you can present what has just been shown directly during the company tour. Ensure that there is enough time for questions during the tour – and that someone is present who can answer them. Therefore: Company or project management for project questions, and – depending on the company's size – someone from the relevant department. This allows you to answer many questions in advance and also prevent misunderstandings.
The processes
Slowly we come to the core issue: the processes. What are the central processes in your company and which of them are already handled by software and which need to be integrated into the new ERP system. Exactly what these are usually depends on the industry. It is important here that you do not skip over your existing processes lightly, but describe them as specifically as possible. Ultimately, it is then the task of the ERP provider to find a suitable, perhaps better solution for you. Application examples are helpful here. And don't just go into the standard case here either - also describe special cases.
Based on this information, the ERP providers can immediately suggest concrete solutions to your problem and you can choose on the basis of these suggestions - and not on the basis of well-meaning but ineffective blanket offers. Even if you have already decided on an ERP provider, a provider briefing is helpful and provides a good basis for the project in order to avoid misunderstandings and thus save time and money.
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