One ERP Software for a company is a complex project. In this series we try to shed light on the different aspects of this task. After the basics in the first one, we in the second part to understand the different motivations around a ERP project. After the third partwhich names the responsible persons, it is about the specifications for the ERP selection.
The specifications for ERP selection
Paper is patient, and so are Excel lists. Because the contents developed in the search phase end up there, line by line, worksheet by worksheet. Each worksheet is a department or functional area and at the end of each line there are columns where applying providers are to enter whether their software can fulfil the required function in the default is feasible, whether adjustments are necessary, whether additional software must be used, or whether the function is impossible to realise. Not infrequently, the individual sheets in the Excel-Some functions in sheet 1 contradict those in sheet 2, or one and the same requirement appears in different places.
TIP
Look at different software solutions before you start formulating the specifications. Get an impression of what is currently state of the art.
Less is more! Concentrate on the most important things in the specifications. But then do so in detail and extensively.
With attention to detail and the courage to leave gaps
A strange discrepancy in the specifications for the ERP selection often occurs in the level of detail of the description of the desired functions. There are those who describe the order form down to the last detail, including all fields as they appear in the form and (deviating) in the Database should be named. Other functions are handled with a simple one-liner, such as: Suppliers are to be connected via IDE'. When reading such specifications, one suspects that the authors included people with very different desires, know-how and/or time, without there being a coordinating body.
TIP
It may sound like a truism:
In the specifications, it is the "WHAT" that matters, not the "HOW". . However, the "WHAT" should be described sufficiently well.
Everything standard - even the specifications
Others fall for the quite understandable thought: For such a Specifications there must be templates. One would think so, since we are talking about standard software. Ergo, there must be standards that can be queried. There are many templates for ERP specifications! In case of doubt, there is also a consultant who fills out the template with you. If the template is to be suitable for many, however, the questions are then too general or completely off the mark. Here, a company that does not have any stock items is asked how it deals with batch management.
ERP selection - if it were that easy / Part 1
ERP selection ? if it were that easy / part 2
ERP selection ? if it were that easy / part 3
ERP selection ? if it were that easy / part 4
ERP selection ? if it were that easy / part 5
