A successful ERP journey starts by asking and answering the right questions. It is more than just selecting a solution and an integrator.

In my experience, if these questions are not answered properly within the scope of a selection project, there is a high risk of failure or <so-so> results.

• The first step in any ERP transformation should, in my opinion, start with a broader technology strategy (described in the previous Section 1).
• The selection process itself can take place in several possible variants:

A – Pre-selected system option

In some industries, there is a clear leader who dominates and delivers the best capabilities and value. This often reduces the potential trading leverage though

B – Competitive analysis option

2 or 3 suppliers are invited – the most used selection strategy by private companies and most public companies as well.

C – Open market scan option

Public Process with Qualification – Rarely used outside of government entities

On the surface without a clear definition and evaluation process, ERP applications might be difficult to rank and the final choice might be a toss-up.

The process could be influenced by the wrong factors:

• Better prepared demo team wins
• Lower immediate acquisition cost considered over longer term TCO
• Capability coverage gets overwhelming weight vs other important non-functional requirements

The following strategies and approaches come from multiple selections and years of lessons learned:

Focus on differentiated capabilities and unique needs

• Don’t try to list every requirement in an RFP.
  • For example, stating that a solution must support the ‘3W match’ is of little value because all of them support it.
• List functions in scope and non-standard critical requirements and more advanced ones

Flowcharting all AS-IS processes is rarely worth the effort

• Focus on future differentiated processes and only those that are unique to leading practices
• The modern approach to ERP implementation is to adapt processes to key leading practices (Fit-to-STD)
• Focus the AS-IS on key gaps and what needs to change

Plan to validate and clarify the reply of vendors

• Most suppliers will not respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) with a response <not supported> unless this is clearly the case.
• When they have partial coverage, or a grey area, there may be room for interpretation.
• Plan to read, validate and clarify the comments on each response so that the results can be properly evaluated

Structure demos around use cases and scripts

• An unstructured demo is not a good idea because the emphasis will be otherwise mainly on the strengths
• Develop scripts based on end-to-end processes and daily value streams with a few exceptions
• Give suppliers the flexibility to adjust the sequence
• It will be easier to compare coverage and performance.

Build a quantitative evaluation framework to remove subjective bias

• Form a selection committee
• Evaluate each phase of the process according to a clear framework to eliminate subjectivity as much as possible.
• Plan for non-functional criteria such as total cost of ownership (TCO) and user experience.
• Use appropriate weights according to criticality and remain flexible

Tech/ERP Strategy

• Vision & Objectives
• Critical Capabilities
• Main gaps
• Conceptual Architecture
• Scope
• Dependencies
• High-level plan

(see section Tech. Strategy & Architecture for more details)

Differentiated reqs

• Unique critical requirements
• Stakeholders alignment on selection criterias

RFI/RFP & Demo kit

• RFI – RFP document¹
• Vendor response sheet
• Demo scripts

Demos

• Evaluation framework
• Review of RFP replies
• Demos and scoring

Evaluation

• Compilation & Analysis of results
• Workshops to review results and gain initial alignment
• Senior Management presentation of results
• Further clarifications from vendors
• Notification to finalist(s)
• References

Negotiation / Prep.

• Negotiation – firm up proposal
• Finalize Integrator selection²