By: Joe Blauert

Some mid-market ERP vendors are making some pretty outrageous claims.  Situations we often run into include ERP vendors claiming the ability to address the unique needs of every market. Claims like these can really only be justified by the large-market ERP vendors, such as Oracle and SAP. Those making these claims typically have a customer base that might number in the hundreds, yet the unique markets they address number in the dozens.  The truth is that their supposed “expertise” comes from a very limited number of companies in each of those markets, and in many cases their products only “fit” those customers because they have only implemented the most basic elements of the software.  If they claim expertise in markets that range from Agricultural to Construction to Electrical to Sporting Equipment (among dozens other markets), you only need to apply a little common sense to realize that they know “a little about a lot”, which does not constitute “expertise”.  If their focus encompasses such a broad range of industries, how is it possible to provide the depth of industry knowledge in sales, implementation, support and ongoing product development that makes it worthwhile to invest your money and your future in their product and business?  Any vendor can write a few lines on their web site and in their marketing material that sounds good, but it takes a truly focused vendor to provide people that know almost as much about your business as you do.  Which one would you rather entrust the future of your company with?

There are multi-billion dollar companies in the market that own multiple types of businesses in multiple types of market, and those large customers are best served by the multi-billion dollar ERP vendors.  If you’re not one those, however, you need to find someone who focuses on your type of business.  If the sales person does not know the difference between a bill of materials and a recipe, if a demonstration person cannot show you a mock recall report (down to the lot number of every raw material and every sales order on which it was ultimately included), if your prospective project manager cannot discuss how they personally addressed specific FDA, cGMP and HAACP needs in the last half-dozen food manufacturers, then you need to ask yourself if you are investing in right software.

 

To know if your specific requirements align with an ERP software capabilities, try some of these on-line resources and software selection tools:

FindAccountingSoftware.com

SoftwareAdvice.com

Top10ERP.org

TechMatch.Managing Automation.com