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BlueBridge One 7 questions to ask before

selecting your ERP vendor

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Enabling business growth

§  Has your business reached the point where your current systems are inhibiting growth?

§  ERP solutions can automate your end-to-end business processes, helping you to scale your business and speed up your decision making processes

§  However, with so many ERP vendors on the market, knowing which one to choose can be a fraught decision

§  This presentation will help you to find the best ERP solution for your business, by breaking the decision making process into bitesize chunks

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The dilemma - on-premise vs Cloud? Q1. Should I use on-premise or cloud-based software?

§  The benefits of a true cloud-based system are scalability, accessibility, flexibility and the fact that systems are managed directly by the vendor  

§  There is no in-house IT server infrastructure overhead to worry about, and true cloud based systems provide flexibility to quickly adapt to any changes in your business model, and offer anytime and anywhere accessibility

§  Up until the advent of cloud, on-premise was the only real option for most growing and mid-size businesses 

§  This approach involves greater up-front expenditure, its use is less flexible, less scalable and it is generally more a more onerous process to carry out upgrades or fix technical issues in-house

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The dilemma - on-premise vs Cloud? Q2. How important is flexibility and scalability?

§  Where ERP fits into future plans will depend on your company strategy

§  Does the system you are selecting need to support growth and expansion into new markets and locations? Having to change or upgrade systems down the line is often costly and disruptive

§  Will the system you select support trade and operations across different countries? Optimally, you need a system from the start that will be able to support trade and operations around the world

§  How important is it to be able to consolidate and report real-time across all locations?  

§  Before you commit to anything, ask yourself if your system of choice will still serve your business requirements in five years’ time

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Enterprise or line of business systems? Q3. Should I opt for multiple line of business systems or one enterprise wide system?

§  An industry-focused solution may closely match the needs of one department, but it may not always enable end-to-end processes that span multiple departments

§  Enterprise solutions are already fully integrated, enabling different parts of the business to work more closely together. However, this can cost certain departments that have very industry specific processing requirements 

§  Whether you adopt the enterprise approach will depend on the system’s ability to support configuration of the bespoke processing requirements within its own environment

§  Whichever option you select, the availability of real-time information across the organisation is key to effective decision-making

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What are my key system requirements?

Q4. What key functionality do I need?

§  There is no right or wrong answer to this question; it’s all about your unique business environment

§  Look at your organisation from the top down and avoid focusing on individual departments. Always distinguish between “required” and “nice to have” functionality. This can dramatically impact the implementation cost

§  Address the level of customisation capability each software solution offers, as you need a product platform that can be tailored to your business needs

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Which software vendor?

Q5. Which software vendor should I choose?

§  Chemistry is important. Find a vendor you trust, as you will need to work closely with them to get the deployment right

§  There are a number of standard questions you should be looking for a vendor to answer, such as:

§  How many customers do they have? What is their financial position? What is their approach to R&D?

§  Is their model true cloud or hosted, what are the support options?

§  Will their system support your expansion plans? What is the total cost per annum over the expected useful life?  

§  Always look for case studies and testimonials to validate the claims vendors make

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How to evaluate and purchase?

Q6. Should I purchase through a Solution Provider or Direct?

§  There is a tendency to think it will be cheaper and safer dealing directly with the software vendor, but this is often a fallacy. Solution providers see smaller customers as their lifeblood and therefore often have a closer relationships and a better understanding of them

§  Software vendors tend to focus on larger trophy clients and not so much on smaller customers

§  Solution providers, on the other hand, tend to have industry specific knowledge and apps they have developed to reduce implementation effort 

§  Working through a solution provider can bring the best of both worlds, as you can turn to both the provider and the vendor for support 

§  Don’t be afraid to ask for case studies at any point and, once you have confirmed your solution of choice, ask for customer references to validate

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How to evaluate and purchase?

Q7. What questions should I ask a potential solution provider?

§  Choosing a solution provider is about finding the right fit for your business. However, some key considerations include:

§  Do they understand your business needs, and how their solution maps to those?

§  Do they have enough knowledge of your industry sector to efficiently address any gaps in functionality? Better still, do they have pre-built applications that address gaps in your industry sector?

§  What will the businesses involvement be in the implementation project, and how much time is required from the individual process owners?

§  What on-going support do they offer to ensure you maximise ROI?

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Summary

§  Every organisation is different – there is no ‘catch all’ guide to choosing an ERP system

§  The key to success is understanding how your business might change going forward, and investing in a solution capable of embracing that evolution

§  Working with an expert solution provider that has extensive experience managing ERP implementations in your sector can greatly reduce risk and enhance the end result

§  That partner can also help you further down the line, as ERP ROI is about constantly developing the way the solution works for your organisation

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Why Bluebridge One? §  Most experienced NetSuite integrator operating across the UK

and EMEA

§  Award winning NetSuite solutions for multichannel distribution

§  Wealth of organisational knowledge for developing Wholesale Distribution solutions

§  Provide business solutions to 350+ growing and mid-size companies

§  Customer deployments range from 2 to 100+ NetSuite users

§  Committed to delivering value and developing enduring partnerships

§  Rapid deployment to ensure fastest time to recoup ROI

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Full white paper

§  Download the full white paper: 7 Questions To Ask Before Selecting Your ERP Vendor:

§  http://www.bluebridgeone.com/s.nl/it.I/id.143/.f

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BlueBridge One www.bluebridgeone.com