This is very critical to ask right questions while implementation ERP in an organization, otherwise the vendor will not reveal the complete picture and since ERP implementation are considered as marriage – consider it like opportunity to know each other better.
Business Opportunity Related Questions
- How will the software help me improve the process and result in higher profit?
- How do you justify ROI on the cost?
- Looking at our technology and processes, what are we doing right that your software will help reinforce?
- Looking at our technology and processes, what are we doing wrong that your software will help correct?
Security & Risk Questions
- How does the system record user interaction and create an auditable trail of user activity?
- With the availability of data remotely via cloud how can the software ensure security?
- How will the software help us meet the compliance requirement?
- Does your software easily allow for frequent data back-up?
Reference & Vendor Quality Checking Questions
- Can you share your customer list and arrange a possible meeting with their management?
- How long has your company been in business?
- How many users are currently using the application & Specific to your industry?
- Why should we choose to work with you rather than your competitor?
Implementation Questions
- How long implementation takes?
- What happens if implementation runs long?
- What is qualification of person going to handle to project?
- What happen if there is problem during implementation?
Training and Support Questions
- What training resources are available? (Ask specifically about videos, webinars, train-the-trainer options, classroom sessions, etc.)
- What documentation on the software is available?
- How are regular software updates provided and implemented?
- Is there 24/7 tech support?
- Who do we call when we have problems and what’s their expertise level?
Scalability in Future
- How easy is to add more users to the application?
- What additional module of software we can purchase in future?
- Does the software provide an API for integrating 3rd party add-ons?
- Will the cost be fixed of additional user/ module?
Measuring Yardstick
- How do we measure ROI on the software?
- Can you list top tangible benefits we can expect from the software?
- What KPI’s are best for monitoring increased revenue resulting from improved software functionality?
- What qualitative business management improvements should we monitoring to gauge the impact of your software in tougher to quantify areas?