ERP System

ERP Comparison

A complete ERP comparison process is a vital step prior to ERP system implementation. No matter the size of your business or budget, the right ERP system is out there, and this is truer at the end of the decade than it was as the beginning. Many small business owners who are interested in ERP business solutions once saw themselves closed out of the market, since the only reliable integrated business solutions were large and cost prohibitive. But now that most enterprise level organizations that want ERP systems have them (include many Fortune 500 companies, universities and government organizations) the largest providers are turning to small business clients and competing for market share against small industry specific providers who can sometimes offer better tailored products at a far more affordable price.

If you’re a small business owner, what does all this mean for your ERP comparison process? First, it means you face a completely different landscape of options than you may have faced in the late 1990s. At that point, the large providers like Microsoft and Oracle were fielding an onslaught of demand from large businesses with large budgets who were rushing to install new systems and free themselves from legacy software platforms before the year 2000. If you had asked for customized software suites with applications that could be run from a fully integrated ERP backbone sized to fit your budget, or if you had gone searching for a hosting or outsourcing solution that provided all the benefits of an ERP system with none of the ownership and maintenance costs, you would have faced bleak prospects. 

But things have changed, and your ERP comparison process can now cover a wider and more diverse array of options than ever before. Large ERP providers are courting small business clients by customizing their software suites and shaping their offerings to meet industry specific needs. Their competition comes from a broad field of start-ups and small providers with products designed for the apparel, construction, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage industries, among others. As you move forward with your ERP comparison, you’ll notice that large providers have been making moves to buy small software firms, especially those who provide general business management tools like accounting, payroll and HR functions.

A thorough ERP comparison also involves an investigation of various software architectures, since buying and maintaining your own system can be cost prohibitive. You may not be able to hire a full time IT department, but chances are your budget can accommodate a hosting solution, or service provider who can offer you shared space on an existing server architecture. In addition to saving on your implementation cost, this may provide you with faster returns on your initial investment.

Erin Sweeney

Written by :

tracey boxer