ERP Pricing

Don’t Forget the OTHER Fees Associated with ERP Pricing

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions have become the most popular software creation for all size businesses.  Yes, ERP solutions use to be built for only large wealthy companies.  But, today we all get to partake in the fun.  ERP solutions enable us to manage our customer relations, do our finances, make our supply chains more efficient, automate our manufacturing, take care of our human resources, measure our enterprise performance, and more.  Truly, you can find an ERP module that will do just about anything you want it to do but roll over and play dead. 

So, you’ve decided to jump on board the ERP ship and you’re researching ERP vendors.  You may find that ERP pricing is a real eye opener.  While the initial cost of the ERP solution is a big consideration, don’t forget to calculate the other fees associated with ERP pricing.  What other fees you ask?  Oh boy, on your mark, get set and here goes.  First off, it is typical for large organizations to spend in the upwards of ten thousand dollars per year to run their ERP solution.  There are upgrade costs, support costs, and service costs (like training your employees).  I yi yi you say!  Hold on, there’s more.  When ERP pricing, calculate what kind of hardware you need versus the hardware you already have.  Smaller organizations might want to find an ERP solution that will work with the hardware they already have.  Hardware can be expensive, depending on what you need.  Remember, you are purchasing an ERP solution to make your processes more efficient and to save money in the long run.  Think return on investment!

ERP pricing usually doesn’t include support contracts.  Let’s say you implement your sleek new ERP solution and it blows up because of a data integration or migration problem.  Wholey moley!  Don’t fret, you have a support contract so call up that ERP vendor and get some help.  If you can negotiate a good support contract when you purchase your ERP, by all means do so.  Support services can cost big bucks if needed often.

ERP pricing usually doesn’t include training for your employees.  It’s great to have a new ERP solution, but what will you get out of it if nobody knows how to use it.  If you’re a small shop and purchase an ERP solution for small businesses, you may find that the system is somewhat intuitive.  However, large shops with complicated and robust functionality really need to get their employees trained on the system. 

Written by :

kristine H