ERP Software

Feature Overload Doesn’t Make the Sale in a Buyers Market Where Competition is Fierce

Gone are the days where ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning customers have to jump up and down to get attention from ERP vendors.  Today, Enterprise Resource Planning vendors are jumping up and down to do what they can to service ERP customers and attract new customers.  This is what we call a buyer’s market.  The buyer has all the power and the ERP vendor may have to not only jump up and down, but jump through hoops to land a deal.  One way ERP vendors attract new customers is by making their Enterprise Resource Planning solution richer in functionality.  New features enable ERP vendors to “one up” their competition.  However, Enterprise Resource Planning vendors have to do their best to not overcomplicate functionality.  It’s typical for ERP customers to use only fifty percent of the functionality delivered with their Enterprise Resource Planning solution.  The reason these customers don’t use their ERP solution to its full capability is due to the complexity of the functionality.  Enterprise Resource Planning customers don’t want to constantly train their employees, which will be a necessity if the functionality becomes overly complex.  Training employees is a big investment for ERP customers.  While the ERP vendor may benefit by providing costly training courses, the ERP customer looses.  Time spent away from work and in training is money lost for the ERP customer.  It’s true that the ERP customer is investing in the future of their organization by training employees, but over-training is not beneficial.

If Enterprise Resource Planning vendors would exhibit some type of control by releasing their new features in functional groupings, it might help the ERP customer to better understand the functionality.  For example, if an ERP vendor is releasing a financials module, they might focus on new features for general ledger and accounts payable.  Perhaps the following release could include new features for accounts receivable and budgets.  I think you get the idea.  Overloading an Enterprise Resource Planning customer with new and complicated functionality doesn’t make the sale.  If you’re an ERP vendor, the way to “one up” your ERP competition is to make your features user-friendly.  Offering good customer support and free online training courses is also a plus.  Enterprise Resource Planning customers like ERP vendors with good reputations. 

Written by :

kristine H