The critical phase of an ERP selection process is the evaluation. As seen earlier in the Research Phase, all the requirements gathered/business case should be put to best use in this phase to understand the right partner/product-fit for your digital transformation journey.  

Business Case – High Level Flow covering your pain points. Sample template 

This should replicate what your ERP is expected to do. Share it with top 3 selected vendors.  

Have them demonstrate your business case.  

• Team who has helped in your research phase should be a part of the demo 
• The ERP partner should come prepared with a clear view to address your business case and pain points  
• ERP Partner should demonstrate full process of Order to Cash and Procure to Pay, covering your ‘Must-Have (Category-A)’ items 
• Evaluate if the software will fit your team and organization at the time of demonstration and make the team comfortable 
• Observe how each partner addresses the gaps in current processes and the value-additions with their ideas of business-process knowledge and expertise 

• Study the deployment options such as cloud or on-premises requirement. On-premises will require investment for hardware & software. Cloud typically will not require additional investments on hardware/software but pricing will be on the higher end 
• Understand from the partner, the software you choose has the most recent technical capabilities like the current version or advanced programming language 

DO’s: 

• Get team’s feedback of the demo  
• The demo should be done in a live version of the software. Never settle for a “demo” done using PowerPoint slides 

• Look out for Digital Transformation/Intelligent Enterprise aspect in the presentation 
• Selection should be absolutely need based, as detailed in business requirement analysis, done beforehand 
• Do establish a good relationship with the ERP vendor as it will be helpful in both evaluation stage, and as relationship matures. A great team can make a big difference to delivery and enhancements 
• Do ask questions to understand the depth of deployment options and their impact 
• Do test the vendors using two/three pre-determined questions to rate the vendors 

DON’Ts: 

• Do not proceed with a partner who has not prepared for the demo with your use-case 
• Do not think about commercials at this stage 
• Should not be influenced by any other external factors such as extensive ERP packages, influence in the interest of vendor/consultant 
• Do not forget to take into account other additional requirements or enhancements capability during evaluation 

• Do not fall for sophisticated sales presentations and this is bound to happen if you do not have a structured approach to the evaluation using your business case requirements  
• Do not accept the vendor’s words for system meeting the requirements without verification of the same  

After the demo, please fill out the partner evaluation form   

Give Away: Partner Evaluation form.  

Once the evaluation is complete, please choose the two best vendors and ask for 3 customer references from each which are similar to your size and industry. If possible, arrange for a site visit to get a look and feel of the system in place and their overall satisfaction with product & partner before moving to the next stage – Budget & Commercials.