Recently, I did three presentations at Michigan Association of CPA events about how to select and successfully implement a new "ERP" system and was asked to explain what does ERP stand for? This topic was so well received, that I thought I’d write it as a blog to share on the web. I’m going to break up the presentation into several blogs because it covered a lot of topics. So let's review our previous blogs the summarize the following:
What does ERP stand for?
ERP is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is pronounced E-R-P; not Earp, like Wyatt Earp the Wild West Lawman. When our company started in 1984, we sold Great Plains Accounting for DOS. This covered the basic accounting functions: general ledger, receivables, and payables. As applications grew into more operational areas such as distribution, manufacturing, payroll/HR, project accounting, and field service; they needed a better term to describe these all-encompassing systems and ERP was born. There is actually a good blog published earlier on ERP VAR by Kerry Gardner of Klear Systems What Does ERP Stand For? that explains more about ERP and how it is actually a business strategy that organizes the business processes of a company.
- How Much Should a Company Spend on an ERP Solution?
One of our consultants has a rule of thumb for this with manufacturing and distribution companies which I share in this blog. I also did an internet search to see what others have to says about this, but found very little about how much a company should spend, but I found a lot of articles by software companies about what a company will spend. Read more about How Much SHould a Company Spend on an ERP Solution.
- How to Select an ERP Software Solution
We’ve seen some very well run software selection processes, and some very poorly run projects. Based on my experience and talking to companies whose selection and implementations have gone wrong, here are some suggestions of what I suggest companies ooking for a new system should do to make sure they pick the right solution. See our previous log on How to Select an ERP Solution Solution.
- How to Select an ERP Software Solution Provider
Not all partners are equal and just because a partner is local doesn’t mean they’ll provide better service and product knowledge. Many of today’s ERP solutions are also very mature products and offer similar business functionality. Consequently, I’d argue that choosing the right partner is even more important that the right solution. You can read more in our previous blog How to Select an ERP Software Provider?
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