Views: 10
Summary – Faced with the complexity and budget risks of an ERP, underestimating business, technical and organizational stakes often leads to poor decisions. Process mapping, cross-functional engagement, a prioritized functional and technical requirements spec, a longlist including open source options, weighted scoring, showcases and SLA-backed integration POCs ensure a rigorous comparison.
Solution: methodical RFP scoping, modular and open source building blocks, strong governance and milestone-driven KPIs ensure a selection aligned with your business needs and controlled costs.
An ERP request for proposal is one of the most structuring and high-stakes projects for an organization. Beyond simply choosing software, it drives process reengineering, the evolution of the IT architecture, and team organization over a 6- to 12-month period. Too often, technical and organizational complexity is underestimated, and the reputation of vendors takes precedence over true business relevance.
A methodical approach helps document critical processes, prioritize functional and technical requirements, and anticipate the impact on key performance indicators. Factoring in integration criteria, hosting models, and governance leads to more informed decisions and limits budget overruns. This article presents a pragmatic approach—from initial analysis through to the final decision—to select an ERP solution perfectly suited to your processes and existing ecosystem.
Define the Project Scope and Analyze the Current State
Mapping business processes identifies friction points and defines priority areas. Early stakeholder engagement ensures buy-in and a shared vision of strategic objectives.
Business Process Analysis
The business process analysis involves describing each key step, from order flow to invoicing and inventory management. This mapping relies on workshops that combine business and technical expertise to highlight gaps and redundancies. Each process is diagrammed, documented, and supplemented with existing or potential performance indicators. This approach ensures a shared understanding before any solution is chosen.
Stakeholder Mobilization
Identifying and involving all stakeholders—operations, finance, IT department, production managers—is essential for a successful ERP project. Forming a steering committee centralizes decisions and establishes clear governance. Process validation workshops should alternate between business-focused sessions and architectural reviews to avoid silos. This cross-functional approach ensures both business and technical constraints are considered.
Individual interviews supplement group workshops to gather detailed user feedback and identify specific use cases. These insights feed into a comprehensive requirements specification log aligned with strategic objectives. This step prevents underestimating the project’s impact on day-to-day operations and helps prepare for change. Team commitment strengthens when concerns are addressed from the outset.
A milestone and decision-tracking dashboard is implemented to ensure traceability. Every decision regarding scope, exceptions, or specific adaptations is recorded and validated by the steering committee. This documentation will be reused for the requirements specification and to guide subsequent phases, forming a solid foundation for evaluation and negotiation.
Defining Objectives and Key Metrics
Setting clear, measurable objectives steers the RFP toward pragmatic, ROI-focused solutions. Business challenges must be translated into key performance indicators: order processing rate, accounting error rate, financial close times, etc. These metrics enable objective comparison of proposals and calibration of expected gains. They are integrated into evaluation grids to assess each software vendor’s or systems integrator’s maturity.
Budget, timeline, and expected service levels (SLAs) also require precise definition. Phasing the project with clear milestones and deliverables provides visibility into each party’s commitments. Financing plans and provisions for post-deployment adjustments are estimated under various scenarios. This foresight reduces the risks of budgetary and schedule overruns.
Develop the RFP and Establish the Longlist
Draft a precise functional and technical requirements document to guide vendor responses. Involving the IT department and business teams ensures a longlist of relevant, scalable solutions.
Drafting the Functional and Technical Requirements Document
The requirements document must describe target processes, data flows, and existing interfaces. It includes a column for technical requirements—hybrid cloud compatibility, APIs, security, modularity—each tied to a criticality level and a test scenario. This structure facilitates the creation of coherent, comparable RFIs and RFPs.
Hosting aspects—public cloud, private cloud, or on-premise—are specified with SLA, redundancy, and confidentiality requirements. Target architecture diagrams detail expected interconnections with peripheral ERP modules, CRM, BI tools, and payroll systems. This level of technical detail anticipates integration tasks and avoids costly, high-risk custom development.
Encouraging an open-source core and high modularity limits vendor lock-in. Standard components should be extendable via open APIs or dedicated microservices. This approach supports future growth and offers clearer maintenance costs. It relies on joint technological monitoring by IT and business teams.
Structuring the document into functional, technical, organizational, and financial sections ensures a comprehensive view. Each section contains clear validation criteria and acceptance indicators, reducing ambiguity and framing vendor discussions. It forms the backbone of the evaluation process.
Prioritizing Requirements and Selection Criteria
Prioritizing requirements distinguishes must-have features from nice-to-have options. This is expressed through weighted scoring based on business impact, implementation complexity, and cost. Critical requirements become deal-breakers: failure to meet them excludes a vendor from further consideration. This pragmatic approach limits the shortlist to truly suitable solutions.
Selection criteria cover technical integration, functional maturity, security, hosting model, and total cost of ownership (TCO). Each criterion is paired with a rating scale and concrete scoring examples. Weights are approved by the steering committee and financial sponsors to ensure strategic alignment, simplifying offer comparisons.
Special attention is given to intermediate criteria such as governance, product roadmap, and support quality. An active open-source community or certified partner network boosts confidence. Version-upgrade paths and technical support procedures are also evaluated, often proving decisive during operations.
Building the Longlist and Issuing the RFI/RFP
Initial research combines market monitoring and industry benchmarking to identify relevant software vendors and systems integrators. Open-source solutions are systematically included to avoid vendor lock-in and encourage modularity. Feedback from similar organizations complements this perspective. The goal is to assemble a diverse panel that addresses specific business challenges.
Issuing a Request for Information (RFI) collects preliminary data: architecture, features, client references, financial capacity. Responses are screened with a simplified grid to filter out emerging players and overly generic solutions. The Request for Proposal (RFP) stage then focuses on a narrowed scope, with a detailed requirements document and an associated timeline.
Example: An industrial SME compiled a longlist of seven ERP solutions—including three open-source vendors—after the RFI phase. Analysis revealed major discrepancies in handling production workflows. Only two vendors could meet the traceability requirements imposed by ISO standards, guiding the subsequent structuring of the shortlist.
Edana: strategic digital partner in Switzerland
We support companies and organizations in their digital transformation
Select, Evaluate, and Present ERP Solutions
Establishing a structured shortlist and a rigorous scoring grid maximizes transparency. Real-world demonstrations and integration tests validate fit with existing processes and IT architecture.
Creating the Shortlist and Scoring Grid
The shortlist includes the three to four solutions most aligned with critical requirements. Each solution is summarized on a fact sheet covering its positioning, functional scope, and pricing model. The scoring grid spans all prioritized criteria—functional, technical, financial, and organizational—with scores justified by comments and validated by the steering committee. Weights assigned to each criterion reflect business priorities and identified risks. Integration criteria—ERP modules, BI, CRM, collaboration tools—receive special attention. Project performance indicators measure time-to-value and expected adoption rates.
Organizing Showcases and Real-World Tests
Functional demonstrations (showcases) follow pre-approved business scenarios in a sandbox environment replicating main data flows and interfaces. Each business actor observes process execution to assess functional coverage and gaps. Feedback is recorded on validation forms to feed the scoring grid.
Complex use cases—such as multi-warehouse management or financial consolidation—undergo dedicated tests. The goal is to gauge each system’s ability to handle expected volumes and meet defined service levels. Technical performance—response times, scalability, resilience—is also evaluated. These tests provide concrete insights into infrastructure and configuration needs.
Evaluation also covers implementing existing interfaces: API connections, EDI exchanges, BI connectors. Real data-transfer scenarios (initial load, daily synchronization) are simulated. Any anomalies or manual workarounds are identified and documented. This operational validation phase distinguishes ready-to-use solutions from those requiring significant custom development.
Example: A distribution company hosted showcases to simulate customer returns management in its ERP. The test revealed a weakness in the workflow module, requiring an estimated two-month custom development. This discovery led to revising the shortlist in favor of a more modular solution, avoiding potential schedule and budget overruns.
Evaluating Integration and Hosting Model
Integration with the existing IT architecture is assessed from both technical and organizational perspectives. Native connectors, API availability, and data-format compatibility are reviewed. A prototype integration often tests exchanges between ERP and CRM, BI, WMS, or e-commerce platforms. This proof of concept confirms feasibility and estimates workload.
The hosting model (public cloud, private cloud, on-premise, or hybrid) is compared based on security, data sovereignty, cost, and scalability. Regulatory compliance requirements—GDPR, industry standards—are embedded in the requirements document and validated by legal and cybersecurity teams. Data migration tests anticipate corruption risks and downtime.
Availability indicators (SLAs), data-recovery processes, and support terms are negotiated with each vendor or integrator. Version-upgrade, update, and corrective-maintenance procedures are defined with rollback scenarios. The goal is to ensure continuous, secure operations over time, avoiding surprises in production.
Governance, Pilot, and Final Decision
Strong governance and a real-world pilot secure the transition and reduce drift risks. The final decision is based on transparent contracting and a phased deployment plan.
Project Governance and Change Management Plan
Establishing dedicated governance involves business sponsors, the IT department, and service providers. A steering committee approves key decisions and monitors progress through regular reporting. Decision bodies and their roles are defined at the RFP launch to prevent conflicts of interest and inconsistent reporting.
The change management plan identifies impacts on organization, processes, and skills. It includes a training schedule, educational materials, and user workshops. Business leads act as adoption champions and ensure skill development. Adoption and satisfaction success indicators are tracked throughout the project.
Internal communications are planned to keep teams informed of progress, milestones, and any adjustments. A helpdesk is set up to capture questions and track pilot-phase incidents. This proactive approach fosters engagement and minimizes resistance.
Pilot and Proof of Concept
The pilot or Proof of Concept (POC) covers a limited scope of previously identified critical processes. The objective is to validate configuration, workflows, and performance before full rollout. Feedback is analyzed to correct issues and fine-tune settings, securing later phases and anticipating necessary adjustments.
A representative data set is loaded into the POC environment to simulate real-world load and transaction volumes. Identified incidents and deviations are logged as non-conformity reports, followed by an action plan. Resolution timelines and required resources are budgeted at this stage, significantly improving deployment schedule control.
Contract Negotiation and ERP Deployment Plan
Contract negotiations cover not only licensing and configuration costs but also governance of future changes, SLAs, and exit terms. It is essential to avoid irreversible long-term commitments and include reversibility clauses. Contractual flexibility ensures the freedom to evolve or switch solutions later.
The deployment plan is phased by waves or functional domains, based on team readiness and criticality. Each phase includes testing, training, and post-go-live support. Corrective and evolutionary maintenance arrangements are defined, with regular checkpoints. This progressive structure limits operational risks and allows continuous course correction.
A provisional timeline details key steps: user acceptance testing, training, ramp-up, cutover, and stabilization. Deviations from the plan are measured and addressed in a follow-up committee. Visibility into potential drifts enables quick decision-making and resource reallocation if needed. The iterative approach guarantees a controlled rollout.
Secure Your ERP Choice as a Lever for Sustainable Performance
A rigorous project scope and current-state analysis lay the groundwork for a successful ERP initiative. A structured requirements document and diverse longlist ensure the relevance of pre-selected solutions. Establishing a shortlist, conducting showcases, and performing technical evaluations confirm fit with processes and IT architecture. Finally, robust governance and a real-world pilot secure the transition and minimize risk.
To turn your ERP selection into a true driver of control and efficiency, our experts are by your side to define the methodology best suited to your context. From the initial analysis to contracting, they ensure a blend of open-source flexibility, modularity, and business performance.
