ERP Selection: The Lifeblood of an Organization

Desmond (Tres) Bishop

What ERP solution best meets the needs of our current business practices and can serve as the catalyst to propel our organization forward? Dave Johnson pondered this question as he watched the setting sun slowly disappear over the horizon from his nearly barren but spacious office. He had just received the final quote from the last of the finalist vendors. All of the data had been uploaded and input into the spreadsheet before him and seemed to stare back as if beckoning for an answer. Johnson was the recently hired Vice President of Operations at International Communication Services (ICS). He was specifically recruited to ICS with the mandate to implement change on a large scale. The selection of a new ERP system was critical; it would be the lifeblood of the “new and improved” ICS.

The options came down to ERP vendors that each excelled in pivotal but fundamentally different ways from one another. Epicor was created specifically for manufacturing and was in use at a sister company. Infor’s advantage was in project management and had a friendly, easy to use interface. Deltek had the edge in financial reporting and was currently in use at the corporate office. What solution was best for ICS? The recommendations of the super users from across the corporation, which included representatives from manufacturing, finance, program management, and quality assurance among others had been carefully tabulated, measured and scored. All that remained was Johnson’s final recommendation meeting with Richard Green, President of ICS, scheduled for 8am the next morning. As he turned off the lights in his office, he couldn’t help but to take one last forlorn look at his now black computer screen and softly whisper to himself, “Did we get it right”.

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