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Decision Maker’s Guide to Vetting and Selecting an ERP Solution
/in Blog, ERP Software /by lindsayFollowing our articles discussing the challenges that growing businesses face when using desktop accounting software when they should be embracing ERP, we would today like to explore a few tips to make the selection and decision process easier.
Catch up with our accounting to ERP series by reading our latest posts: The Hassles of Using Desktop Software in a Socially Distanced Business, Never Let a QuickBooks File Size Hold You Back: Grow with Confidence in the Cloud, and Are QuickBooks Workarounds Putting Your Business at Risk?
It Starts with Getting Users on Board
Getting from accounting software to ERP is rarely an easy task. Your people are used to a specific operating environment. The workarounds that we mentioned in our last blog have become a way of life. Your employees, who may be resistant to change, will say that the hiccups and hassles are just ‘quirks’.
However, this is a challenge you can overcome. Getting users on board starts with talking to them about their opinions and thoughts on how to better the current processes. Find out what the pain points are from each department that uses the current accounting software, evaluate which software and users would be brought into a larger ERP solution, and ask how you can help.
This will help you to not only drive the point home that there are better solutions out there, but will also inform your decision.
Use the Pain Points as a Guideline
With so many solutions available to you, the number of options available to you may seem overwhelming. This is even harder for companies who haven’t gone about a move from single-focused products to comprehensive solutions. It may feel like every product is better, but few are perfect.
Some solutions are better tailored to your processes than others, some have a flatter learning curve, and others deliver more customization and configuration. With user critiques in mind, you have a reasonably nebulous picture of your needs, and can generally piece together a dozen options.
Take Advice
ERP is a big market and in turn has spawned its own cottage industry of analysts and review sites whose goal is to help you understand your move. These companies are built on their word, and take steps to minimize bias, vet reviews, and take their own approach to evaluating solutions.
In jour journey from accounting software to ERP, you’re going to want to take the advice of the analyst reports and reviews to understand metrics for evaluation, reasons behind the decision, and recommendations from those who are in the know.
Analyst Reports
In the same manner that software vendors compete for customers, analyst firms need to provide value for those who pay to commission or reproduce the report. Often, this means that each analyst firm will take a unique approach to the way they look at software using clearly defined metrics to create an apples to apples comparison. Additionally, these reports often discuss broader market trends that can be used to understand which platform fits into their criteria.
Here are just a couple examples:
User Reviews
Though your processes may be unique in total, it’s likely that each process has been tackled by a system before. With thousands of companies having used each of the solutions you’re looking at, it shouldn’t be hard to see if a solution has been configured to the way you work. This is where user reviews come in.
User reviews are vetted for accuracy and honesty, often discussing the company’s journey to the solution and aftereffects of installing. Here are just a few places to look:
Bonus: Analysis Based on User Sentiment
One analyst firm went further, consolidating user reviews to create an emotional footprint, exploring how well a company delivers on user expectation. The Info-Tech Enterprise Resource Planning Emotional Footprint Report provides a comprehensive evaluation of popular products in the Enterprise Resource Planning market. This buyer’s guide is designed to help prospective purchasers make better decisions by leveraging the experiences of real users. Learn more about this report and download it here.
Test the Solution
Given that most ERPs do most basic business processes equally well, the important functionality differentiators are at the fringes – those functions and needs that pertain to your industry and your specific business. But the best way to see what this means is to get in the weeds.
Separate out and review the systems that have a solution for your industry. There are a number of software selection services and websites available that can help you whittle your list of candidate systems down from hundreds to a manageable handful. Your goal at this stage is to identify your “short list” of no more than 3 to 5 candidate systems that fit your needs. You should be able to do that in your review of the systems targeted at your industry.
After cutting down your list, begin to explore product demos. Discuss with your vendor and potential partner the things you want to see in a demo including the most important functions so that anyone who might use a product can see it in real time. You’re in control here, so ensure that before the demonstrator leaves, they show you everything you need to see.
Seek out a Partner
If you’ve made it this far, there’s one more decision to make—who’s going to help you get up and running. Though many ERP vendors offer internal implementation teams, these are rarely the top-tier partners for your business.
The implementation partner industry is built on personalization, local service, and customer focus. As they have dedicated teams to implement and support customers, these partners often make it easier to implement, configure, and tailor your solution than the internal vendor resources. For example, companies like Acumatica rely exclusively on a partner network to do this work, focusing the internal teams on innovation and giving you the focus that you can only get from a local partner.
The Right Partner Helps You Go Further: Just Call CCS
When companies move from accounting software to ERP, they are making a big decision that will impact the next decade of operations. The right partner can build, configure, and deliver the solution you need now and in the future, and if you’re looking for a local partner with the skills and expertise to make your ERP journey a reality, look no further than CCS Technology.
We were founded on the principle that technology should make it easier to run your business, and have spent our time in this industry ensuring our clients realize this.
We invite you to learn more about your journey from entry level to the cloud by reading Seven Signs You Need ERP Software, 5 Benefits of ERP for Accounting and Financial Management, and How to Improve Efficiency with a New ERP Solution. Read to learn even more? Contact us for a free consultation.
Avoiding an Implementation Plot Twist: Beware the ERP Predator
/in Blog, ERP Software /by lindsayWhether you have kids or just enjoy movies from Disney and Pixar (don’t lie), you’ve probably seen a trend in their story writing over the last decade, the twist villain. The twist villain (surprise antagonist) trope exists when a character is expected to aid the heroes, only to show their true face later in the movie. From Charles Muntz in the movie Up to Hans in Frozen or Lotso in Toy Story 3, these characters were made to subvert expectations.
A well-executed twist villain delivers an exciting surprise for viewers. A poorly executed one was either far-too-obvious, weakly written, or both.
“That’s great and all,” you may be telling yourself, “but what does this have to do with IT services or ERP implementations?” A lot more than you think. ERP implementations are already risky, stress-filled, and costly enough when everything goes smoothly. But now, imagine that the company you trusted to improve your business starts to hit you with surprises, predatory practices, and traps that you weren’t prepared for.
Analyst Report Asks: Partner or Predator?
While this is great for a movie villain, it’s not so great when your ERP vendor or partner—companies you intend to work with for the better part of a decade—flip the script. If your goal is to avoid surprises, you need to be able to tell who’s looking out for your best interests before you even reach Act I.
Luckily, a recent report from Techventive, Inc. set out to show you some of the best and worst practices that potential technology partners may practice so that you can enjoy a plot twist-free ERP project.
Cultural Fit: An Often-Overlooked Factor in ERP Decisions
When you’re looking at ERP, you have a lot of questions to ask. Does the software do what it’s supposed to? Is it easy to learn? Does the vendor put a lot of effort into improving the software? Is it going to help us remain compliant? You might even look at the history and financial stability of the company to know whether they will be around.
Unfortunately, many overlook how a company acts towards its customers, developers, and channel, leaving decision makers blindsided and projects in limbo.
The Face of a Predator
Like the twist villain, the true face never shows until later in the story. In Toy Story 3, Lotso was simply a soft and soft-spoken bear who managed the toys at the daycare—until the truth was revealed that he had a dictatorial rule over the toys. Much like his backstory, your vendor may appear friendly, but deeply rooted in the company culture is a dark truth.
Techventive notes that you should look at the following four areas and ask whether the following are true:
Looking at each of the above factors, how many of these are you going to see during the early phases of your selection process? One? You can look up court filings—if the lawsuit didn’t end up getting settled or dismissed in arbitration. The rest only come up after you’ve put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into the selection process.
How to Avoid Becoming Prey
The thing about predators? Their priority is their next meal. These are the kind of companies who want a short-term relationship with your company—but a long-term one with your checkbook. Partners, on the other hand, work hard to prove themselves to you day in and day out.
Whether it’s something as simple as providing transparent pricing in the early stages, writing a service-level agreement that puts customers in control, or has actively built a customer-focused culture, these companies talk the talk and walk the walk.
Acumatica and CCS: Your Partners for the Long Road Ahead
Surprises are great in movies. Conflict is a necessary plot driver, and you pay to see a hero triumph over adversity.
But these are the last things you need in an ERP implementation project. Surprises turn into missed deadlines, cost overruns, and poor performance. Conflict often results in legally binding decisions, and the implementation process itself already gives you enough adversity. An ERP decision is already an exciting time for your firm—you don’t need it to be any more intense than it already is.
If you’re seeking a vendor who walks the walk—and a channel partner who’s committed to delivering on their promises, look no further than Acumatica and CCS Technology Group. When you partner with Acumatica, you know what you’re going to get—it’s enshrined in their Customer Bill of Rights.
When you entrust CCS Technology Group to get you there, you can expect IT support that’s responsive, effective and convenient. After all, technology should make it easier to run your business. We believe in only making promises we can keep, building trust in every interaction, and consistently evolving to better serve you. It’s these core principles that have gotten us here, and these core principles that will help us last for decades to come.
We invite you to download the entire Partner or Predator report here, read about how Acumatica makes good on their promises by reading their Customer Bill of Rights, and get to know about other firms who have made the move.
Contact us to learn more or see a demo of Acumatica.
Two Numbers to Keep in Mind When You Think About Information Security
/in Blog, Security /by lindsayAny business that still thinks it doesn’t need to invest in information security needs to take a moment and consider two numbers:
Can you afford to lose more than eight million dollars in under a minute? No matter what your business is, it’s at risk, and protecting networks, data, servers, and other corporate IT resources need to be a priority.
Developing an effective information security strategy is complicated. To get started, focus on critical categories:
1. Credentials
Credentials are the keys to the kingdom, so keeping them safe is priority one. This is both a technological and a human factors problem. You can use technology to require strong passwords, to implement two-factor authentication, to limit privileged access, and to leverage role based accessed controls, among other methods, to ensure that credentials are assigned, protected, and verified. Users need ongoing training in safe computing, to ensure they know how to create and protect passwords, use mobile devices safely, and avoid falling for phishing emails.
2. Data
While some hackers are intent on destruction, most are after data. Make sure data is protected both at rest and in transit through strong encryption. In addition, protect your data from ransomware by implementing a reliable backup and recovery process. You can also consider using tools such as data loss prevention software and cloud access security brokers to stop data from sneaking outside your corporate network.
3. Servers
Servers are most often vulnerable because they’re using out of date software that hasn’t been patched. For security reasons, it’s important to use supported software and to apply all vendor patches as soon as possible after they’re released.
4. Network
The network is where intruders find the front door to your systems. Firewalls and other tools help keep hackers out. Other tools, like data loss prevention software, help keep important data in. Your internal network design is also an important security measure; proper segmentation and use of internal firewalls can keep intruders who make it inside your perimeter from accessing the most sensitive data.
5. Cloud
More and more company IT resources reside outside the corporate walls and in the cloud. Keeping data in the cloud secure requires action by the cloud provider and also by the data owner. Improper cloud configurations can accidentally make data publicly accessible. Consider using a cloud access security broker as an additional control over access to data in the cloud.
Don’t Get Caught Playing Catch-Up With Your IT Security
CCS Technology Group offers information security services to help businesses reduce the potential risks and costs of a data breach. Contact us to learn how we can help you protect your data.