Finding the right partner: Your first step on the path to a successful ERP implementation

By - February 11, 2016

You’ve identified the need for a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, secured upper management’s support, and established the scope of the project. Now you’re slated with evaluating various ERP solutions and finding the right partner to guide you through your journey.

RSM offers a full-range of services including advising, delivering, and maintaining to provide you with a one-stop shop for all of your technology needs through the implementation life cycle. Coordinating with multiple vendors throughout the implementation process can be very inefficient and difficult to manage. By working with one true business advisor throughout the process, you are able to be more efficient, cut costs and ultimately improve your bottom line.

Understanding your business

The first step, advising, involves learning about the business and growth plans for the company. Selecting the right ERP system, best tailored to your business and your industry, can be one of the most important decisions in securing your investment. Finding the right partner can ease the burden that goes along with selecting an ERP system to best fit your needs. You don’t want to invest substantial resources into the project only to determine it wasn’t the right system in the first place. RSM focuses on first gaining a deep understanding of your business to help you find the right solution for your business needs.

Design Methodology

One of the biggest downfalls in designing how the system will be configured is trying to do too much. Other vendors fail at this by writing too much custom code with in turn can lead to problems down the road. Having an advisor who understands the systems capabilities AND is willing to speak up when something should/should not be customized will save you many headaches in the future. Part of the reason for RSM’s success in their methodology is to stick to the out-of-the-box functionality as much as possible and let the system do the work for you (instead of doing the work to fix the system). This all goes back to making sure your advisor truly understands your needs to help you select the right solution for you.

Implementation & Support

It can be difficult to get a feel for how well your advisor will be able to develop and stick to a project plan without any past experience of working together. Get a feel for how each vendor communicates with you and choose an advisor who you believe will be open and candid with you when problems arise or things get delayed. Unfortunately, delays happen and it’s best to have someone who will come to you as soon as the problem arises as opposed to finding out when it truly becomes an issue.

RSM has helped thousands of customers successfully go-live with their software implementations. For more information on how RSM can help you in selecting the right ERP solution to support your business, contact RSM at erp@rsmus.com or by phone at 855.437.7202  .

By: Andrew Barnett – Virginia NetSuite Solution Provider

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