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What’s an RFP?
Modern manufacturers and distributors are turning to enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to optimize business performance. Yet, without adequate knowledge, businesses’ software implementations may not perform all the functions as expected and may even fail.
There is a myriad of ERP software vendors, each promising unparalleled service. If you’re embarking on a journey with ERP, you’ll want to develop a comprehensive understanding and evaluation of each vendor. Once you’ve narrowed your options, it is time to submit an ERP Request for Proposal (RFP).
An RFP will give you a thorough overview of each vendor, so you can make the best decision for your business. Basically, if you submit an RFP to an ERP vendor, you’re informing them that you are extremely interested in implementing their technology!
Begin with Internal Requirements
To put the project into context for the vendor, we recommend gathering important information about your business and prospective project, including:
- Your unique business requirements
- Your project scope (applications needed, number of users, number of locations, etc.)
- Your current system
- Your evaluation criteria
This isn’t an exhaustive list. You’ll also want to establish your requirements for the capabilities of the software. To effectively do so, we suggest discussing this with all the stakeholders–including the organizational leaders, project team, and employees that will use the software. Ask your team what you hope to gain from the software, the pain points you’d like to eradicate with the software, and the budget. This information will help vendors determine the best software fit for your company.
Describe Your Response Format
If every proposal looks different, it can be a challenge to compare the vendors’ systems. We recommend defining how you’d like the proposal to look, how much information you would like the vendor to include, the content you would like covered, the order you want the content presented, etc.
With each proposal looking differently, topics won’t be the same and will be in a different order, making it extremely difficult to compare RFPs to make an informed decision. In short, it’s beneficial to clarify your expected response format for both you and the vendors.
Ask for References
Any consulting company can say they’re the best at what they do, but do they have the references and testimonials to back it up? We suggest asking for multiple references that are similar to your company– size, project scope, industry, etc.–because a consultant that is confident in their skills will be eager to provide you with references.
Wrap Up
Once you have received the responses, you can use each proposal to choose a vendor that will be the best fit to improve your company and maximize your software investment.
While this is an overwhelming choice for your business, our expert consultants at Datix can help you choose the enterprise software vendor that will maximize your investment. We have a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the manufacturing and distribution industries. Plus, we are an Infor partner and an expert in Epicor® ERP with over 20 years of experience implementing enterprise software.
Further, we are a one stop shop for enterprise software solutions, and our consultants will stay with you from the beginning of your project to after you go live.
To learn more about our exciting software solutions, contact us today!
