A cio's ERP selection experience

In view of the current fierce market conditions and disputes in the ERP industry, when implementing ERP projects, enterprises must follow a reasonable approach to make rational and pragmatic selection decisions.

1. analyze requirements and clarify objectives and implementation scope

The most important thing for enterprises to carry out informatization construction is to analyze the actual situation and management status of enterprises, and propose the implementation objectives and scope of enterprise informatization. For most enterprises, it is more appropriate to use information technology to improve basic management, block management vulnerabilities, and strengthen business operation standardization. Enterprise Informatization has gone through several stages, including departmental informatization, business and financial operation integration, production and sales integration, process control integration, and decision-making integration. These are gradual processes. During Informatization Planning, enterprises must clarify the management bottlenecks solved by informatization, the business scope and department scope of system applications, and specific information application requirements and objectives.

2. Learn from the informatization experience of the same industry

After years of informatization construction, most industries in China have already crossed the river by feeling the stones, and ERP applications in most industries have mature application cases. Planning, implementation experience, results at the stage, possible risks during project implementation, and necessary preventive measures for enterprises preparing for the ERP project in the same industry are a valuable asset, it is worth learning. Through in-depth investigation, we can not only understand the construction of other enterprises, but also make appropriate corrections to the main problems and objectives to be achieved in the informatization of enterprises. At the same time, we can also examine and verify the performance construction experience of major suppliers in the same industry, as an important basis for selecting software vendors, to avoid being a test field for some software vendors.

Third, display necessary business processes of software products

ERP has been developing in China for many years. Most enterprises accept the "mature software package + professional implementation team + appropriate personalized custom development" route. In this case, personalized development is necessary according to the characteristics and objectives of enterprise management. However, the larger the ratio of mature software to development, the lower the project risk. For some key industries, such as machinery, electronics, metallurgy, auto parts, and chemical industries, many software vendors have already formed certain industry solutions. These industry solutions not only meet enterprise standard applications, but also extract and sublimate industry-specific applications, which can basically meet the personalized application requirements of a certain industry.

Based on a large amount of implementation experience in the industry, professional consulting companies
Practice "or" Best Mode "has a strong reference significance. These professional and mature consulting companies are often rooted in some specific industries, just like specialists in hospitals. For enterprises that need to improve management standards, they are good teachers and good friends. However, in the current market, there are still too few such companies, more of which are the "grass team ". So we need to "see people with eyes ".

In addition, based on the unique management features of the Enterprise, you can also rely on platform-based secondary development orCodeLevel 2 Development to solve some personalized management needs. In this case, enterprises have already met the communication conditions for mature software systems of software vendors during the selection. If enterprise ERP selection can meet the needs of applications, as far as possible, do not take the "platform-based custom development" line, especially when the software vendor has not been successful in the same industry, the risk will be greater. Verify the degree of understanding of the enterprise's industry and the maturity of software applications in the same industry through the presentation of necessary business processes of software products, the product risks and personalized development risks of Enterprise Informatization construction will be avoided as much as possible.

Fourth, clarify the implementation subject and Implementation Team

Clear requirements and goals, a number of successful application model customers, a set of mature software products, if not implemented by appropriate people, the results will be very different. When selecting a type, enterprises should pay attention to the subjects of the Implementation Project and strive for consulting and implementation services at the group and factory level of the company's headquarters.

During project implementation, some software vendors usually arrange some less professional teams in the channel agency system of local branches to handle the problem, or arrange the peripheral consulting implementation partners of the vendors, some also temporarily organize a joint team.

These methods cannot guarantee a high level of protection for the Implementation Team in terms of industry experience, stability of the project team, product mastery, development support, and timely response, in addition, these problems will only be highlighted after the implementation of the project. In this case, enterprises have to go against the challenge of making decisions to seek complete solutions. The project risks can be imagined.

Therefore, it is necessary to carefully review the implementation subjects and implementation teams of software vendors, and identify and confirm each key personnel entering the project team, ensure the industry experience and project planning and control capabilities of the main members of the project team. If necessary, sign in to the contract and clarify the association between the payment method of the project and the appearance of key consultants.

5. determine a reasonable project budget

Enterprises all want to spend the least money and do the most. ERP is not the same. ERP is a job of "how much is spent, how much can be done.

In enterprises, ERP should not only avoid costly investment, but also avoid affecting the quality and duration of the project because of the cost. In other words, it should not be considered that any software vendor is competent, but only the price is limited, it's as ridiculous as seeing a doctor at the lowest price. However, it doesn't mean you have to look for the most expensive-the best doctor must ask for the most expensive, but he doesn't necessarily put all his energy into your family, because he has too much to look.

The reasonable project budget of ERP should consider the following aspects:

I. What is it: based on the needs of a certain project scope and project objectives;

Second, how to do it: specific implementation plans and implementation strategies;

3. What do you do: What kind of product technical route should you take, including high-end, middle-end, and low-end products ?;

4. Who will do it: What kind of software company and what kind of implementation consultant ?;

5. Who should work together: What kind of organizational structure should enterprises form, and what kind of systems and incentive measures should they have to ensure ?.

Enterprises must investigate and analyze these five problems. The construction of ERP projects is an investment. A reasonable and long-term information budget should be formulated based on the enterprise's informatization strategy. The initial selection of ERP should be determined based on the overall goal and related selection criteria. You know, ERP Doesn't apply to the "lowest price" game rules.

The fact that large and small enterprises have successfully used information technology to improve their management level and competitiveness has proved that the historical stage of "turning ERP to death" has passed. The increasingly fierce market competition has led to the consensus of many companies that "cannot wait for ERP to die. ERP has entered an age of endless disputes. For enterprise users, software vendors have sample customers in the same industry, more than 10 mature industrial products, rich industry experience, and stable implementation teams, no fewer than one.