The definitive guide to choosing your business management software - CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3 - HOW DO YOU SEARCH FOR AN ERP?
SUMMARY:
Whenever people search for an ERP, they start by asking Google. They almost never get past the first page of results. This is the first problem: selection starts with the manufacturers or distributors that invest most in AdWords, not with the quality of their platform. But there is a solution.
KEY IDEAS:
- The most common first mistake is limiting the product search. Try to stay away from advertisements and sales agents.
- Gather information about 10 products that are as different from one another as possible and create a comparison table based on technical features and opinions.
- Spend more time than planned analysing the options offered by the market.
HOW DO YOU START SEARCHING FOR AN ERP? The three most common approaches are:
- TELL THE IT PERSON TO LOOK FOR AN ERP.
- I HAVE BEEN TOLD THERE IS AN ERP THAT IS AMAZING.
- I HAVE NO IDEA WHICH ERP I MIGHT NEED.
In almost every case, the three situations end in the same way: someone goes to Google and starts looking for providers of this type of tool. In the first case, the IT person will probably focus the search on technological criteria. In the second, they will probably start by looking for a product from a particular manufacturer recommended by someone. In the last case, the process will begin completely at random.
In fact, the string of keywords entered in the search engine, which has guided our lives for several years, will have an extraordinary influence on the process about to begin. The algorithms governing Google’s indexing and search engines are the best-kept secret of the 21st century. Nobody knows exactly how they search, index and rank results after a keyword is entered. One thing is certain: those who spend the most money on Google usually have the greatest chance of being found.
In most cases, the ERP search process begins by entering one of the following terms in the search engine: ERP, BUSINESS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE, MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE, CHEAP ERP...
Google’s magic, combined with advertisers’ investment, will produce a set of results.
At this point, it should be said that no cases have been recorded of people going beyond the first page of search results, even though there are hundreds of them. Everyone sticks with what they see on screen after pressing the magnifying-glass icon. Usually, they select at first glance the results that best match what they are looking for and open them in consecutive tabs. The first selection is therefore made.
Manufacturers or distributors whose websites appear in one of the open tabs have many more chances of gaining a new customer than those left as just another sad and simple link offered by the search engine. They know this. That is why Google’s results are almost always the same when different keywords are used.
This may be one of the first and most important mistakes in the process. The search for the product you need should be carried out independently of suppliers and sales agents. Whether you are the company’s general manager, managing director or IT manager, we recommend spending time gathering documentation about what is available on the market and setting it out in a document. Make a list, for example, of 10 products that are as different from one another as possible and record the advantages and disadvantages identified by people who have already installed each product in their organisation. Browse user forums or read articles in specialist magazines and blogs. This will not be time wasted; quite the opposite. With this information, you can create a list of strengths and weaknesses for each product, giving you an initial visual map of the problems and opportunities ahead. And there are quite a few.
And here comes TIP NUMBER 2: your first search must be more thorough than you thought. You will have to spend more time, zoom in, and move away from deliberately commercial messages. If you do so, you will greatly reduce the chances of making a mistake.
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