It pays to choose the right system

Since ERP is at the heart of your business selecting the right system pays dividends. But getting it wrong can paralyze your company.

The first step is determining if a tier 1, 2 or 3 product fits:

• Tier 1 – large enterprises, 500+ employees
• Tier 2 – mid-sized companies, up to 200 employees
• Tier 3 – small to mid-sized companies, starting at 5+ employees

Generally implementation times are longer and licensing costs higher with tier 1 and vice versa. Some of the criteria for selecting between tier 1 to 3:

• Industry and unique processes
• Number of users
• Multiple sites
• Turnover
• Growth rate
• Infrastructure
• Budget

Small and mid–sized companies are typical of the Bendigo and Central Victorian ERP market. Large enterprises are less common, and are often subsidiaries of national or multi-national operations.

There are several products available at each tier, and getting past the hype and sales talk can be time consuming and confusing. For instance, products that come with lower license and support fees may lack standard functionality important to your business. The cost of customizing non standard functionality often outweighs the lower licensing.

Overall the key criteria is finding the most cost effective match between what your business wants to achieve and the functionality and user friendliness of a particular system.

LLD’s expertise covers all three tiers. Our approach is to combine our product knowledge and the goals of your business so you select a system that balances cost and capability.