ERP Product Selection
Having substantial experience of a wide variety of software products from both a customer and supplier perspective we can help guide you to making the right decisions for your organisation by supporting your ERP product selection process.
Our consultants have all come from the ‘real world’ having been business managers before moving to the ‘dark side’ of consultancy, most have been through their own ERP product selection process before and not all were Dynamics 365.
Obviously we have Microsoft D365 specialisations within our organisation but having decades of historical ERP deliver behind us we have accumulated expertise beneficial to businesses that lets face it – do not specialise in reviewing ERP.
Whereas your expertise may be manufacturing or distribution, ours is ERP and its allied technologies, so doesn’t it make sense to seek the services of professionals?
Practice Does Make Perfect
Upgrading your ERP business system is not an everyday occurrence, so unsurprisingly many organisations have limited experience in the preparation and effort involved in changing what is central to your business operation. Similar to any major operation there’s sense in having someone present who has done this before when it is so business critical to get it right.
Many of our consultants have overseen the selection of business software themselves before becoming consultants, some several times over.
AX Software have a small dedicated, bi-partisan team who specialise in a selection and support role, it could be any software product or helping make that choice between Microsoft Partners or best fit Dynamics products such as CE, BC or D365 F&O. They will ensure that you are fully prepared, from product review to eventual system deployment and go-live, its so much about preparation and we stand by the well used phrase ‘Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail’.
We can even help you with that all important contract ensuring that your business interests are best protected in what is a very complicated decision making process that most companies only encounter once in a decade. It’s always easier to start off in the right direction rather than try correct a poorly initiated project further down the line in our experience.
We can confidently state that at every stage from the requirements gathering to shortlist and software selection right through to the implementation and deployment we have something to offer businesses and organisations be they SME’s or large multi-nationals – all whilst speaking in plain language and been straight to the point and true to our values.
Making The Right Choice
ERP product selection is a complex undertaking, there are a lot of factors to consider and you should not be overly influenced by a slick and personable sales team, often once signed up that’s the last you may see of them. There are also a lot of products particularly in the Microsoft world that can be confusing as several have similar sounding features and functions.
For example determining what solution is best for your organisation between D365 CRM (customer relationship management) and Microsoft CE (customer engagement) needs an experienced review both of your requirements and aspiration’s. Both share some features but making that determination on your own might not be the most sensible approach and push you down a route you were not expecting in a later phase of deployment.
There are many factors to consider and its not just all product fit.
ERP Product Acquisition
During the noughties after the boom in ERP sales associated with the millennium bug, you would have seen a lot more ERP products available on the market place. Many independent software houses had benefitted from heathy sales from this period and as companies typically change their ERP solutions between 5-10 years (more 10+ for SMEs) selling up was the right choice in order to capitalise on their values at that time.
This saw a rapid contraction in choice which was also driven by the cost of redeveloping older systems that had become technologically obsolete, these costs and false starts led to a further decline in the number of ERP products available.
The ERP market has become dominated by businesses with deep pockets, AI is driving this trend even faster so the question has to be asked what will become of those ERP products that are not owned by the major software companies in the next 5 years or so?
Partner Acquisition
When Microsoft steeped into the world of ERP with their acquisitions of Navision and Damgaard’s Axapta , they were very active in acquiring new Microsoft Resellers. AX Sotware became an early Axapta reseller but within a few years there were a multitude of small resellers offering the same solutions. This no doubt helped drive growth and as the product particularly AX as it was then known, benefitted from Microsoft investment, large consultancy firms came into the market.
This has seen another period of busy acquisitions as Microsoft partners have realised their 5 year plans and sold up to those larger companies that continue to show growth through acquisition.
For D365 users who may have purchased from a boutique Dynamics reseller only to have them become acquired by a larger corporation the change might not be too drastic but users should be aware that as businesses scale up generally so do their charge cards, what might have been a £850 per day consultancy rate could develop into a £1200 next time support discussions take place.
AX Sotware
AXSoftware have been here since 2006, with in-depth ERP knowledge we can offer business our support from the very start getting everything as right as it can be, helping you navigate through these selection choices – we know how this industry works which is why we are still around today.
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