Choosing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is one of the most capital-intensive and high-risk projects a business can undertake. The market is flooded with slick demos and promises of "seamless integration," but often, what is sold on the projector screen rarely matches the reality of the shop floor.
This is the "Vendor Trap": allowing the solution provider to define the problem.
At ERP Expert, we believe that the most successful implementations start with a vendor-neutral strategy. By acting as an independent advocate, we ensure that your technology roadmap is dictated by your business needs, not a salesperson’s quota.
The Challenge: A mid-sized manufacturing firm was running on a 20-year-old on-premise legacy system. Their "systems" were actually a patchwork of the legacy ERP, three different scheduling tools, and highly complex Excel spreadsheets held together by manual data entry. They wanted to modernise but were terrified of the cyber risks associated with moving to the cloud and didn't know how to untangle their data.
The ERP Expert Approach: Instead of rushing to demos, we paused to build the foundation.
Current-State System Mapping: We mapped every data flow. We discovered that their "Finance" system was actually relying on data manually exported from a rogue rostering app. We documented the inventory, the integration gaps, and the data ownership.
Cyber Risk Assessment: We performed a gap analysis on their current IT environment versus a proposed cloud architecture, identifying specific vulnerabilities that needed to be addressed in the RFQ.
Procurement Support: We didn't just ask vendors for a price. We helped the client develop a Request for Quotation (RFQ) that demanded specific answers on how vendors would handle the unique "spaghetti code" of integrations we uncovered in step 1.
The Outcome: The client selected a modern, cloud-based ERP with confidence. Because we had already mapped the data architecture, the Implementation Advisory phase was smooth—we knew exactly where the data skeletons were buried before migration began.
1. Current-State System Mapping You cannot fix what you do not understand. We provide a high-level snapshot that clearly illustrates your System Inventory (Finance, Asset Management, Payroll, etc.), Integration Landscape, and Data Architecture. We highlight the pain points and inefficiencies so the new system is designed to solve them, not replicate them.
2. Procurement Support We sit on your side of the table during vendor engagement. We assist in developing Request for Quotation (RFQ) documents and provide input on evaluation criteria. This ensures you are judging vendors on their ability to meet your specific requirements.
3. Cyber Risk Assessment Modernising often means moving data outside your physical walls. We assess your current-state IT environment and provide risk analysis for your future-state architecture, ensuring security is baked into the contract, not added as an afterthought.
4. Implementation Advisory The "Go-Live" is just the beginning. We provide technical decision support during configuration and deployment. We offer oversight on data migration planning, ensuring that the history and integrity of your business data survive the move.