2011 VAR Stars have a practice involving the sale of mid-market financial software and while most derive significant revenue from other sources, accounting software is the core to their business.

Revenue is not a factor in selection and VARs are not rated. The No. 1 and No. 100 members of this list have equal standing. Factors taken into consideration included growth, industry leadership and innovation. There are very large and very small dealers in this list. An effort was also made to selects resellers who represent a broad range of products.

This year, VAR Star candidates were asked what they have done to respond to the economic conditions. Several common areas emerged from those VARs who commented (not all provided this information.) Few of these were surprising, but all are important.

They are as follows:

• Diversifying product lines.
• Holding onto talent.
• Maintaining or increasing marketing budgets.
• Performing mergers and acquisition.

Bob Scott’s Insights provides the mid-market reselling community with news and analysis giving them insight into the issues that affect the business of resellers and vendors alike. It informs and entertains, giving this critical market a quick-and-easy read that is both instructive and interesting.

Bob Scott has been informing and entertaining the mid-market financial software community with his email newsletters for 12 years. And he has been covering this market through print publications for 20 years, first as technology editor of Accounting Today and then as the Editor of Accounting Technology from 1997 through June 2009. He has covered the traditional tax and accounting profession during the same time and continues to address that profession as executive editor of The Progressive Accountant.

Bob Scott can be reached directly at bob.scott@pmgb2b.com.

About Progressive Media Group, Inc.
Progressive Media Group (PMG) www.PMGB2B.com is a leading online media company that provides business-to-business (B2B) marketers and media planners unparalleled access to a highly qualified and engaged audience through their portfolio of lead generation programs, industry-specific websites, email newsletters, Web seminars, live events, podcasts, content/reviews, custom publishing and direct marketing databases focusing on the nonprofit, healthcare and accounting professionals.

PR Contact
Kurt Martin
Group Publisher
973-685-7979 x16

So you’ve joined the ranks of thousands of businesses worldwide and decided on a NetSuite ecommerce website. You’ve made the right decision! NetSuite is the only website software that supports your entire company – from accounting right through to managing customer relationships.

This means NetSuite ecommerce websites are perfect for small to medium businesses that really want to make an impact and drive the maximum volume of sales.

Now for your next most important question: Who should develop, design and launch your NetSuite website? There are many NetSuite consultants throughout the US. Here’s a checklist to use in order to make sure you choose the right one for you.

Proof. Can your NetSuite consultant show you (lots of) previous NetSuite ecommerce sites that they’ve successfully implemented? Do they have a ream of great testimonials and case studies? Make sure you give your NetSuite consultant’s recent work a thorough going over – test the site, contact the site owners for a reference and ask lots of questions.

Process. Boring? Not to us. Your NetSuite consultant needs to be focused on getting the process of developing your site – and launching it – exactly right. If they don’t, it’s your loss – literally. Business processes, done in the correct order to an agreed time schedule, ensure your site is launched on time and exceeds your expectations.

Personality.Design shouldn’t JUST look great; it needs to reflect your business. Make sure your NetSuite consultant is particular about getting a detailed brief from you. This should include competitor information, sites you like and why, sites you don’t like and why, information about your brand, and details about your target audience. Prospective customers should arrive at your site and think: “Yes – I am in the right place!”

Push. It’s not enough to simply have a website out there – if only! You need to tell your customers – and prospects about it. The best NetSuite consultants can help you push your website’s presence by advising you through search engine optimization, pay-per-click consulting, emails, content and more.

Peace. Yes, last but not least, peace. Launching your website should be a fantastic, exciting experience. You shouldn’t spend hours agonizing over details – that’s your NetSuite consultant’s job! An excellent NetSuite consultant will ensure your website’s design, development and launch all happen seamlessly with the minimal amount of effort required from you. After all, you are the customer!

The term is being heard throughout the corporate and private sector. Everyone from Amazon to SalesForce and NetSuite is championing it as the wave of the future. But just what is cloud computing? Before answering that, an accompanying question must also be considered, “What does cloud computing mean for my business?”

The Why before the What

Most IT departments spend a considerable percentage of their time and resources on the never ending cycle of implementing, maintaining, and upgrading systems. Adding to the frustration is the fact these endless cycles often add little to a company’s bottom line. As a result, organizations are turning to what seems to be the answer to that revenue draining cycle.

Enter the Cloud

IT departments are moving toward cloud computing technology to minimize time, personnel, and financial resources spent on low value activities. This frees those resources up so IT can concentrate on strategic activities that have a greater impact on their business. Cloud computing offers unique advantages to a business that makes it more competitive in today’s economic climate.
Cloud computing users can take advantage of a vendor’s computing infrastructure to conduct its business in a more cost efficient way. Instead of investing time and money for internal software and hardware, cloud computing customers only pay for the resources they use, as they use them. This means the customers using a cloud vendor for IT services do not have to continue that cycle of implementing, maintaining, and upgrading systems. When the vendor upgrades, its customers are automatically upgraded as well.

The Benefits

Pre-tested Web Services Integration – Because of its design, cloud computing technology is much simpler to integrate with your existing enterprise applications. Implementation can also be accomplished in a much shorter time frame.

No Hardware or Software Installation – The infrastructure is in the cloud, or housed by the vendor. This means lower capital expenditures with more efficient results.

Premium Service Delivery – Cloud computing infrastructures offer improved scalability, fool proof disaster recovery, and greatly decreased downtime.

Lower Risk and Faster Deployment – Implementation of cloud computing can be accomplished in a fraction of the time of older methods. Older systems often took months and even years with huge financial outlays before the system could ever be used. Cloud computing applications often go live in a few weeks or months at far less cost.

Freedom to Customize - Cloud computing not only allows for extensive application customization and configuration, it preserves customizations during upgrades. As a result a cloud computing system such as ERP or CRM can evolve at the same speed of your business.

User Friendly – Though this is an overworked term these days, cloud computing defines user friendly. The technology allows for on-the-fly customization that can be accomplished by point-and-click. End-users in your business can generate detailed reports and make minor changes without tying up your IT department.

Hassle Free Automatic Upgrades – In the past, every single upgrade to a system required additional IT resources that were already overworked. The result was hesitation to upgrade to the latest-and-greatest version of an application. Cloud computing doesn’t force you to choose between preserving all your hard work and upgrading.

Pre-built, Pre-integrated Apps – Not only do many cloud vendors offer apps from their products but numerous third parties offer inexpensive apps to integrate with the system you choose. NetSuite, for example, allows integration with Google Apps such as Gmail and Google Docs.

Successful CRM management starts before the first day of implementation. This is because CRM isn’t just about technology. Instead, succeeding at CRM management involves personnel dedicated to developing winning strategies for implementation.

Set Goals

It has been said many companies do not achieve their goals because they don’t really know what their goals are. The place to begin in CRM management is knowing what your organization wants to achieve by implementing and deploying its new customer relations solution.

The beginning point to setting such goals is having key leaders and stakeholders identify a limited number of major objectives they would like to see CRM implementation achieve. It is essential these objectives are measurable because reaching them is a key indicator of the level of success achieved. CRM goals also need to be specific and narrowly defined.

Measurable goals are the key to judging success in the early stages of implementation allowing you to make needed adjustments in implementation and strategy. The goals you settle on should be defined monetarily. Have you sold more of a specified product, received more referrals, or saved on costs as a result of improvements? Such goals often include:

• Serving customers better by expediting service requests
• Better knowledge of customers and offering the right solutions to them
• Tracking customer conversations and needs
• Client retention
• Referral tracking
• Cross-selling
• Key account management
• Incentive administration
• Direct marketing follow-up
• Customer experience tracking.

Since CRM can be rolled out in phases, your goals can be set as milestones for each phase. By having limited and focused goals you will be able to adjust to the minor glitches that are sure to happen during implementation.

Be Aware of the Challenges

Anticipating and preparing for challenges you may face as you implement a CRM solution is often the greatest factor in its success. The vendor you choose for your CRM solution will be more than willing to advise you on possible challenges you may face internally. Employees are often resistant to such radical change. Job insecurity, poor training, and unclear objectives are all potential roadblocks to successful implementation.

Set Long-Term Objectives

Short-term objectives are necessary to get things started with your CRM deployment. They provide a kick start to your CRM effort and pave the way for future success. But CRM is not a short-term solution. Therefore you must also have clear, long-term objectives. Once short-term objectives such as building client profiles and sales force automation have been met, you can begin to plan for the long haul. Long term objectives often include things such as custom client profiles, sales coaching and tracking, contact management, goal and incentive management, and built-in surveys.

Training and Implementation

Outside of proper planning, training is the most important aspect of successful CRM management. To be completely honest, implementing CRM isn’t easy. The right vendor will offer the kind of continuing training to help ease employee resistance to change. A major consideration in your negotiations with a vendor must be the amount and nature of training that will be offered.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/succeeding-at-crm-management/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/seven-winning-steps-to-risk-management-planning-for-your-twin-cities-organization/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/seven-winning-steps-to-risk-management-planning-for-your-twin-cities-organization/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:21:58 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=512 Continue reading →]]> Seven Winning Steps to Risk Management Planning for your Twin Cities Organization

Every organization has risks. For a business, no profits would ever be realized apart from acceptable and manageable risks. Non-profits could never grow and carry out their mission without certain accepted risks. But, unwanted and unexpected risks often cripple organizations when they have not practiced good risk management procedures long before the unimaginable occurs.

Risk management planning for your Twin Cities organization can guarantee you are best equipped to survive and even succeed during such unforeseen occasions. Regardless of how small a business may be, it needs an active risk management committee with a sound plan. Here are seven winning steps to Risk management planning for your Twin Cities organization.

1. Define What a Risk is for your Business

If you are a manufacturer, injury is an obvious risk for your business. If your organization relies heavily on large amounts of data, computer system and infrastructure failure is a definite risk to consider. The most efficient and reliable way to define risks unique to your business or organization is to ask and answer pertinent questions.

• What might cause a sudden loss of revenue?
• What would happen if your municipality radically changed property taxes?
• What would happen if building and safety codes were suddenly changed?
• How could unethical or illegal acts impact daily operations?

Answers to these questions and others like them will help you compile a comprehensive list that defines the risks associated with your operations.

2. Categorize Risks

The risks you discover will naturally fall into certain categories: employees, board of directors, management, data, technology, physical property, products or services, customers, etc… As more risks are identified in the future, these categories serve to keep risk management current.

3. Identify Unique or Specific Risks

This step of risk management moves from general to specific. As before, specific questions that provide specific answers will enable you to identify specific risks. What if the CEO is faced sexual harassment charges? What if you unexpectedly lose your best customer? What if a tornado wipes out your production facility?

Write down every possibility, however seemingly unlikely they might be. The risk management committee should brainstorm these questions and ask and answer as many “what ifs” as possible.

4. Rank the Risks

Risks can be ranked from uneventful to catastrophic. Low-level risks are often found to be unprofitable to consider preparing for. If there has never been an earthquake in your region, specific planning for earthquakes is too costly compared to the extremely remote likelihood of one occurring. Other events, though they have never occurred in your business, are still potential realities. While a sexual harassment charge has never been made in your business, they are still common and therefore must be considered as a higher level.

5. Determine Strategies to Reduce Risk

Start with catastrophic and likely risks and addressed them first. When possible, devise multiple strategies for each specific risk. This is the point in planning where you should determine who in your organization is best equipped to handle each category and level of risk. It is also the place to consider your budget and address the need for allocation of emergency resources. If there is not a category in your budget for emergencies, you have just identified a catastrophic risk.

6. Write in Down and Pass it Out

A risk management plan needs to be comprehensive but it must also be workable. If employees cannot understand and follow it, the plan is worthless. A draft of the plan should be distributed to key people in every department. Enlist their feedback to ensure the plan is marked by common sense and usability.

7. Test and Revise the Plan on a Regular Basis

As a business or organization grows, things change. What wasn’t a high risk a year ago may be next year. However diligent the risk management committee was, weaknesses in the plan become obvious over time. At least once a year, kick the wheel of that plan and make sure it still can be relied on to carry you through the unexpected.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/seven-winning-steps-to-risk-management-planning-for-your-twin-cities-organization/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/netsuite-development-for-your-midwest-business/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/netsuite-development-for-your-midwest-business/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:05:35 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=506 Continue reading →]]> NetSuite Development for your Midwest Business


There is good reason to consider NetSuite development for your Midwest business. It is a powerful business management suite of applications that are fully web based and support everything from accounting and enterprise resource planning to customer relationship management. Most importantly NetSuite offers information in real time, enabling you to make timely decisions.

What NetSuite Development Does for Your Midwest Business

• Integrates all of your business processes – NetSuite is an integrated business management solution. That means all information about a customer is unified under one single record: sales, orders, delivery, receipts, accounts, and services.
• Connects your business to your customers
• Allows for customization and growth
• Frees you to work your business – NetSuite manages software upgrades and fixes, database connectivity, and other functions formally handled by IT, allowing your personnel to spend 100% of their time making your business run.
• Offers complete control – NetSuite provides the tools for a business to manage its key processes more efficiently through real-time metrics.

Benefits of NetSuite

• Better Business Management – No matter where a business is located, NetSuite gives employees and managers the tools needed to simplify their operations and administer their business more efficiently.
• No IT Maintenance and Upgrade Expense – Since it is cloud based, NetSuite guarantees 99.5% uptime. That means you have a more reliable software platform without the added expense of software licensing and upgrades, hardware, or more personnel.
• Increased Collaboration – With NetSuite vendors, customers, and key partners all have the perfect gateway to your business. Improved communication with your customers and business partners ensures the flexibility and timeliness required to make sound business decisions. Because NetSuite offers real-time business intelligence from every facet of your business you can make decisions and changes without calling on the usual army of consultants.
• Elimination of Data Re-entry – NetSuite is the only SaaS software available that is designed around a single record for every phase of a business. Resources and accuracy that is often lost on data re-entry is done away with.

Main Components of NetSuite

• Financials – One comprehensive application runs every financial process: business intelligence, accounting, order management, inventory, and supply chain.
• CRM+ – NetSuite offers CRM solutions to manage your customers’ entire lifecycle. This provides detailed analysis of how people visit your website, leads, prospects, customer ordering history, service of those customers, and much more.
• E-Commerce – Increase your business scope more cost effectively by leveraging your website and NetSuite into a fully integrated portal.
• OneWorld – One unified NetSuite account enables you to manage multi-subsidiary and multinational operations in real-time. OneWorld manages a wide range of tax laws, currencies, and reporting requirements at a fraction of the cost of more traditional solutions.

NetSuite has replaced aging on-site products with its cloud business management suite for thousands of companies. Businesses and organizations of all sizes have been able to significantly lower their total costs.

Operating in the cloud ensures consistency for all of your business processes regardless of the size or location of your business. For these reasons and many more, NetSuite makes sense for many businesses.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/netsuite-development-for-your-midwest-business/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/key-questions-for-evaluating-erp-and-crm-systems/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/key-questions-for-evaluating-erp-and-crm-systems/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:31:38 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=502 Continue reading →]]> Key Questions for Evaluating ERP and CRM Systems

Acquiring and implementing an ERP or CRM system for your organization is too complex and important a task to leave anything to chance. Evaluating ERP and CRM systems for your Minneapolis business is the first and most important step in making an intelligent decision. That evaluation begins with answering the following questions.

What are your Specific Needs?

Because every organization has specific needs it is important to craft a checklist of the key features required to meet the needs of your business. As you evaluate ERP or CRM systems for your business that checklist becomes your road map to choosing the right system. In creating this checklist:

• Don’t create a laundry list of every possible feature a system should have.
• Focus on the key processes that your business requires to produce its goods and services.
• Determine what your customers expect and how you want to meet those expectations.
• Concentrate on any specialized needs that set your business apart from competitors.

An ERP or CRM system will affect how you operate your business for years to come. If the system you choose doesn’t work because it cannot support your specific needs, the results can be financially devastating. Identifying your specific needs at the beginning of the process will ensure you get it right the first time.
This step is so critical you may want to consider seeking evaluation help from a third party consultant or outsource this part of implementation completely. Whether or not you need outside help can be determined from the answer to the next question.

Who will be on your Evaluation Team?

It is important to have the right team to evaluate potential systems. Who among your employees is most effective and resourceful in their job? An evaluation team should not be too narrowly focused. Ever section of the organization that will be using these systems should be represented on this team. These team members will become the key to ensuring a smooth transition during implementation.
When possible, include partners with your business in the evaluation. These can be both trusted suppliers and key customers who will be affected by the change. As this team comes into focus you may decide a consultant or other third party needs to be brought in to manage the evaluation and implementation. Take time to make this decision wisely.

How Much Customization will you Need?

To meet both your organization’s specific needs and your customer’s expectations a certain amount of customization will always be required. Take into consideration the scope of applications each vendor offers and how much those applications can be customized. Applications that may require customization for your specific needs can include:

• purchase management
• accounting
• product design
• inventory
• order management
• manufacturing
• human resources

Negotiate for as many modules as you foresee your company may potentially need. You will get the best quote on these before implementation even if you don’t plan to employ some of them until later.

How Much Resources Can you Budget?

Implementing ERP and CRM systems can be quite expensive. Therefore, the evaluation team should focus on the ones that fit into your budget. The contract you sign with a vendor should include the cost of the initial software as well as implementation and support. Expect and budget for cost overruns. A 10-15% buffer is usually adequate. Functionality is important but you must also find a vendor who is willing to work within your budget.

How Flexible is the System?

The system you chose must be user-friendly. It is essential that it can be interfaced with existing systems and back-end platforms with as few steps as possible. Your system will be with you for at least ten years. Much can change in a business during that time. Inflexible systems produce multiple problems when those changes occur. Plan for this contingency before signing a contract! The best way to plan for change is to choose a system that has a flexible structure.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/key-questions-for-evaluating-erp-and-crm-systems/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/ecommerce-netsuite-consulting-for-your-minnesota-business/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/ecommerce-netsuite-consulting-for-your-minnesota-business/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:18:27 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=498 Continue reading →]]> Ecommerce NetSuite Consulting for your Minnesota Business



So you’ve made the decision to join the over ten thousand businesses around the world that already use NetSuite. NetSuite ecommerce websites are ideal for small to medium businesses intent on making an impact in their market and driving the maximum volume of sales. If you intend to use your web presence as a market place, the best next step you can take is find qualified Ecommerce NetSuite consulting for your Minnesota business

NetSuite offers invaluable guidance in getting started but most small to medium businesses will do well to contract with a third party to design, develop, and launch their NetSuite website. There are a number of experts that specialize in Ecommerce NetSuite consulting in Minnesota. Here is a checklist to use when making your search for a consultant.

Proof

A NetSuite consultant worth considering should be able to show plenty of proof verifying successful implementation of existing NetSuite ecommerce sites. Serious consultants will have a ready portfolio of examples and testimonials. Choose a couple of the candidate’s most recent jobs and look at them closely. Contact the site owners personally for references and test the sites. Be sure and ask pointed questions that give you a clear picture of what the consultant can do for you.

Understanding

An ecommerce site has to do more than look great; it should look great while also reflecting your business’ personality. The consultant you choose should take time up front to get a detailed brief from you outlining the feel you want your site to have. Take the time to find sites of competitors you like and don’t like. Make sure the consultant has a firm grasp of your branding strategy. When prospective customers visit your new ecommerce site for the first time they should say, “I am in the right place!”

If you feel like a consultant is trying to push an out-of-the-box design plan without taking these steps, you probably need to look elsewhere.

Procedure

Getting a NetSuite ecommerce site up and running requires focus on set procedures. There should be a clear time line and milestones established before signing a contract. Business processes, carried out in the correct order on a pre-approved time schedule, make certain your site is launched on time and surpasses your expectations.

Promotion

Most businesses realize too late that simply having a great web site doesn’t ensure success. Prospects and customers have to know about it. The best NetSuite consultants can also offer advice and assistance on promotion of your ecommerce site through content advice, pay-per-click consulting, search engine optimization, and targeted email campaigns.

Calm

Launching a new ecommerce site can be a stressful time. As a business owner, you should not spend your time and energy sweating over the technical details of the launch. That is a consultant’s job. The right ecommerce NetSuite consulting for your Minnesota business will ensure your website design and launch are implemented seamlessly and require minimal effort from you.

As you begin to sort through potential candidates to design and launch you ecommerce site, attention to these details will set apart the good from the great.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/ecommerce-netsuite-consulting-for-your-minnesota-business/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/a-netsuite-review-for-st-louis-businesses/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/a-netsuite-review-for-st-louis-businesses/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:48:08 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=485 Continue reading →]]> A NetSuite Review for St. Louis Businesses



Cloud Computing, CRM, eCommerce, ERP. These terms have all become standards for businesses in which real-time access to information about customers, sales, products, inventory, and distribution is crucial. For many businesses, NetSuite’s all-in-one application is the answer to that need.

NetSuite’s corporate goal is “to help high-growth and mid-sized businesses run better by providing one complete cloud-based application to run their entire organization”. Robert Israch, the company’s senior director of corporate marketing, says that NetSuite allows what most CEOs, managers, and other personnel are looking for: “Essentially, you can focus on running your business rather than your software.”

This NetSuite Review for St. Louis Businesses will serve as a helpful guide when evaluating this application that is acknowledged as the leader in cloud business management.

An Overview of NetSuite

Before platforms like NetSuite it was characteristic for various aspects of a business (inventory management, financials, and sales) to administer information separately. It wasn’t unusual for departments to employ different software application vendors. This made it difficult for departments to share information, created redundancy and errors, and often moved far too slowly for the modern business climate.

NetSuite is a family of software products that allows a business to consolidate operations of the total management process through one unified, web-based platform. NetSuite was the first vendor to develop the single record format that eliminates the problems previously mentioned. All modules in the NetSuite family use the same single customer record. The modules are:

• CRM
• ERP
• eCommerce
• Business Accounting
• Demand inventory planning

Founded in 1988, NetSuite is a pioneer in cloud computing and single customer record applications. With a user base surpassing 10,000 clients it has a well-documented track record of providing secure and stable cloud computing.

One of NetSuite’s greatest strengths is its versatility. A broad range of industries make NetSuite their platform of choice. These include ecommerce, wholesale distribution, media and publishing, and services. Because NetSuite consists of modules that are customizable and flexible, a business can incorporate a diversity of third-party APIs such as Salesforce.com as well as integrate with Google Apps and Microsoft products.

Migrating to the NetSuite model does not involve extensive planning and budgeting. Many new customers are up and running in less than six months. Larger corporations with specific industry requirements may take a year or more from decision making to implementation. NetSuite stresses the value of a strong project manager and team for implementation for it to be successful.

A First Look at NetSuite

Each NetSuite module has a clean, clutter free interface. Global Navigation Menus facilitate users in easily making their way through multiple menus. The navigation tool bar is positioned at the top of each screen enabling quick access to other sections of the suite. One of the most appreciated features of NetSuite is called “Dashboarding”. Through drop down menus, shortcuts, and other options a user can display and analyze data in just minutes rather than hours.

Choosing a product like NetSuite is a major decision. However, with the right management team, good planning, and proper training it can be implemented in less time than most such solutions. NetSuite provides sixty days of free support including direct support, data, data backup, and maintenance.

]]> http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/a-netsuite-review-for-st-louis-businesses/feed/ 0 http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/vital-tips-for-erp-implementation-in-your-minneapolis-business/ http://forwardhindsight.com/2011/10/vital-tips-for-erp-implementation-in-your-minneapolis-business/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:13:20 +0000 Kirsten http://forwardhindsight.com/?p=443 Continue reading →]]> Vital Tips for ERP Implementation in your Minneapolis Business

ERP implementation for your Minneapolis Business doesn’t have to be a stressful time as long as you have a road map for success. Here are some tips for making the transition to ERP as smooth as possible.

Planning

Bernard Golden, CEO of Avica Inc., a consulting firm in San Carlos, California, emphasizes the important of knowing what your goals are before beginning ERP implementation. The product you choose should the closest to meeting those goals. Lance Williamson, engineer at Engenio Information Technologies, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, advises to always set goals for performance, response time and downtime. Other things to remember about planning for ERP implementation for your Minneapolis Business include:

• Test everything, every step of the way. Each step of the plan should be tested and retested.
• Involve users in your business during the planning phase. ERP is a big change for many employees and making them a part of it from the beginning goes a long way toward success.
• If you have in-house personnel with the skills to implement ERP, use them but don’t hesitate to go out-of-house during the planning phase! This phase is too critical to risk your ERP being dead on arrival.
• Be realistic when making cost projections. Most companies underestimate things like training costs. Good planning on the front end will help reduce such errors along the way.
• Settle on a first phase of implementation and stick to it. It is easy for personnel to begin to see the potential of additional features and functions and want to add more than your business is ready for at this stage. Get your return on investment for an initial phase and then begin planning for the next phase of expansion

Evaluation

Look carefully at maintenance costs. Saving money on the front end with a cheaper ERP product is not worth it if continuing maintenances costs eat up all of your ROI. For small to medium businesses an out-of-the-box solution is by far the most cost effective. Even so, an evaluation team may realize a good deal of customization will be needed to meet their goals. If so, be sure and choose and ERP program that allows this. Some questions to ask during the evaluation process include:

• How stable is the vendor? Is the provider you are considering losing market share or in danger of failure or a takeover? Often times when an interest is buying out a vendor it is only interested in its customer base and not its software.
• Can you simulate the ERP suite in your business and make your own calculations? This is the only way to obtain accurate ROI estimates.
• What is the vendor’s upgrade cycle? Are they going to spend more time trying to get you to add features and upgrades than servicing the system you contracted with them for?
• How much customization assistance does the vendor offer? Will customization limit support from the vendor?
• Can you accept the functionality gap? No one ERP system will do 100% of what you want without customization. Even so, if the gap is more than 10%, you need to look elsewhere.

After Implementation

Once the planning is done and implementation complete, keep a critical eye on the quality and flow of your data. Take notes of seasonal variations such as Christmas and summer.

It is better to not contract for long training sessions just after implementation. 40 day training sessions over six weeks is not a good training model. Too much is forgotten before the training is actually used in the real world. The better model is to set up an initial condensed training session followed be regular classes spread over a longer period of time.

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