20 July, 2021

When deciding whether a business should select and implement a new ERP, a lot of the focus tends to be on the price of the software. This may be for licensing an on-premise implementation, or a subscription for a cloud implementation. Either way, this expense is a smaller part of the overall implementation price tag.

With time, this number should be the only ongoing cost. But in the short-term, the software cost is just one of many cost elements to focus on.

Other costs to consider:
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Changes to your network platform to support the new ERP
Consulting resources needed to train and assist in the implementation
Staff time from the business’s subject matter experts (SMEs)
Impact to the business during the implementation project
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These four things represent the lion’s share of the cost of implementation. Items one and two are fairly finite costs within a reasonable range of expectation. Items three and four are squishier and more difficult to assign a cost to – especially the last one.

With respect to items three and four, the business will need to consider these questions:

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Do I have backup resources to fill-in when different SMEs need to be absent from day-to-day operations as part of the implementation?
How much will the business suffer with my SMEs gone for varying amounts of time? What level of impact to existing business processes is acceptable?
Do I have a key individual who will act as my internal project manager and dedicate close to 100% of their time to the implementation?
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The bottom line is there are many things a business has to consider when deciding whether or not to implement a new ERP. And software cost is just one of a number of factors.

ICG has ERP experts with decades of experience in ERP implementation. Contact your sales rep today to learn more!