Definition
How to compare ERP products without wasting a month
Feature tables almost never decide an ERP choice, because every serious product does almost everything. What decides it is four things: how many legal entities you consolidate, whether what you sell is physical, how much internal capacity you have to run a project, and what customisation will cost when you inevitably need some. Answer those four honestly and most comparisons resolve themselves in an afternoon.
Be suspicious of any comparison, including this one, that cannot name a case where the other product wins. A vendor who will not say that either has not thought about it or is not telling you.
- Entity count
- How many legal entities you consolidate. Separates enterprise products from mid-market ones.
- Physical or not
- Whether stock accuracy decides your promises. Decides how much one database is worth.
- Internal capacity
- Whether someone inside can own the project. Predicts outcomes better than product choice.
- Customisation cost
- Open source against a vendor framework. Changes price, maintenance and exit.
