How to Map Business Process to ERP Software

In my previous post, I talk about the importance of business process automation together with links on a standard process flow for a typical small business and a gap analysis template. Once you have established your \”as-is\” business process, analyzed the gaps and defined the \”to-be\” business process, then the next step is to map it to the ERP software.

It is important to do this step so you can analyze what you need vs. the stock version of the ERP vendors. That can help you identify the best vendor to choose and what customizations are needed to be done if there\’s any.

Below is a standard ERP checklist (RFP) that we use for our clients and the importance of each information so you can align them with your prospective vendor.

• Nature of business – it is important to inform your nature of the business because that is a quick high-level understanding already of what you need. Do you sell goods, offer services, do projects, or a mix of each.
• Existing software if there\’s any – what are the pain points of your existing software and what is the reason for upgrading.
• With IT infrastructure and an in-house IT team (Y/N) – You have to assess and decide if you will maintain your own IT infra or go for fully cloud-based software. Do you prefer an on-premise setup or online? Would you go for an in-house IT team or outsourced?
• No. of users, departments, cost centers, and branches – this information will tell how complex the implementation will be. The more number of branches equates to a more complex implementation.
• Preferred software licensing – Would go for an outright perpetual license or subscription-based. On-premise installations normally is the outright perpetual license and cloud-based is usually software-as-a-service (SAAS) or subscription-based.
• Unique business process – this should be identified at the on-set so you can assess if you are open to customizing an existing software and/or the vendor can assess if they will customize their products for you.
• Needs online approval workflow (Y/N) – if yes, then you will have to consider if this is viable and ready, people and infra wise.
• In this link is a detailed RFP checklist including the forms and reports that you would like to see. Feel free to use this and ask your ERP vendors to offer a proposal based on your detailed requirement.

In my next post, I will talk about data gathering and what data you need to setup your ERP including its templates so stay tuned!

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