Choosing and implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can be a difficult and overwhelming task. Choosing the right ERP system and implementing it successfully can provide a competitive advantage and help a business reach its operating objectives. Conversely, the wrong system can saddle a company with decreased productivity, ineffective information, low employee morale, and a poor return on investment.
Cohn Consulting Group, a division of J.H. Cohn, provides the expertise and confident guidance that come from years of experience in successful enterprise system selection and implementation. We make sure that your project is on the right track and that all factors affecting the business have been considered.
Components of an ERP System
Includes the technology solutions for all functional areas of a company
Tightly integrates traditional functional silos within a company
May contain fully-integrated modules from one software system
May contain multiple best-of-breed software systems which are linked through integration, a data warehouse, or common reporting system
Our Comprehensive ERP Services - Software requirements definition
- Software systems research and identification
- Software review and selection
- Lean management of business processes
- Software systems integration design
- Software implementation facilitation
- Custom manual development
- Network and hardware assessment
- Network design and implementation
Why Companies Seek Our Assistance with an ERP System Project- Concern over selecting the wrong system or vendor
- Little or no experience in conducting a non-biased system selection
- Lack of knowledge of currently available ERP system capabilities
- Prior implementation failure
- Lack of internal resources to dedicate to project
The Cohn Consulting Difference- We allow the selection team members to focus on value-added responsibilities
- We guide the project team to maintain momentum in the selection and implementation processes
- We identify barriers to implementation and improve overall preparedness
- We utilize controls and measures to track project progress and ROI to gain the desired outcome
- We provide an appropriate level of communication and project management while permitting client staff to have ownership in the project and its ongoing success.
- We measure the total cost of ownership to help determine the appropriate solution for your business
- We provide the methodology which will help your company be confident in the chosen application
Common Situations and Questions We Can Answer - We manage everything on Excel spreadsheets and want to integrate all of our functions within one software system for improved visibility. How can we reach this goal?
- Our company has grown and our current system just doesn’t cut it anymore. What is the current level of investment in a new system and how can we finance the purchase?
- The programmer/creator of our homegrown 20-year-old legacy system is planning to retire next year. We have no idea who will be able to service / repair / configure our system. What are the implications to our business?
- All of our employees complain about our ERP system. Some new employees say they like the system at their previous employer better than ours. How do we compare to our competitors with regard to technology use?
- We are here with technology and we want to get there. Is it realistic given our size and culture?
- Our software is seven years old, is it time we invest in new software?
- We made so many modifications to our software that we no longer obtain support from our vendor and cannot upgrade without significant cost. Should we buy new software or purchase an upgrade on the current software?
- Our staff is too busy running the day-to-day operation. How can we obtain help on project-managing the implementation?
- We have no idea how to prepare ourselves for software implementation. What should we focus on?
- We have had multiple implementation failures in the past. How can we assure success this time around?
- Our software is great for accounting and distribution but we have no capabilities to manage inventory, view customer order history, analyze sales, etc. How can we obtain this functionality?
- Will we need to upgrade our hardware if we buy new software?
- Why does our current system keep crashing? Will this happen with the new system?
- Do we really need the server that the software vendor is suggesting?
- How can our system be more secure against computer viruses?
- Our inventory is out of control and we think it may have something to do with our ERP system settings. Can you help us identify the problem and provide guidance on how to fix it?
- We have been using our software for five years and during this time we have had a lot of employee turnover. Our new employees don’t know how to use the system. We have the original software manual from the developer, but no one understands it. We need to document how our software works for our operation and have it available in a user-friendly format for training purposes. Can you help us develop a customized manual?