Choosing new software for your business is not easy, as many of the manufacturers I meet tell me. Everyone says that they have the perfect solution and that the customer is the centre of everything that they do – but what can you do to help uncover the truth?
In this new infographic we have put together pointers that will help you navigate this journey. Once made, it is unlikely that you will do it again for 15+ years so you need to make the best, most informed decision that you can!
The first question you need to ask is do they really have a solution for the manufacturing industry. What other similar customers do they have? And can they prove that they gave value to them? Are they just using the solution in Finance and HR or do they really run it throughout their operations?
Another question is regarding technology, can the solution be run on any device and help people outside the company act on information. I am not talking about out-dated technology with some screen scrape software on it that will then push to an iPad; I am talking about a truly responsive application that, based on your device, will determine the most important information to show you at any time.
We are also in a business climate where acquisitions and divestures are happening on a more regular basis, which can create a headache for your CIO when it comes to managing the data and processes. When you look at solutions, ask questions about how the data is held and what master data management processes exist to help you through the M&A process.
The options available for how to deploy the solution are also critical to your decision-making process. You may want to go straight to the cloud, keep it on-premise, or opt for a hybrid model. These are all important decisions and whichever one you select, you want to make sure that you can change in the future. For example, you may initially start on-premise but want to move to the cloud next year. The flexibility in this is something that you must have.
A suggestion I always make to companies is to get some key users using the software- because at the end of the day, it needs to be easy to use and intuitive. Don’t just let someone show it to you all the time, ask to have a go yourself and make up your own mind.
And lastly, when it comes to a solution that is needed to run your operations, it must be able to support all your operations as standard. You do not want to make an investment in a solution to just spend more money customizing it. The solution must have the capability to support you straight off the shelf.
At IFS, we believe that we are truly manufacturing experts, with deep industry functionality as standard which results in customers getting real value from the solution.
But don’t just take my word for it, study this infographic and then get in touch to ask us your most important questions.
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Propertyzar
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