No matter what you had in mind to buy, whenever you come across a package deal it’s always something that makes us stop and think.
Package deals are found practically everywhere these days from hair cut salons to ERP solutions. Of course decisions made on buying a packaged ERP Solution is subject to a much more long-term drive and vision than a haircut, and given that, that’s going to be my main focus today!!
Given the benefits that come from an packaged deal such as, low cost, quicker turnaround time, easier buying process, lower risk in terms of process coverage and better governance, it’s easy to get too excited about these deals and jump to conclusions.
As an enterprise buyer there are few important criteria’s you need to tick off if you would want to make sure you are getting the most out of a packaged deal, like:
Segmentalise:
You always got to segmentalise the different components and analysis them for their individual CBA (Cost benefit analysis) separately. This would give you a good base to start drawing up your objective you would want to achieve from each of these components in reaching your business goals. Also assess the trade offs, risks, pros and cons of making an investment in the packaged solution.
Integration Maturity
Identify how long this package solution has been in existence, try and get a list of some companies that have implemented these and how they have done. Understand how mature the solution is in terms of integration within its own modules and how much open they are to allow for external interfaces to interact with. Most often than not, packaged solution tend to be more rigid than individual components, due to the so called “system architecture” that is sold along with it, that allows it to talk to each other modules internally but not much so externally.
Domain specifics
Most packaged solution are advertised as a “One fit All” solution, something that I don’t quite find fascinating because if you are ever going to buy a one fit all solution you are not differentiating yourself from the others and in essence losing out a possible competitive edge you could have had. Check with vendor how best in class practises for your domain have been built into the solution and how flexible it is in terms of catering to changing business needs. As a buyer, f you don’t already have a road map of your organisations informational needs for the next couple of year, its important you draw up one before asking this question.
Packaged deals seem to be the new trend in ERP Solutions and with large ERP vendors moving to the cloud and SaaS architecture, it makes for a perfect solution for companies looking out for low TCO, TCI (total cost of implementation) and low risks in project implementation, so keep an eye out on packaged deals and keep you checklist handy !!
All the best and have a nice day, cheers !!
