enterprise management software - ERP / CRM

[ultraweasel]

Hi All,

The company I work for is looking at implementing some form of the above.

Currently our 'systems' are, shall we say, fragmented.

I've kind of been given the opportunity (poisoned chalice? ) to look at options.

We initially looked at SuiteCRM, but I feel it doesn't cover all the bases we (think) we need.

I recently discovered Odoo (Community Edition) - Previously OpenERP.

Odoo is looking good from an initial test install - it's modular, and appears to cover more than we need.

Due to crap internet in our rural location, a cloud based system will not work. We will have to host it locally.

We will be talking to a representative from Odoo next week, to see what they can offer us, but in the meantime, I thought it might be useful to canvas the opinions of the 'PH Massive'.

Does anybody have any experience with either of the above software?

Any recommendations for possible alternatives?

I would really appreciate any informed opinions!

Thanks,

Ultraweasel

[KevinCamaroSS]

If you want to PM me with your requirements I will have a look for you and make a recommendation FOC.

[ultraweasel]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your very kind offer. Much appreciated!

I will have to talk with my boss - At the moment I'm not sure how much authority I have for divulging further details to third parties.

I hope you understand my current position?

I will certainly get back to you, if he agrees.

Cheers,

Andy.

[user2006]

It's a difficult question to answer without knowing all the details, knowing what current systems you use and how easily data can be ported over. Also if you can advise what size of business/ industry you work in would be helpful if you can divulge.
I work with many systems but I would say the popular "generic" Mid size systems to consider are:
SAP B1
Dynamics 365 business edition
Sage 200C
Netsuite

More entry level:
Sage 50C
Quickbooks
Exact

[ultraweasel]

Hi all,

I really appreciate all your comments and offers of help - unfortunately, things don't appear to be progressing as I hoped they would...

Here's the situation, in as much detail as I hope I can get away with, without being shot...

We are a UK based manufacturer of industrial water based cleaners. We have been supplying our products to both our global distribution network and our end user customers for over 30 years. The vast majority of production is for export.

We have 10 employees, including the owner with whom I'm working with to attempt to implement improved systems.

We currently use: Sage 50 for accounts, Outlook (for emails and contact management), Word and Excel (for a myriad of spreadsheets that all require constant manual updating...I know!)

When it comes to porting data, there appears to be several options - CSV manual importation. This seems to be pretty standard, as far as it goes - it's not 'real time' though. I was hopefully (naively?) thinking that CRM/ERP can have 'live' integration so at any time all users can see a customers account status when they phone up...

There are many issues that need dealing with - most of them, individually, initially appear to be fairly minor, but the cumulative effect is much greater - when business is 'steady' there are few issues. When it gets really busy the 'systems' we have start to break down and the number of mistakes spikes. When the business grows - as we believe it will - our current systems will not be able to cope.

Aside from the office issues - we need a much better inventory management system - we, for some inventory, rely on the Mk. 1 eyeball to 'keep an eye' on some stock items. (Sorry for the pun).

That's the overview.

I'll try to address a couple of the more specific comments:

TinRobot:
I've been trying to push us to identify a scope of what we need / want any new system to achieve. I've put a couple of proposal documents together but met with limited success
The owner (my boss) fully agrees with my comments. But...He is insistent that the more we look at the options out there, the better a 'solution' we can deploy...

Now, I can see some merit in that approach. Up to a point. There is a great danger of 'analysis paralysis' taking hold - which I feel is happening.

My other major concern is that we, once again end up with 'the tail wagging the dog', insomuch that we end up with the 'system' driving how we do things, rather than us making the 'system' work for us.

As an update - we have just had 100 Mb/s fibre internet installed, so a cloud based system is now a possibility...

Currently, we have looked at:

SuiteCRM
Odoo (OpenERP)
Zoho (Now we have 'real internet')
Maximiser CRM (My boss found this yesterday - I have not had chance to look at it yet. (cloud based?).

Now, please don't think I'm complaining about my Boss - I'm not - he's the best employer I've ever had - he just tends to get a bit 'focused' on things and sometimes doesn't communicate too effectively. (He is an engineer by training, as am I - were doomed aren't we? ).

To be quite frank, I don't know what to do or where to turn at the moment - I feel I'm kind of in limbo...I want to progress this but don't know how to.

With all the chopping and changing between potential solutions, the lack of communication (despite my best efforts) and reluctance to define a scope of what we want...I really don't know where I stand - which option do I look at / work on ? I dunno

Does anyone have any bright ideas of how to get things back on track, or even anywhere near?

I really apologise for this diatribe - It's been a long and frustrating day.

Depressed Regards,

Andy

[Ean218]

Errr, you seem to be getting rather overwrought but this is a very big decision to make and you have only been at it a week.

It will take very much longer to get to the point where you can make the choice. Just spend a lot of time seeing what systems are out there, what the capabilities are and what you really want to achieve, it is not something you can do in 10 minutes and you will go down many blind alleys on the way.

[Bullett]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

This can't be highlighted enough. Business requirements should drive your technology choice not technology drive the business.
I've sold £100k worth of stuff to customers that they had to have and then when it's come to deployment they don't know what to do with it.

[KevinCamaroSS]

As TinRobot and Bullett said.

You need to ensure you know what the company needs, hence talking about a requirements document. Any system you look at should be able to handle all of your requirements to some degree, if it does not it is not the correct system for your needs.

You may be best served by getting a consultant in for a few days to go through your requirements to ensure everything is covered correctly. Whereabouts in the UK are you? I would be happy to come and see you at 'PH Rates' if you are anywhere near me.

[Carsie]

You've been given some great advice here UltraW, the summation of which is:

1.The system that you are describing is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. The other labels are modules of a complete ERP system e.g CRM (Customer Relationship Management or MRP (Materials Requirement Planning) etc

2.You need to write up your user requirements first (Business User Requirements BUR)

3. Discuss it in depth with Key Stakeholders to ensure that you future proof the business as best as you can (don't try to boil the ocean)

4.Go to market with a Request for Information (RFI) to ensure adherence and compatibility with your BUR

5. Short list x3 for a tailored demo at teh same time asking for a , Request a Quote (RFQ)

6. Select chosen system

The above is a good roadmap/project plan that you can write up and deliver to the MD

I would guess that your final bill ,all in, will be in the order of £15k which naturally you will amortize over three/five years giving good payback

As you may have guessed, I too, like the other Gents who have offered advice to you, would also like to bid for your business (it's what I do after all ) Please feel free to call for a no-obligation discussion.

Best

Mike

[deckster]

Whilst of course it's important to understand your requirements and the scope of what you are trying to achieve, talk of formal documentation (With Acronyms!) and an RFx process is faintly ludicrous for a 10-man operation.

Working out why and where things break down when you try to scale things out is the key point here; at the end of the day, much larger businesses run quite happily on Excel and Outlook and whilst there are clear issues with over-reliance on basic tooling, I wouldn't be rushing to assume that just buying in technology is necessarily going to solve your problems.

[Bullett]

Avoiding an RFx process is a good idea, it's generally speaking a protracted and over complex way of doing things and forces people to play games and no-one ends up getting what they want.

A requirements capture is a very good idea though.

[user2006]

Some fantastic impartial advice in this thread. Like others have said, so much planning needs to go into this decision and it's not really a decision that can be made internally. As soon as you go out to market to look at different system, you'll soon find that not one solution will do everything you need to "out of the box" so you will need to maybe change some of your requirements/processes or have to purchase a number of "add-on" modules to make the system work. Though this option maybe good for the short term, you might actually better getting a system that is more future-proof and is more flexible for your needs.

For a business of your type, tractability is key and with Sage 50 you'll never get that. From my knowledge Sage ERP X3 is very strong in this particular area.

Good luck to you,

[ultraweasel]

Hi all,

I've always thought that PH members are a great bunch of (generally) knowledgeable people, but I'm so grateful for the helpful advice and comments.

Now, to address some of your comments:

Ean218 - You are correct in your observation about me getting a touch 'overwrought'! about this - The more I research I've done, the more I realise we are woefully under-prepared for this undertaking. To be fair, we have been looking at the systems previously mentioned, on an ad-hoc basis, for just over a month. You are right though, we have been somewhat previous on focusing on systems rather than requirements.

TinRobot - Yes, we use SBS. I was unaware of the GDPR requirements...
I have a couple of colleagues who are now aware of the need to 'scope' this project out properly - I'm hoping that between us we can convince the owner that unless we do this we are doomed to failure.

85% failure rate? That's a scary figure! - we better try to get it right then!

Time frame for delivery? Well, after a chat this morning, he reckons 6 months(ish)- there is no fixed implementation date. At the current rate of progress...

I have been trying to get other staff members to understand why we need to change, and to be honest they have all become supportive of the idea (which is great ). The downside is they want it now

My boss is not shy of investing in the right systems at all. He just wants to get the 'right' one...

You don't seem overly impressed with any of the potential solutions we've currently looked at? Could you possibly expand on why?

KCSS - I agree that getting somebody in to help with setting, and ensuring the scope is what we actually need would be a great help for us. Unfortunately, currently my boss is somewhat suspicious of 'consultants' - whenever he subscribes to, even 'free' software to try it out he's inundated with marketing e-mails and phone calls. Your offer is very kind, much appreciated. I will ask him. We are located in rural West Sussex.

Deckster - I agree that buying in technology is not the answer - now, how to convince the boss...

So much food for thought...

You guys are great! Thank you so much!

Going forward, I'll try (with the support I've got from my colleagues) to generate a realistic set of requirements for what we want (need) and see how the owner reacts... Hopefully in a positive manner.

To all that have offered help, thank you.

Again, thanks so much.

Best Regards,

Andy

[RDShaw]

Hi Andy,

Did you ever find a suitable ERP solution?

I work for a company selling ERP software called Intact iQ - We would typically compete against the vendors listed above!

Fully appreciate this post is a year old but please do give me a PM if you would like a conversation on ERP one day.

Thanks,
Rob

Edited by RDShaw on Thursday 9th August 14:39