ERP Demo Questions to Ask Every Vendor

ERP demos are designed to impress. To compare vendors fairly, you need to control the demo. These questions help.

Before the demo

Send each vendor a script of your five to ten most important scenarios, with sample data. For example:

• A customer order with a special price, part delivered from two warehouses
• A purchase from an overseas vendor with freight and duty
• A production order with scrap
• Month-end close

Use our ERP requirements template to build the script.

Questions about the scenarios

• Is this standard, configured or customised?
• How many clicks does it take for a daily task?
• What happens when something goes wrong, such as a short delivery?
• Can you show it with our data, not demo data?

Configuration vs customisation

• Which of our requirements need custom development?
• Who maintains custom code after go-live?
• What happens to customisations at upgrade?

Reporting

• Can users build their own reports?
• Show us margin by customer and product.
• How do we export data or connect a BI tool?

Integrations

• Which of our systems have standard connectors?
• What API does the ERP provide?
• Who supports integrations when they fail?

Upgrades and roadmap

• How often are new versions released?
• How long is each version supported?
• What does an upgrade usually cost?

Implementation

• Who exactly will work on our project?
• What is your methodology and typical timeline?
• How do you handle data migration and training?

See how to choose an ERP consultant.

Costs

• Licence or subscription per user, and price increases
• Hosting
• Implementation, data migration, training
• Support and upgrades

Ask for total cost over five years. Our ERP total cost of ownership guide explains what to include.

References

Ask for two customers in your industry and size, and call them. Ask what they would do differently.

After the demos, score vendors with our ERP partner evaluation scorecard.