ERP Vendors

We found a remarkable dislike of ERP vendors among the professionals in sourcing and supply management that we talked to.

Basically, they all wondered what those expensive ERP systems had ever done for them. The answer was, "Not much."

Now the ERP vendors are trying to make it up to them (and trying to generate a little profit in the process).

Good luck. When we talked to the ERP vendors, by and large, there wasn't a lot of understanding of the space, and there wasn't a lot of software. Only one of the ERP vendors could reasonably be said to have a proven, tested sourcing product that covered a full range of functionality.

IT departments tend to like the idea of a single platform, and they'll tend to push the ERP solution hard, even if the fit isn't all that good. Where you have a deep commitment to a single ERP vendor, where the data the application has is properly organized, and where your primary technology thrust is in improving your analysis, this makes a lot of sense. Get the ERP companies analytics product for SRM.

Otherwise, we agree that you should consider the ERP vendor, but we think the decision should be made on fit and utility, not because you already have the platform. This is a decision that the incumbent ERP vendor will often lose.

In this market, too, don't bet too much on futures. ERP vendors are having to cut back on development, and this space is not a proven market for them. (Again, this varies by ERP vendor.)

The following ERP vendors are covered in the report. To get our publicly available information about them, click on the logo. To get the full scoop, contact Rick McLaughlin at (617) 864-9032 or rick@b2banalysts.com.