ERP Evaluation: Why Must You See the Actual Product?

Seeing is believing. Over the last few years I have been closely involved with ERP evaluations done by major companies. Whether they send out their own well-planned RFP, hire an external consultant to prepare the specifications and do the evaluation, or blindly follow the purchases of industry leaders or their joint venture partner, at some point in the process the company will need to look at the software and make a final decision to move ahead.

Each of these methodologies has its pros and cons. However, I must highlight one glaring difference which I have observed in the way vendors approach the customer evaluation process - SAP and Oracle resellers would in many cases avoid demos (customized demos were a clear no-no) and bank on their PowerPoint slides as well large company references. On the other side, Microsoft resellers would advocate actual product demos. Why is there a difference in the approaches? Why would a salesperson not be willing to show the actual product?

The answers are humbling - some resellers dread showcasing the actual product as it involves a lot of effort just to create demos for their products; their products can be difficult to customize, difficult to play with for changing look and feel, difficult to integrate with popular user productivity suites like Microsoft Office or SharePoint. By contrast, the core USP for Microsoft Dynamics, especially as it applies to the large enterprise, is ‘ease of use' and that is the reason Dynamics resellers want to present the product.

As a buyer, isn't it imperative to enjoy the test drive before buying? Would you select something where the actual product is only seen in the vendor's PowerPoint presentations? Or would you like to feel and attach yourself before you plunge into ...