We are usually called into an ERP conversation at one of two moments: before a purchase, when a vendor has quoted a number that feels high, or eighteen months after go-live, when the plant is still running on a WhatsApp group.
Both have the same root cause. The scope was set by someone selling software rather than by the decisions the business actually needs to make.
Start from decisions, not features
List the twelve decisions you make every week: what to produce tomorrow, which order to prioritise, whether to accept a rush order, which customer to chase for payment, what to procure, whether a batch passes. For each, write down the information required and where it comes from today.
That document is your requirement specification, and it is usually dramatically shorter than a vendor's module list. Most ERP over-spend is modules bought for decisions nobody makes — a quality module in a business with no quality plan, or production planning in a business that makes to order.
Shortlist three and score them honestly
For Indian MSME manufacturing, the realistic shortlist usually comes from Tally Prime with a plant add-on, Zoho One, Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and SAP Business One. Sector-specific products exist in dairy and food and are sometimes the right answer.
Score each against your requirement document with weights you set before you see a demonstration. Demonstrations are designed to impress; a scoring matrix completed beforehand is the only reliable defence against a good salesperson.
| Evaluation axis | Weight guidance | What to actually test |
|---|---|---|
| Process fit without customisation | 30 – 35% | Run your three hardest workflows in the demo |
| Five-year total cost | 20 – 25% | Licences, implementation, customisation, internal time |
| Implementation partner quality | 15 – 20% | Talk to two references of your size, not theirs |
| Reporting and integration | 10 – 15% | Can you get the ten metrics out without help? |
| Usability on the shop floor | 10 – 15% | Have a supervisor try it, not a manager |
Count the cost nobody budgets
Licence cost is the number everyone compares and often the smallest. Implementation typically runs one to two times first-year licence cost. Customisation is where budgets break, which is why process fit is weighted so heavily. And internal time — your team's hours in data migration, testing and training — is real cost that never appears in a quotation.
Across our selection engagements the median gap between the first vendor quotation and the eventual negotiated total, after right-sizing scope, has been ₹22 lakh. That is the value of doing this before signing rather than after.
Implement in thin slices
Each slice goes live, gets used for a month, and gets accepted in writing by a named internal owner before the next starts. This turns an eighteen-month big bang with one terrifying go-live into a six to nine month sequence of small wins, and it is the single biggest predictor of success in the implementations we have managed.
- Inventory and procurement — one source of truth for stock. Live and used before anything else begins.
- Production and batch records — output, consumption, yield, traceability.
- Quality — specifications, test records, release decisions.
- Sales and dispatch — order to invoice, e-way bill, credit control.
- Finance integration — reconciliation with the books, and only now.
- Reporting layer — the ten-metric owner dashboard, built on data people already trust.
Rescuing a stalled implementation
Most rescues are cheaper than replacements. The diagnostic is short: is the data trustworthy, is anyone using it, and does a named person own each process? Usually the answer is that master data was migrated badly, nobody owns anything, and the plant reverted to parallel records.
Fixing master data, appointing owners and re-running training on one module at a time recovers more implementations than it fails to. Replacing the software repeats the original mistake with a different logo.
Frequently asked questions
A note on the numbers in this article
Benchmarks come from engagements we have delivered and are indicative at 2025–26 prices. Scheme details, rates and eligibility change with each policy cycle — verify the current position before you commit capital. Nothing here is legal, tax or investment advice.