|
| Introduction |
| More and more discrete enterprise resource
planning (ERP) solutions are entering the marketplace these days.
So we thought we'd shed some light on three of the most popular
solutions for medium-sized businesses in the $25 million - $250
million (USD) range. Using &openerURL=<%=openerURL%>','Evaluation_Center')" target="EC">TEC's ERP Evaluation Center, we compared Deltek
Costpoint, Microsoft Dynamics AX, and Oracle
E-Business Suite head-to-head, based on the most recent
data supplied to us by the three vendors. |
| We looked at eight standard ERP modules.
To eliminate any chance of bias, and to ensure a level playing
field, all 3,600 criteria that make up the modules and submodules
in our ERP Evaluation Center were given equal weight and priority.
In other words, no area of functionality was treated as being more
important than any other. |
|
The chart below shows the overall rankings.
Results
As you can see above, straight out of the box', Oracle
E-Business Suite ranked first overall, with Deltek Costpoint coming in second,
and Microsoft Dynamics AX placing third.(Overall scores were based on the average
level of support the vendor offers across the entire ERP spectrum.)
As the chart below shows, Oracle finished
first in six of the eight modules, with Deltek and Microsoft finishing first
in one module each.
However, as with most aspects of enterprise software,
it's not that simple or clear-cut.
Rankings, either overall or by module, do not tell you
everything you need to know. What they do provide is a basic, high-level view
of vendors' general strengths and weaknesses right out of the box'. However,
the fact is, few businesses, if any, can use an ERP solution right out of
the box'. Businesses have special needs and priorities that need to be supported
by any ERP solution they use.
For example, if your business requires an especially robust
HR functionality, even though Oracle E-business finished first overall, Microsoft
Dynamics AX ranked first in the HR area, and may therefore be a better choice
for your organization than Oracle.
The same applies within individual modules, where the
top ranking vendor may not necessarily be the right one for your organization's
needs. Although Deltek was first overall in Purchasing Management, Microsoft
was stronger in pricing, as shown in the chart below. If pricing is a critical
area in your organization's business model, Microsoft may be a better choice
than Deltek (the Purchasing Management winner), or even Oracle (the overall
winner)
Conclusion
Given that out of the box' rankings rarely, if ever,
reflect the real world needs of an organization, and that the rankings can
shift depending on what area(s) of functionality you look at, how then do you
determine which ERP solution is best suited for your business?
The fastest, simplest way is to do what we did to produce
the results you see here: use &openerURL=<%=openerURL%>','Evaluation_Center')" target="EC">TEC's ERP Evaluation Center. (We got our results
in 20 minutes, versus weeks or even months of struggling with huge Excel spreadsheets.)
TEC's ERP evaluation center allows you to set priorities
that reflect your organization's business model and special needs at every
level of functionality. At the modular and sub-modular levels, even down to
the individual criteria, you can tell the system which business processes are
critical, important, or not important to your organization. The system then
compares your priorities against the vendor responses to produce a shortlist
of solutions. You get a custom comparison, one that ranks vendor solutions
not on out of the box' functionality, but rather on how well that functionality
matches the business requirements of your organization.
It's the best way we know of to evaluate ERP solutions,
and we invite you to give it a run through. Simply click on the link below
to visit our ERP Evaluation Center to conduct your fast, free custom ERP comparison.
After all, there's no other organization quite like yours.
For a free custom comparison of ERP solutions, click below.
Find out which ERP solutions are best suited to your company's particular requirements and type of business
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