“Let’s just use the RFP for our selection/implementation guide. Why do we need to review the processes? Didn’t we do that to create the RFP?” The answer to that is probably not.

Have you seen those RFP services companies that have 10’s of thousands of questions to choose from to create “your own unique RFP”? Going through the list by area of responsibility and picking and choosing what ultimately turns out to be thousands upon thousands of “yes / no” questions so you can have your own “customized RFP” to hand to a vendor? And after you’ve gone through a couple hundred questions you just start hitting the “yes we need that” radial button that adds it to your RFP? Sounds pretty funny when it’s put into perspective doesn’t it?

So ask yourself, what’s the difference between you doing that and hiring a consulting firm that uses their old RFP’s to create “your unique customized RFP” when it’s really just a gathering of data from previous clients? There’s a huge difference. You pay 10’s of thousands of dollars for the privilege of using someone else’s rehashed old RFP questions! Such a deal! So seriously, there is no difference except you pay a lot more money. And guess what, the vendor does the same thing – They just start hitting the “yes” button and will worry about the consequences later.

So why is a process review or an assessment different? Because they don’t focus on features and functions of a system. It’s about HOW you do something, not what you do. It’s similar to BPI or BPR (Business Process Improvement/Re-engineering). As any expert process engineer will tell you:

  • The first thing you have to know is how you’re doing it now.
  • Then, figure out what works or doesn’t work.
  • Finally, change/modify (improve/re-engineer) the PROCESS, not the technology or people.

Not to say changing either/both technology or people isn’t necessary, but simply said, you start with process, then look at people, and as a last resort, change technology.

A good assessment will identify your unique processes and possibly eliminate the entire RFP process. You can read more about that in previous posts 2 and 3

We’ll look at another “sound method of selecting systems” in the next post.

Categories: ERP

Clark Green
