SoftSelect® ERP Selection
Our Trademarked Selection Methodology
Find the Right ERP. Secure the Right Deal. Protect Your Long-Term Interests.
EAI works exclusively for buyers. We have no relationships with ERP sellers or implementers that influence our recommendations. Every decision in this process is made in your interest — not theirs.
Our Approach
Step 1: Business Process Review
We conduct comprehensive discovery of your strategic priorities and critical business process requirements using our AI-powered 20% Critical Topics methodology. This process considers multiple inputs including our 1,500+ candidate functional requirements, your industry factors, regulatory requirements, and strategic plans.
Client involvement: Focused validation sessions. 20x or better time savings compared to traditional discovery approaches.
From this, your Enterprise Discovery repository builds forward—all findings organized for immediate use and future implementation in a framework completely controlled by you.
We also develop your Enterprise Business Application Diagram—a clear map of what belongs in the ERP and what will be handled by other systems. This boundary definition shapes the entire evaluation that follows, keeping the selection focused and preventing scope creep.
Step 2: ERP Selection Education
We provide comprehensive education covering both industry context and the selection process ahead:
Industry context: How the ERP industry works, cost control strategies, why buyer control matters in commercial relationships, vendor contract tactics, implementation risk management, and more.
Selection process: Review of the major steps, your involvement and time requirements, areas of typical project dilution to watch for, and how to maintain control throughout.
Client involvement: 1-2 hour education session for the full core selection team and involved executives. This preparation keeps your team informed and engaged without consuming significant time.
Step 3: ERP Candidate List Development
The entire candidate list is developed and validated with no direct contact with ERP sellers. Our AI research, scoring, and validation process produces a credible, defensible list based entirely on objective analysis—not vendor relationships or sales calls.
AI-Powered Screening:
AI evaluates all available ERP options against your specific attributes (size, industry, manufacturing type, functional priorities, and other constraints)
Generates weighted scoring based on suitability factors across multiple matching criteria
Narrows field to 5 or fewer candidates for detailed evaluation
EAI Challenge Review:
We don't simply accept what AI produces—our team challenges the results: Are expected leading ERP for your industry and size on the list? Are scores well-calibrated? Are any candidates known to be problematic on commercial terms?
Any gaps or anomalies are investigated and resolved before the list reaches you
Client Review — Two Stages:
Core team review: Working session with your lead contacts to walk through the list, confirm scores, address questions, and incorporate any expected candidates not yet included
Full team presentation: Formal presentation to the broader selection team and executives covering the finalized list, scoring rationale, ERP boundary assessment, and overview of evaluation steps ahead
Implementer Search (when applicable): For ERP sold through independent implementation partners, we begin the implementer search in parallel during this phase—so implementer candidates are identified before you need them.
Client involvement: Two review meetings. All research and analysis handled by EAI and AI. Minimal disruption.
Step 4: ERP Finalist Evaluation
With AI acceleration driving efficiency, we conduct comprehensive parallel evaluation of finalist ERPs across all relevant dimensions simultaneously:
Functional Assessment
AI generates a first-level functionality assessment against your Selection Functionality Priorities for each finalist before any vendor interaction
Targeted investigation methods—structured vendor interactions, application video review, documentation review—confirm or refine AI findings
When group demonstrations are warranted, AI-generated structured agendas keep vendors focused on your priorities—not their standard sales narrative
AI produces weighted functionality comparison report across finalists
Cost Analysis
Initial license cost assessment and reduction strategies
Long-term cost projection (subscription or support cost escalation)
Total cost of ownership comparison across finalists — achieve 30-50% typical cost reduction on initial licenses
Commercial Terms Analysis
AI scans all vendor documents against ~50 commercial terms objectives
Identifies problematic terms, missing protections, hidden escalators
Generates three levels of corrective language for negotiation
Iterative negotiation guided by AI-identified term corrections
Protect long-term interests with buyer-favorable terms
Implementer Strength
Overall implementer strength assessed using 10-factor scoring (one implementer per finalist ERP at this stage)
Ability to deliver key consultants with specific skills and adequate capacity
AI scans implementer SOWs and commercial terms using standard screening criteria
Client conducts finalist implementer interviews
Tools and Utilities Assessment
AI evaluates each finalist's configuration tools, integration capabilities, workflow tools, reporting and dashboard tools, AI-native capabilities, and other utilities that determine how well the ERP can be tuned to your needs
Differences between vendor-controlled multi-tenant and single-instance options assessed where both exist
Hosting Options Assessment
Hosting options evaluated for each finalist: vendor-controlled multi-tenant, vendor-hosted single instance, independent MSP hosting, or buyer-controlled hosting
Assessment covers data center standards, application speed and availability commitments, scalability, security, backup processes, and failover options
Most ERP consultants skip this evaluation entirely—hosting quality directly affects your ERP experience for the life of the system
Support Standards Assessment
Support tiers, response time commitments, SLA standards, and service credit provisions evaluated for each finalist
Version support policy reviewed—protecting your ability to manage upgrade timing on your schedule, not the vendor's
Weak or vague support commitments carried into commercial terms negotiations to formalize protections in writing
Competitive Environment — Maintained Throughout
From first vendor contact through deal close, no seller is signaled that they are winning—sellers who believe the competition is real behave differently on cost and terms
The second-place finalist remains active until the deal with the selected vendor is substantially closed—preserving negotiating leverage to the end
This discipline is one of the most important contributors to the cost and terms outcomes our clients achieve
Overall Performance Scoring
AI rolls up all factors: functionality, cost, terms, tools, hosting, support, implementer quality
Weighted overall score for each ERP candidate
Transparent methodology, quantified comparison
Client involvement: Targeted vendor interactions for functionality confirmation (structured and focused—not open-ended sales events), finalist implementer interviews. All other analyses are AI-driven with EAI validation.
Step 5: Selection Decision
The selection process concludes with a structured series of steps—not a single meeting.
Results rollup: AI consolidates all evaluation findings into a comprehensive scoring matrix. The core selection team reviews and challenges results before broader presentation.
Full team debrief: Formal presentation to the complete client team covering findings, open items, and the path to final selection.
Conditional selection: The leading ERP receives a conditional acknowledgment while outstanding items are resolved. The second-place finalist remains active until the deal is substantially closed.
Vendor communications: Released vendors receive a professionally handled close. The client delivers the message directly—it carries more weight coming from the buyer.
Disciplined ERP selection based on calculated analysis, not sales presentations.
What You Achieve
Right ERP selected based on calculated analysis, not vendor presentations
30-50% typical cost reduction on initial license fees
Commercial terms protecting your interests — ~50 objectives systematically addressed
Hosting options evaluated and understood before you sign—no performance surprises after go-live
Enterprise Discovery repository organized and implementation-ready
Total client time commitment dramatically lower than traditional selection
A competitive process maintained to close—your selected vendor knows they earned the deal
AI Acceleration Points
1. Critical Strategic and Business Process Topics (The 20% Topics)
Traditional approach: Time-consuming and costly interviews potentially using lists of candidate topics to discuss. Final results often miss critical items and include irrelevant ones.
Our AI approach: Sophisticated multi-input analysis generates customized critical strategic and business functionality topics that only require client team review and potential tuning to be stable.
AI Engine Inputs:
~20 company-specific variables (size, industry, business model, strategic priorities, current systems, pain points, regulatory environment, timeline, constraints)
Your business process category (BPC) structure (customized for your company, not template)
1,500+ candidate functionality topics (our master library from 1,000+ projects)
Prior documentation if available (your strategic plans, process maps, improvement initiatives, prior consultant reports)
Industry factors (best practices frameworks, regulatory requirements, trade group standards, compliance certifications)
What AI Does: Analyzes all inputs together—scanning 1,500 candidate topics against your specific situation, industry patterns, regulatory requirements, and strategic priorities. Generates customized critical topics list organized by your business process categories, with context for "why this likely matters for YOUR company."
EAI Refinement: We review AI output, testing listed topics against our experience and validation checklist.
Client Validation: Client teams conduct a validation review of the AI results with a focus on tagging the more important topics. To reach this same result with classic consulting takes weeks of disruptive and costly workshops, with AI-driven results significantly more targeted and complete. 20x or better time savings.
If building on ERP Strategy Planning service: AI integrates prior strategic work, creating continuity from strategy through selection.
2. Strategic & Functional Priorities for Screening ERP
Traditional approach: Consultant reviews interview notes, writes ERP requirements document based on interpretation.
Our AI approach: Using results from the prior step, we conduct targeted client interviews to confirm and flesh out the most important topics. Interview results are processed by AI to extract priorities, identify patterns, organize into ERP evaluation criteria. Your specific needs, quantified and weighted for ERP scoring.
3. Enterprise Discovery Repository (Building Forward)
Traditional approach: Discovery is captured in consultant formal report and general notes, filed away, hard to use, or just forgotten.
Our AI approach: All client discovery organized in client-controlled collaboration platform. Modern knowledge management system that becomes foundation for further enterprise business system improvement work.
You own it. You control it. Fully searchable. Implementation-ready. No knowledge lost in consultant reports.
If building on ERP strategy work: Repository builds on strategic foundation. Complete continuity maintained.
4. ERP Candidate List — AI Research With No Seller Contact
Traditional approach: ERP initial list based on consultant experience—or inappropriately, their vendor relationships. Vendor contact begins immediately, giving sellers early access to influence the process.
Our AI approach:
AI generates ERP candidate list based on suitability attributes and client requirements—with no direct ERP seller contact
EAI challenge review validates AI output: expected leading ERP confirmed, scores examined, known-difficult vendors on commercial terms flagged
Careful direct and AI vetting narrows list to 5 or fewer for detailed evaluation
Client review conducted in two stages—core team working session, then formal full team presentation
Quantified, transparent methodology—all scoring documented and defensible
Result: A credible, validated ERP candidate list built on objective research, not vendor relationships or sales calls. Your team understands exactly why each candidate is on the list before any vendor interaction begins.
5. License Cost Control (30-50% Typical Savings)
Traditional approach: Buyers pay much more than necessary initially. And this overage gets worse over time if escalation terms are not controlled.
Our AI approach:
AI scans all seller documents for cost control details
AI identifies hidden escalators, triggers, expansion fees
AI provides specific cost reduction strategies
We negotiate from position of informed strength—which includes keeping the selection competitive to the end
Typical result: 30-50% reduction on initial license costs. Long-term cost escalation controlled.
Note: Both subscription-based access and perpetual license models covered depending on ERP vendor options.
6. Commercial Terms Protection (Approximately 50 Objectives)
Traditional approach: Legal reviews for basic contract hygiene. Usually misses ERP industry-specific traps—in the form of contract language or omissions. Costly analysis.
Our AI approach:
AI scans seller documents against approximately 50 important commercial terms objectives
Nearly every contract fails most objectives initially (this is normal—contracts favor vendors)
AI provides three levels of corrective language or recommends striking problematic terms
We guide iterative negotiation until terms protect buyer interests or vendor is rejected
Result: Commercial terms protecting you—initially and over time, instead of nearly total vendor domination.
7. Implementer Search & Selection
Independent implementation companies exist for some ERPs, especially most major ERP sellers. So ERP buyers may need to locate an implementer for one or more finalist ERPs.
Traditional approach: Candidate ERP vendor recommends implementers (usually for reasons not tied to buyers' best interests). Or the buyer conducts weeks of manually intensive searching and screening—usually being overly influenced by optimistic salespeople and other hype.
Our AI approach:
AI conducts comprehensive implementer search for specific candidate ERP
Scores candidates across 10 weighted factors: company size match, industry experience, ERP-specific experience, geographic proximity, modern vs. legacy thinking, remote consulting capability, consultant depth, and other nuanced criteria
Performance score (0-100%) calculated for each implementer
Top-scoring candidates (2 to 4 typically) further pursued directly with your team
Result: Near-immediate movement to screening finalist implementers with a clear plan to stay focused on what matters.
Plus: For finalist implementers, our AI accelerators scan implementer-proposed commercial terms and SOWs using the same rigorous approach as ERP contract review. 50x or better time savings with results unlikely to be achieved manually, regardless of reviewer talent.
8. Overall ERP Performance Scoring
Our AI methods roll up all selection factors into weighted overall performance score for each ERP candidate including results for:
Functionality match
ERP access cost (initial and long-term for both subscription and perpetual license models)
Commercial terms protection
Tools and utilities capability
Hosting options and performance standards
Support commitments
Implementer quality and availability
Quantified comparison. Transparent scoring methodology. You make the final decision with complete information and set a path to achieve proper control of the implementation.
9. Hosting Options Evaluation
Traditional approach: Hosting is treated as a vendor-provided given. Most selection consultants never evaluate it. Buyers discover performance and control issues after signing.
Our AI approach:
AI evaluates hosting standards for each finalist: data center qualifications, application speed and availability commitments, scalability, security, backup processes, and failover options
Where single-instance options exist, independent MSP hosting candidates are evaluated separately
Findings feed directly into commercial terms negotiations to formalize performance commitments in writing
Result: You understand exactly what you are buying in terms of ERP access performance—before you sign. No performance surprises after go-live.
Investment
Contact us for a project proposal. Our AI-powered methodology works at least 3x faster than consultants attempting similar depth, resulting in competitive pricing with dramatically superior outcomes—especially on contract terms and implementer selection where most consultants add little value.
ERP Selection – Cornell Pump
Negotiating ERP costs is complicated and the ERP software vendors take advantage of the buyer’s lack of experience. EAI-SoftSelect’s experience and influence helped us level the playing field. We clearly saved money and lowered our long term risk.
ERP Selection – Leupold & Stevens
Long term ERP license costs were initially very difficult to calculate. Working with EAI-SoftSelect we were able to insist on a predicable ERP license fee approach and achieve much lower initial and ongoing license fee costs.
ERP Selection – Provo Craft
EAI-SoftSelect was a great partner throughout the process of choosing an ERP solution. They helped us control the terms throughout the ERP buying process, and we achieved impressive results in reduced ERP license fees.
Having an experienced partner like EAI-SoftSelect, helped us negotiate for the products we need and set our expectations for the process of implementing these solutions.
