Disputes with Your Current ERP Vendor
The typical deal from the ERP industry is not good. First, ERP access costs tend to be about double what they could be and get worse over time. Second, typical commercial terms remove all practical options to compel action by the sellers—which they regularly leverage once they know you are stuck.
However, there are options for companies that have a commercial dispute with an ERP vendor, even with the constraints of a typical deal. At first these options are usually limited and must be played with finesse, but over time this poor commercial status can be improved. Therefore, now is the time to assess your situation and begin improving your status over time—whether there is an existing dispute or not. Toward this goal Engleman Associates offers the following:
- Enterprise application current status: Assessment of current enterprise application status from a cost and commercial terms perspective. This assessment can be executed with different levels of intensity and calendar time depending on the immediate situation and long-term plans of the ERP user.
- Enterprise software improvement plan: This plan builds upon the prior step and explores business application improvement options for core and non-core ERP elements. This includes establishing highly-favorable application access costs for the various improvement options.
- ERP seller pushing a cloud upgrade: This typically is one of the best times to fix problems with existing commercial terms. Further, there are aspects of cloud access that must be fully understood before proper decisions can be made and favorable pricing and terms arranged.
- ERP seller dispute strategy and support: Notwithstanding the awful state of typical contracts, there are ways for you to achieve favorable results in a commercial dispute. Over the years we have identified the best strategic and legal resources to develop practical plans for a variety of matters, and in most cases can help clients develop win-win proposals and execute mediation to resolve issues and mitigate further cost and strain.
Our Team: The EAI team involved with these services is comprised of well-connected ERP industry insiders, each with decades of experience in how the ERP industry thinks and reacts. These team members have known each other for years and decided to pool their knowledge and skill for the benefit of ERP users wanting to rise above the constrained ERP industry culture and typical deal. Key team member' backgrounds are:
Legal Strategy and Terms: Our ERP legal consultant is a licensed attorney who has represented ERP vendors for 25 years related to litigated customer conflicts—so he knows what buyers must do to protect their commercial interests. This "code breaker" knows just where vendor vulnerabilities are and can provide unparalleled insight toward beneficial resolution, perhaps resulting in a salvaged implementation and reductions in claimed money from the vendor.
Operational Contract Terms: This EAI team member has been in involved with the ERP industry since 1995. He has negotiated comprehensive commercial terms for over 75 clients with a focus on operational day-to-day details that should be either directly accommodated or at least not constrained in commercial terms. He works directly with our legal consultant, resulting in a highly competent and formidable team facing ERP sellers and implementers.
ERP Sales Insider: After 30 years in ERP industry sales, this team member provides masterful insight on tactics and soft spots of the ERP sellers. He know what they are thinking, what motivates them, and how to reverse typical industry tactics into the buyer's favor.
ERP Implementer insider: In addition to over 25 years of general ERP industry experience, this team member has specific skill arranging implementation services and strategies for resolving disputes derived from leading complex services for a Tier-1 ERP implementer.
In the aggregate, we honestly believe this team is unmatched. Therefore, if you find yourself in a situation in which your expectations of your ERP Vendor or Implementation were not met, and they are demanding money, withholding maintenance services, threatening to pull the plug or worse, then let's talk.