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How to choose an ERP: the 5-step method and the experts to involve before launching the project

09/11/2026
Focustribes

To choose an ERP, move through five steps, from need to contracts, with a selection committee that brings together the sponsor, finance, IT, business and data, and independent experts to challenge vendors and integrators. FocusTribes, a selective community of independent consultants, identifies these profiles within 48 hours.

This article describes the five selection steps, the roles on the decision committee, the SAP, change management and data experts to involve before the project, and eight pitfalls to avoid.
Last updated: November 2026.
IN SHORT: WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
Choosing an ERP takes five steps: needs and processes, target scenarios, the consultation, the full cost, then the decision on vendor and integrator. Each step produces a deliverable and a decision.
The selection committee brings together eight roles: a sponsor, finance, IT, process owners, a data owner, procurement, change management and an independent expert. If even one is missing, a risk goes unaddressed.
Even before the project, three profiles of experts secure the decision: an SAP or ERP consultant, a change management profile and a data profile, on short, clearly scoped assignments.
The pitfalls of selection are well known: demos without scenarios, choosing on licence price, underestimated data, an integrator chosen too late. Eight are detailed here.
FocusTribes, a selective community of independent consultants, identifies a profile within 48 hours among accredited consultants with at least 8 years of experience. This article describes a method: it does not rely on a client selection case.

I- How to choose an ERP: five steps, from need to decision

A successful ERP choice does not start with comparing vendors: it starts with what the company wants to change. Selection runs in five steps, each with a written deliverable and an identified decision. This sequence is our own reading, built from published methods and our ERP project experience: it is not a standard.
Frame the need
Target scenarios
Consultation
Full cost
Decision
 
Frame the need and the processes
DeliverableMap of key processes and pain points, quantified objectives, scope
DecisionWhat the ERP must change, and what stays the same
Decided bySponsor, with finance and IT
 
Define the target scenarios
DeliverableTwo or three scenarios: scope, approach (carry-over or redesign), target timeline
DecisionWhich scope and trajectory to take into the consultation
Decided bySelection committee
 
Consult vendors and integrators
DeliverableRequirements built on business scenarios, scoring grid, demonstrations
DecisionWho makes the shortlist, who drops out
Decided bySelection committee, with scoring by the business
 
Cost the full picture and the risks
DeliverableLifetime cost (licences, integration, data, training, run), risks and prerequisites
DecisionWhether the project is viable, and on what conditions
Decided byFinance, IT, procurement
Decide and contract
DeliverableChoice of vendor and integrator, written commitments, start-up plan
DecisionWho signs what, with which guarantees
Decided byExecutive management, on the committee's recommendation

Steps 1 and 2: processes first, the tool second

The ERP requirements document most often drifts when it lists features before processes are decided. Write down first what works, what blocks you and what you are prepared to standardise. An ERP is compared on how it will run your processes end to end (order, invoicing, close, supply), not on the number of its functions.
The scenarios in step 2 must be comparable with each other: same sites, same countries, same target timeline. This is also the moment to decide between carrying over your existing system and a redesign: for SAP, our guide to S/4HANA Greenfield implementation details that choice.

Step 3: a consultation built on your scenarios

A serious consultation relies on business scenarios written by your teams and played out in demonstrations, with your typical data. A standard demo shows the tool at its best; a scenario shows whether your case works. According to KPMG (in French), the final selection is made between two or three players after scoring: a short list, scored with a common grid, beats a long comparison.

Steps 4 and 5: the full cost, then the decision

The licence price is only part of the cost. According to KPMG (in French), an ERP project often lasts 12 to 24 months, involves business and IT teams and often costs hundreds of thousands of euros. The full cost includes integration, data migration and quality, training, change management and run. Step 5 ends with two linked choices: the vendor and the integrator. For the latter, see our six-criteria grid for choosing an S/4HANA partner.

II- Who should sit on an ERP selection committee?

An ERP selection committee is not a project committee: it decides, once, on something that commits the company for years. Eight roles must be represented. Each brings information the others do not have, and its absence leaves a risk unaddressed.
SELECTION COMMITTEE · 8 ROLES AROUND THE TABLE
Sponsor
Carries the decision at executive level and arbitrates between priorities
Without them: Trade-offs stall and the decision is taken without a clear mandate
Finance
Validates the full cost, the expected return and the closing calendar
Without them: A budget based on licences alone, without project cost
IT
Assesses architecture, interfaces, security and the ability to run the tool
Without them: An ERP that does not talk to the rest of the information system
Process owners
Write the demonstration scenarios and score the offers
Without them: Demos judged on ergonomics, not on your real cases
Data owner
Assesses the state and migration of master data (customers, items, suppliers)
Without them: A data migration discovered after signature
Procurement
Runs the consultation, compares commitments and prepares the negotiation
Without them: Verbal commitments, a vague scope in the contract
Change management
Measures the impact on roles, teams and the adoption timeline
Without them: A technical project that ignores what go-live demands of teams
Independent expert
Challenges the offers, reviews scope and assumptions, with no commercial stake in the decision
Without them: The only opinions available are those of the vendor and the integrator
Our reading: the make-up of this committee is an editorial recommendation from FocusTribes, not a standard. On a small scope, one person can hold several roles; what matters is that none of the eight topics is left without an owner.

III- Which team of SAP, change management and data consultants to involve before the project?

During selection, the company rarely has all the time and expertise in-house: teams have their day jobs, and nobody has already run three ERP selections. That is the role of senior independent consultants, brought in on short, clearly scoped assignments that stop at the decision. Three profiles come up most often.
SAP or ERP consultant
Reviews the scope, prepares the demonstration scenarios, compares the tender responses and spots what is standard and what will require custom development.
Change management profile
Assesses the impact of go-live on roles and teams, prepares stakeholders for the decision and flags adoption risks before they become costly.
Data profile
Audits the quality of master data, estimates the migration effort and raises the question of the data owner before the consultation.

When each profile steps in

Each profile is not needed throughout the selection. The diagram below gives a benchmark of what we observe most often: adjust it to your scope.
Indicative benchmark: our own reading, to adapt to each project

Need

Scenarios

Consultation

Cost

Decision
SAP or ERP consultant
 
Change management profile
 
Data profile
 

What an independent expert can do that neither vendor nor integrator can

The vendor and the integrator have a stake in the decision: that is normal and not a criticism. An independent consultant has none. They review their assumptions, ask for proof on your scenarios, check that the quoted scope matches the scope you want and prepare the negotiation. Separating delivery from the control of delivery is a classic governance rule, which we detail in our article on S/4HANA partners for industry.

Short assignments with a written scope

A selection assignment is defined by a deliverable and an end date: for example, reviewing the request for proposal, running the demonstrations or auditing master data. Duration depends on scope, from a few weeks to a few months. This format also lets you move forward when headcount is constrained: see our article on the frozen budget and external experts.

IV- Eight pitfalls in ERP selection

These pitfalls come back from one selection to the next. For each, we give the reflex that avoids it.
Demos without scenarios.
Reflex: Impose your scenarios on vendors, with your typical data, and have them scored by the process owners who will use the system.
A choice based on licence price.
Reflex: Compare the full cost over the lifetime: integration, data, training, change management and run.
A vendor chosen before the processes.
Reflex: Decide what the ERP must change before looking at offers, otherwise the tool dictates the processes.
Underestimated data.
Reflex: Audit the quality of master data before the consultation and name a data owner.
An absent or changing sponsor.
Reflex: Without an identified owner at executive level, trade-offs stall. Name them and set their role in the committee.
An integrator chosen after the vendor has signed.
Reflex: Vendor and integrator are chosen together: the second delivers what the first sells.
A sold scope that differs from the wanted scope.
Reflex: Have the quoted scope reviewed line by line by someone with no stake in the sale.
Adoption treated as an end-of-project topic.
Reflex: Measure the impact on roles from the selection stage: it determines the go-live timeline.

V- After the decision: where to go next

This article stops at signature. For what follows in an ERP programme, two articles take over, without repeating what precedes:

VI- What FocusTribes offers to secure your ERP selection

Accredited independent consultants, on a defined scope and duration

FocusTribes is a selective community of independent consultants: consultants are accredited, with at least 8 years of experience, and are available as freelancers or through salary portage (portage salarial, a French umbrella-employment arrangement). For your selection, we identify within 48 hours an SAP or ERP consultant, a change management profile or a data profile, depending on what your committee does not cover.

When we are not the right choice

FocusTribes is neither a software vendor, nor an integrator, nor a marketplace of profiles. We do not carry out configuration or development, and we do not recommend a vendor. If you are looking for who will deliver the project, see our grid for choosing an integrator; if you are looking for who will secure the decision and steer on the client side, that is our scope. To see how our SAP consulting works, visit our SAP implementation consulting page.
An ERP selection to prepare?
Describe your scope and your timeline: we identify the profiles within 48 hours.
Let's discuss your project

VII- FAQ: choosing an ERP

How to choose an ERP?

Choose it in five steps: frame the need and the processes, define two or three target scenarios, consult vendors and integrators on your scenarios, cost the full picture, then decide and contract. Each step produces a written deliverable and a decision. A selection committee brings together the sponsor, finance, IT, business, a data owner, procurement, change management and an independent expert. FocusTribes, a selective community of independent consultants, identifies these experts within 48 hours.

Who should take part in choosing an ERP?

Eight roles: a sponsor, finance, IT, process owners, a data owner, procurement, change management and an independent expert. On a small scope, one person can hold several roles, but none of the eight topics should be left without an owner.

Do you need an independent consultant to choose an ERP?

It is not mandatory, but useful when the company has not run an ERP selection before or lacks time in-house. The consultant reviews the scope and the assumptions of the vendor and the integrator, runs the demonstrations on your scenarios and prepares the negotiation, with no commercial stake in the decision.

What is the difference between an RFI and an RFP?

An RFI (request for information) is used to identify the vendors and integrators that can meet your need. An RFP (request for proposal) asks a shortlist for a priced, binding proposal, based on your requirements and your scenarios. The first widens the choice, the second narrows it.

Should you choose the vendor before the integrator?

No: the two choices are linked. The vendor sells the solution, the integrator delivers it and carries the integration timelines and costs. Choosing the vendor alone, then looking for an available integrator, exposes you to conditions you have to accept. Consult both together, on the same scenarios.

How long does an ERP project last after selection?

According to KPMG, an ERP project often lasts 12 to 24 months and involves business and IT teams; duration depends on scope, the number of sites and countries, and data quality. For SAP S/4HANA in a large multi-country group, allow at least 24 to 36 months (FocusTribes benchmark).

What are the main pitfalls in ERP selection?

Demos without scenarios, a choice based on licence price, a vendor chosen before the processes, underestimated data, an absent sponsor, an integrator chosen too late, a sold scope that differs from the wanted scope and adoption treated at the end of the project. Each is corrected by a simple reflex, detailed in this article.
Choosing an ERP is not about comparing vendors: it is about deciding what the company wants to change, with the right people around the table, before signing.