ERP Guides — the editorial guides for DACH mid-market buyers
The editorial guides on erp-software.org cover the questions that DACH mid-market buyers actually face during an ERP project — selection, cost, migration, implementation, cloud-versus-on-premises, requirements documents, vendor RFPs. Each guide is independent of any specific product, written for practitioners and updated on a published cadence. This index lists the available guides and the order in which they typically become relevant during a project.
Foundational guides
- What is an ERP system — the definition, the modules, the role in the operational stack
- ERP systems overview — the comprehensive landscape of products, deployment models and vendor categories
- Cloud ERP vs on-premises — the deployment-model trade-off in detail
- Cloud ERP — public, private, hosted and hybrid cloud patterns with DACH-specific concerns
Selection and procurement
- ERP selection — the end-to-end selection process for mid-market buyers
- ERP RFP process — the structured tender mechanics
- ERP requirements document — the template and the chapter-by-chapter guidance
- Requirements document example — a concrete worked example with MoSCoW prioritisation
- Compare ERP systems — the methodology for structured comparison
- ERP cost overview — the cost components and realistic benchmarks
Migration and implementation
- ERP migration — strategies, phases, risks and the data-migration discipline
- SAP ECC to S/4HANA migration — greenfield, brownfield and selective data transition paths
- ERP implementation — the project phases, partner selection, change management and hypercare
Topic guides
- ERP news — market developments shaping 2026 buyer decisions
- ERP programs — the tier-by-tier overview of the product landscape
- ERP vendor marketplace — how to find the right ERP through directories
- ERP system examples — anonymous case studies from the DACH mid-market
- ERP tools — modules, add-ons and adjacent software
- ERP for small businesses — the under-50-employees Mid-Market segment
How we build these guides
Each guide on erp-software.org is structured around a specific decision a German Mid-Market company is likely to face: when to migrate, which vendor short-list fits the size of the operation, how to scope an RFP, what to expect during go-live week, how to model 5-year TCO with realistic add-on and implementation-service cost. We start every guide from public sources (vendor documentation, analyst reports, Trovarit / BARC studies, official German federal-agency publications such as BSI / BNetzA / Destatis) and cross-check against interviews with ERP consultants who run mid-market projects in the DACH region.
The editorial discipline: no paid placement, no "the best ERP" verdicts, no affiliate-revenue links. Where we name vendors we give the trade-off explicitly — choose X if your operation matches profile Y, choose Z if it matches profile W. This pattern produces guides that are usable as actual planning artefacts rather than as marketing-funnel content.
How to get the most out of these guides
For first-time ERP buyers in the German Mid-Market, the recommended reading order is: ERP System Definition first (concept primer), then ERP RFP Process to understand the structured selection methodology, then ERP Cost Overview to set realistic budget expectations, then ERP Implementation for what happens after signing.
For experienced project leads running a migration, jump straight to First-90-Days Checklist and Data Migration Guide — these are the two areas where Mid-Market projects most consistently underestimate effort. For SAP customers facing the 2027/2030 maintenance cliff, the dedicated SAP ECC to S/4HANA Migration playbook covers the brownfield-vs-greenfield decision in detail.
Related Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should I start as a first-time ERP buyer?
Start with What is an ERP system for the foundations, then ERP systems overview for the product landscape, then ERP selection for the process. The order of the guides on this index page broadly follows the order in which buyers encounter the questions.
How often are the guides updated?
Are the guides specific to Germany or do they cover Austria and Switzerland?
The guides cover the DACH region with a focus on Germany. Austria-specific topics (UGB, FinanzOnline) and Switzerland-specific topics (OR, Swiss GAAP FER) are noted where they materially differ from the German baseline. The structural advice (selection, migration, implementation) applies across the region.