ERP Selection Advisors
ERP selection advisors (in German Auswahlbegleiter) are independent consultancies that support buyers through the ERP procurement process without being tied to a specific vendor. Their value is structural neutrality: they are paid by the buyer, not by the eventual implementation partner, and their methodology is built around clarifying requirements before vendors are invited to bid. For German Mid-Market organisations evaluating an ERP investment that may bind operations for the next decade, an experienced selection advisor often pays for itself by shortening the evaluation cycle and improving fit between the chosen product and the actual process landscape.
What selection advisors do
A typical selection engagement spans three to six months and covers requirements analysis, market scoping, structured RfI/RfP, scripted demo days, reference checks and contract review. The advisor acts as a translator between the operational side of the business — finance, production, logistics, sales — and the vendor sales teams. Deliverables usually include a documented process catalogue, a weighted requirements matrix and a comparative scoring of two to four finalists. Established DACH-focused advisors such as Trovarit, Schwetz Consulting and the ERP arm of BARC publish methodology that has matured over many comparable engagements.
Difference from implementation partners
An implementation partner — for example a Microsoft Dynamics or SAP partner — earns its revenue from configuring and rolling out a specific product. That is a legitimate role, but it cannot also be a vendor-neutral selector. Genuine selection advisors do not take referral fees from ERP vendors, do not maintain implementation practices for any single product family, and publish their compensation model. When evaluating an advisor, the relevant question is not how many ERP products they know but how clearly they document conflict-of-interest boundaries.
When external selection support pays off
External selection support is most valuable when internal IT lacks recent ERP-procurement experience, when the project crosses several business units with conflicting priorities, or when the budget bracket exceeds roughly half a million euro of total cost of ownership. For smaller projects with a clear-cut process landscape, internal selection with a structured RfI template is often sufficient. The Mid-Market-typical pattern is one full-time internal project lead supported by an advisor for three to six person-months across the engagement.
Criteria for choosing an advisor
Useful criteria when shortlisting a selection advisor: published methodology with named phases and deliverables; written conflict-of-interest policy; sector experience in your industry; references from completed selections in the last three years; and a fixed-price or capped-hours commercial model rather than open-ended time-and-materials. Avoid advisors who present a preferred shortlist before the requirements workshop is complete — that pattern indicates a pre-existing partner relationship behind the scenes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is an ERP selection advisor compensated?
Reputable advisors are paid exclusively by the buyer, either as a fixed-price engagement or as capped time-and-materials. They should disclose in writing whether they receive any commissions, referral fees or kickbacks from ERP vendors or implementation partners. The standard answer in a clean engagement is none.
How long does an ERP selection engagement typically run?
For a German Mittelstand company between roughly 100 and 500 employees, an end-to-end selection from requirements workshop to signed contract usually takes three to six months. Larger or multi-site organisations can run nine to twelve months. The actual implementation begins after that.
Can the same advisor also run the implementation?
Generally no. The independence that made the advisor valuable during selection is lost the moment they also bid for the implementation. Some firms split the work explicitly: a selection team that exits at contract signature, and a separate implementation team for the chosen product. That construction is acceptable if the commercial separation is clear in writing.
Is selection support also useful for cloud ERP?
Yes. Cloud ERP changes the licensing model but not the requirements-discovery problem. Misfit between cloud-ERP standard processes and the customer's actual workflow is a frequent cause of post-go-live dissatisfaction, and a structured selection process reduces that risk for cloud as much as for on-premises products.