ERP selection guide: from needs analysis to implementation partner

Version 1.0 — Last updated: October 29, 2026

How do you choose an ERP? Write down your needs and processes first, then set shortlisting criteria. Test candidates in a scripted demo with your own data, call references and compare total cost of ownership. Choose the implementation partner as carefully as the product, and plan data migration and change management from the start.

Choosing an ERP is not a software purchase; it is a decision about how the company will work. This guide, from Turkey-based Gramoni, sets out the steps a company can follow when choosing an ERP and an implementation partner. It is vendor-neutral: the steps are the same whichever product you pick. It is written with companies operating in Turkey in mind, including international companies with a Turkish subsidiary.

Why ERP projects go off track

Large IT projects often overrun. In Flyvbjerg and Budzier's study of 1,471 IT projects, the average cost overrun was 27%, but one project in six had an average cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of almost 70% (Harvard Business Review, 2011).

The causes are mostly not technical. PMI's 2017 Pulse of the Profession lists the top three reasons for failure as lack of defined objectives and milestones (37%), poor communication (19%) and lack of communication by senior management (18%). The same study names an actively engaged executive sponsor as the top driver of project success.

ERP-specific research points the same way. A 2025 update reviewing 272 papers from 2012 to 2023 found 33 critical success factors for ERP projects; the top three are top management support and involvement, organisational fit of the ERP system, and user training (Leyh et al., 2025). In Finney and Corbett's review of 45 articles, change management is among the most widely cited factors (2007). A 2025 systematic literature review published in Turkey highlights scope management, risk analysis, resource planning, senior management support, change management and user training (Yönetim Bilişim Sistemleri Dergisi).

The steps below follow from these findings.

1. Needs analysis: what are you trying to fix?

• Write one paragraph on why you are moving to an ERP: which problem, which goal.
• Define what success means. What has to change for the project to count as a success?
• List the modules in scope: finance and accounting, sales, purchasing, inventory, production, HR, CRM.
• Appoint an executive sponsor. Decisions on scope and priority should sit with this person.

2. Process mapping: how do you work today?

Map each main process as it runs today: quote to order to delivery to invoice, purchasing, production, collections and payments. Who does what, with which document, in which order? Mark the steps that live in spreadsheets, on paper or in email. This map feeds both the shortlisting criteria and the demo scripts.

3. Shortlisting criteria

Compare products against your processes, not against feature lists. Ask every shortlisted candidate to answer these questions in writing:

• Are our critical processes covered by standard screens, or do they need custom development?
• If custom development is needed, can it be done without changing the product's standard code? How are updates affected?
• Are Turkish legal and reporting requirements covered as standard?
• How does integration with other systems (banks, e-commerce, the shop floor) work?
• Are there certified, experienced implementation partners for the product?
• How does the licence or subscription model change as the company grows?

4. A scripted demo with your own data

Prepared demo data makes every product look good. Ask candidates to run 3–5 end-to-end scenarios, taken from your process map, using your own products, customers, suppliers and orders. Have the people who run those processes every day watch the demo and score it. During the demo, note which steps are standard, which need configuration and which need custom development.

5. Reference checks

• Talk to a user of similar size and industry, without the sales team in the room.
• Ask how closely scope, duration and budget matched the plan.
• How did support work after go-live, and which problems remained?
• Would they work with the same implementation partner again?

6. Total cost of ownership

Comparing offers on licence fees alone is misleading. Ask every candidate to price the same items.

7. Choosing the implementation partner

It is the implementation partner, not the product, that puts the ERP into your company. Most success factors in the research (top management support, user training, change management, scope management) depend on how the partner works on the ground. Ask the partner:

• Are scope, budget and duration written down before work starts, and is that text what goes into the contract?
• Is there a written implementation methodology, and what is the output of each phase?
• Who is on the project team, and do they hold the product vendor's certification?
• Is the team that makes the offer the same team that develops and takes the system live?
• Does custom development touch the product's standard code?
• How is support provided after go-live, and for how long?
• Can the project be run in English if your management team needs it?

8. Data migration

Plan data migration during selection, not just before go-live.

• Decide which data moves: master data (products, customers and suppliers, chart of accounts, bills of materials) and opening balances. Decide separately whether historical transactions move.
• Clean data before moving it. Duplicate customer records, missing tax ID numbers and unused stock cards carry their problems into the new system.
• Write down who provides the migration templates, who fills them in and how migrated data is tested.
• Decide whether to run the old system in parallel for a while after go-live.

9. Change management

An ERP changes the work people do every day, and change management is among the most widely cited success factors in the research.

• Choose a key user in each department. They take part in process design, run the tests and train their team.
• Explain the new process to users before go-live, and train them on your own data.
• Announce up front when the old ways (parallel spreadsheets, for example) will stop.
• Have the sponsor communicate decisions and priorities to the team regularly. Lack of communication by senior management is one of the reasons projects fail.

Pre-selection checklist

• The reason for the ERP and the success criteria are written down.
• An executive sponsor with decision authority is appointed.
• Today's main processes are mapped.
• Shortlisting criteria and demo scripts are written.
• Demos were run with our own data and scored by process owners.
• We spoke to at least two references without the sales team.
• Total cost of ownership was compared on the same items.
• The implementation partner's methodology, team and certifications were reviewed.
• Responsibility for data migration and cleansing is written into the scope.
• Key users and a training plan are in place.

ERP use in Turkey and the EU

According to TÜİK, 28.3% of Turkish enterprises with 10 or more employees used ERP software in 2025. The share rises with size: 23.6% for 10–49 employees, 46.0% for 50–249 and 76.5% for 250 or more. In the EU the 2025 figure was 46.45%, ranging from 41.08% for small enterprises to 88.71% for large ones (Eurostat). For most small and mid-sized companies in Turkey, choosing an ERP is still a decision ahead of them.

What Gramoni does in this process

Gramoni is a Workcube partner and implements Workcube, a Turkish ERP platform. The first phase of Workcube's eight-phase implementation methodology is Selection: needs analysis, a proof-of-concept workshop, scope, budget and timeline, and the contract. Scope, budget and timeline come out of this phase in writing, and that text goes into the contract. The same team quotes the project, writes the code and takes it live, and the project can be run in English.

See Workcube ERP consulting for details, or book a call.