ERP Selection Consultant
Viewpoint Analysis is a Technology Matchmaker, we sit between ERP vendors and enterprise buyers, researching the ERP market and helping the wider IT buyer community understand their ERP software options. A key part of what we do is help buyers not only understand a busy technology marketplace, but also navigate the selection process. As an ERP Software Selection Consultant, we provide a range of services all designed to take the weight off the purchasing team and get the right solution every time.
What Does an ERP Software Selection Consultant Do?
An ERP software selection consultant is engaged by the buying organisation, not the vendor, to help find, evaluate, and select the right ERP platform for the business. That can mean building a longlist of realistic candidates, running a formal RFI/RFP process, managing vendor demonstrations, or simply providing experienced, independent input on a shortlist a business has already drawn up itself or is already working through.
It's a tough gig as it's invariably a very tough space to work in. If your consultant has knowledge of ERP, it will be huge plus point. The Viewpoint Analysis team does - having worked in the area for a major software vendor, and having run processes on the other side.
Organisations bring in a consultant rather than running the process alone for a simple reason: the ERP and the ERP market is complicated, every vendor's marketing sounds equally convincing, and a wrong decision is expensive and disruptive to reverse. An experienced, neutral pair of eyes, one with no stake in which vendor wins, changes the odds considerably and takes the pressure off a team that already has a day job.
Independent, Impartial, and Always Fixed Price
Viewpoint Analysis was built on a single principle: strict neutrality. When we run an ERP Selection Process for you, we work for you, the client, full stop. That is why we take no money, commission, or referral fee from ERP vendors when we run our selection processes, and never will: our fee comes from you, not them, so our advice is never for sale to the vendor with the biggest budget.
That independence extends to how we charge. Every one of our buyer-facing services, the Technology Matchmaker, Rapid RFI, Rapid RFP, 30-Day Selection, Stick or Switch Assessment, is delivered at a fixed price, agreed before we start. You know exactly what the engagement costs are from day one; there is no surprise bill for extra vendor calls or additional evaluation rounds partway through.
Making Sense of a Crowded ERP Market
The ERP market is one of the hardest to navigate in enterprise software: global platforms, strong mid-market contenders, and a long tail of specialist and industry-vertical players, all claiming to be the answer. Making sense of that noise quickly and objectively is what we do every day.
What sets us apart is that we don't just watch this market from a distance. We hold direct relationships with technology vendors across the ERP space, and we research and build our own ERP Software Options reports and selection guidance, so when we sit down with you, we're bringing genuine, current market knowledge, not a generic consulting process applied to an unfamiliar category.
That closeness to the vendor side cuts both ways, and it's a real differentiator. We understand how vendor sales teams work, what they need from a process, how to bring them along, and how to get the best out of them, and we run our selection processes so that vendors enjoy being part of them, even the ones who don't win. A vendor that feels respected through the process gives you a better demo, a sharper proposal, and a more honest final conversation. That benefits you as the buyer just as much as it benefits the vendor.
For ERP specifically, our published research gives you a head start before you even talk to us:
Finance & ERP Technology Hub, all of our vendor profiles, buyer guides, and more, sit in our Finance & ERP Technology Hub, a place where buyers can go to learn about the market.
ERP Software Options 2026, our independent view of the enterprise, mid-market, and specialist ERP vendor landscape.
How to Select ERP Technology, our full guide to running an ERP selection process. A few of those factors come up in almost every ERP selection we run: treating integration across finance, supply chain, and manufacturing as a first-class requirement rather than an afterthought; weighing implementation partner quality as heavily as platform capability, since a weak partner delivering a strong platform will consistently underperform a strong partner delivering a second-choice one; and building a realistic total cost of ownership model, since licence or subscription fees are only the visible part of the ERP cost.
We produce much more content than this, but it's a good starting point. You can find ERP recommendations for your industry in the Finance and ERP Technology Hub mentioned above.
Where ERP Vendors Differ
Our experience of the ERP market and running ERP selection processes is that there are a few gaps between some of the vendors:
User Interface - there is a real mixture of user interfaces - meaning that some of the vendors have very modern, pretty interfaces...and some don't. It's a big factor in the decision process.
AI - some of the larger technology vendors can spend more on AI than others - and that is really starting to show right now. Deep pockets will make a difference in this ERP market.
Functionality breadth - most ERP vendors cover key requirements well, but some go further than others, and longevity in the market matters.
Talking the talk - the pre-sales team is more important in the ERP area than in any other software space. A good pre-sales team that knows the customer processes and needs really shows up.
How We Run an ERP Selection
We offer several ways to engage us, depending on how much groundwork you have already done and how quickly you need to move, all fixed price, agreed upfront.
Stick or Switch Application Review
If you are not sure whether to stick or switch your current ERP solution, our Stick or Switch Application Review answers the more fundamental question first: is your incumbent platform genuinely no longer fit for purpose, or could better configuration, adoption, or a renegotiated contract solve the problem without the cost and disruption of switching? It's a service no one else in this market offers, and it can save you from starting a vendor selection you didn't actually need to run. Running two parallel streams, whilst working through things with your current vendor, we bring a range of others to present to you, leaving you and your team to decide: do you stick, or do you look at switching to a new solution?
Matchmaker Service
For customers wanting a quick view of the marketplace before selecting who to run a selection process with, the Technology Matchmaker is ideal. Rather than a slow, paper-heavy RFI process, we write up your ERP requirement, take it directly to the vendor community, and host a structured set of vendor presentations so you can see the market and compare options within days rather than months. It is an unusually quick way to move from we don't really know this market to a real shortlist that you can then spend time with. We liken it to Dragons' Den or Shark Tank, your team just needs to sit back and listen to the options, see our Matchmaker Service. It can be a free or paid service, depending on the business's needs.
Rapid RFI
A tightly scoped, fast-turnaround Request for Information process for buyers who want a more formal paper trail than Matchmaker but still need pace, narrowing a long vendor list down to a manageable shortlist quickly. Part of our Rapid Vendor Selection service.
Rapid RFP
Once you have a shortlist, our Rapid RFP process runs a focused, structured evaluation against your specific requirements, so the final decision is evidence-based rather than a gut call based on whoever presented best. Also delivered through Rapid Vendor Selection.
30-Day ERP Selection
For organisations with an urgent deadline, our 30-Day Technology Selection service combines Rapid RFI and Rapid RFP into a single accelerated process, taking you from a standing start to a chosen ERP vendor inside a month. It's the quickest selection process on the market today and can be a real game-changer. You would be amazed how quickly a vendor selection process can move when all parties, buying team, vendor team, and selection consultant, are pulling in the same direction.
Who This Service Is For
Our ERP Selection Consulting services are built for any business, in any location, and in any industry. Typically we see that customers come from one of the following areas:
• Organisations replacing an ageing, over-customised, or on-premise ERP system
• Businesses who are busy and need an extra pair of hands to run their selection process
• They may or may not have a procurement team. Often if they have an IT procurement department, they need help to fill resource gaps, or to fill knowledge gaps
• Teams with limited in-house knowledge of the ERP vendor market
• Buyers who need to move fast but cannot afford to get an ERP decision wrong
• Teams that need a defensible, evidence-based decision to take to their board, given the scale of the investment
• Anyone who would rather not rely on advice funded by the vendor trying to win the deal
FAQs
How much does an ERP software selection consultant cost?
Every Viewpoint Analysis engagement is fixed price, agreed with you before work starts. The cost depends on which service fits your situation, Matchmaker, Rapid RFI, Rapid RFP, or the combined 30-Day ERP Selection, not on how long the process happens to run.
How is Viewpoint Analysis different from an ERP vendor or reseller?
We take no commission, referral fee, or payment of any kind from ERP vendors. Our only commercial relationship is with the buying organisation, which means our recommendations are never influenced by which vendor pays us best. Some selection consultants run this the other way, they charge nothing, but they get a percentage of the deal, if this is something you would rather do, we can accommodate this approach too, but we prefer to ensure that there is no potential for confusion.
How fast can Viewpoint Analysis help me choose an ERP solution?
It depends on the route you take. The Technology Matchmaker Service can produce a shortlist within days. A full evaluation, from standing start to chosen vendor, can be completed in as little as 30 days through our combined Rapid RFI/RFP process, though many ERP selections deliberately run longer given the scale of the decision.
Do you only cover the big ERP platforms like SAP and Oracle?
No. Our research and our selection work covers the established enterprise platforms, the strong mid-market contenders, and the specialist and industry-vertical players, whichever segment of the market is genuinely relevant to your requirement. It's important to note that we work with EVERY and ANY ERP vendor, we are not limited because we work for the client, so all options are possible.
What is the difference between the Technology Matchmaker, Rapid RFI and Rapid RFP?
The Technology Matchmaker is the fastest route to a shortlist, built around structured vendor presentations rather than paperwork. When a buying team wants to pursue a traditional RFI/RFP process, our Rapid RFI is a formal, fast-turnaround information-gathering step used to narrow a long vendor list. Rapid RFP is the structured evaluation that follows, used to make the final, evidence-based decision between shortlisted vendors.
Talk to Viewpoint Analysis
If you are starting an ERP selection, or stuck partway through one, request a call with Viewpoint Analysis, or try our free Longlist Builder to get a first view of the ERP vendors that fit your requirement.
