People often ask for a typical price for an ERP project. The honest answer is that it varies widely, because the price follows the scope and the effort, not the logo on the software. Here is what moves it.
The main cost drivers
- Number of users and modules. More users and more modules mean more configuration, training and testing.
- Customisation. Standard processes are cheaper than custom features, and custom features also cost more to upgrade later.
- Data migration. The volume, quality and number of source systems have a large effect on effort.
- Integrations. Each connection to another system adds design, build and testing work.
- Locations and entities. Several sites, companies, currencies and tax set-ups increase complexity.
- Training and change management. Skipping this saves money on paper and costs far more in poor adoption.
Costs people forget
- Licences and subscriptions that grow with users or add-ons
- Extra hardware or cloud hosting
- Time from your own staff, who must test and make decisions
- Annual support and upgrades
- Reports and forms that were not in the original scope
How to get comparable quotes
Give every partner the same written requirement. Ask them to price in phases, show what is included in each phase, and list their assumptions. When one quote is much lower than the others, look for what it leaves out instead of assuming a bargain.
Protecting the budget
Set aside a contingency for change requests, agree how extra work is priced, and link payments to milestones you can verify. Decide early which wishes are must-haves and which can wait for a second phase.
Ready to compare companies? Explore ERP partners on SARVO and request introductions to a few of them.