First, determine the size of the need for a new system. Your business managers will be able to tell you what is or isn’t working with your existing system so that you can make an informed choice as to whether to purchase.

Next, determine your budget and whether you have the financial leeway to experiment with software as a service (SaaS) and open-source ERP systems. Then, examine the bandwidth that’s your company has for evaluating a new ERP solution. You’ll also want to calculate the ROI for an ERP upgrade. Finally, ask yourself if it makes sense to take on the laborious task of implementation after having previously executed it with your existing ERP system.

Using the information you’ve collected, you will be able to effectively conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the potential ERP software upgrade to determine whether transitioning to a newer software solutions makes sense at this time.