System selection is something companies do once per decade or less. Choosing an accounting or enterprise resource planning system is one of the most impactful decisions for a company and can dramatically impact performance. So, what is the best way to select your next system?
Four Primary System Selection Search Methods
There are four primary system selection search methods:
- Networking
- Search Engines & Social Media
- Artificial Intelligence
- Professional Services
In the “old days,” people would ask their freinds, peers, CPA or lawyer what they thought. With the rise of the internet, people began searching for their own answers. In today’s “digital age” more people are turning to their preferred AI tool. Due to the magnitude of the decision, a growing percentage of companies are hiring professional services firms that offer system selection services.
System selection as a service is not new. Starting in the 1980’s, a business client that paid their invoice with a handwritten check was referred to me to determine if business management software would generate a positive return on investment. By Y2K, most small to mid-sized businesses had computerized systems and the selection process had become a replacement process.
In reality, most companies use a combination of all four methods.
Search Engines & Social Media
When Yelp! and other rating services came on the scene, many people laughed at taking advice from total strangers. Yet somehow crowdsourcing and checking internet reviews became the norm. When 5,000 respondents rank something 4.9 out of 5 stars, you tend to believe the product or service is good. However, system selection is a much more complex decision.
Internet searches of top 10 software for “my industry” will tend to get you a first pass list of 10-20 players in your industry. Of those at least half will be inappropriate due to size, complexity and cost. At best it is still start. Advancing on to LinkedIn or “software selection” sites will get you more sophisticated analyses based upon ease of use, feature completeness, customer satisfaction, etc. Many of these sites are excellent and can help further reduce the number of choices.
Below are two analyses from very reputable sources. In f quadrant analysis the best choices tend to be in the upper right quadrant and the weaker choices in the lower left. The axis are different but the concepts are similar. Some show directional change while others are point in time. These two charts were both produced in mid 2026 within a 2 month period. You can glean some insights from them, however, I would not recommend using them to make a final decision.
Look closely for 2 products: Oracle NetSuite and SAP Business One. Both of these products serve similar types of companies with overlap in industry and size.
- On the left side picture NetSuite is in the bottom left as a challenger and Business One is in the top right as a leader.
- On the right side picture we have the reverse with Business One as a core provider and NetSuite as a leader.
Even in the same industry answers are much more nuanced.
Using Artificial Intelligence
System selection search is something companies do once per decade or less. Choosing an accounting or enterprise resource planning system is one of the most impactful decisions for a company and can dramatically impact performance. So, what is the best way to select your next system?
For most companies, this is not their first software system selection, but if ten years or more years have passed, technology has changed dramatically. Artificial Intelligence is becoming an integral part of modern business management software. Accordingly, AI is a great way to start your search, especially when combined with a good research agent. With a well crafted prompt, AI can identify the top systems for evaluation. Create a prompt that:
- Set the scene for your agent.
- (Company X) is a (insert industry) with (insert revenue) and (insert number of employees) that is beginning the search for new business management software (or ERP).
- “We are looking to replace our current system (insert name) with a more modern system that will help us resolve (insert specific issues trying to solve”
- Define the objective of the research.
- “Our goal is to identify a list of (insert number range) potential systems that would be appropriate for our company.”
- “Our internal team will evaluate these systems for best fit through an iterative process of demonstrations and question and answers.”
- Clarify what you want from the AI.
- Provide a grid of the potential systems which includes the system name, publisher, approximate number of companies using the system, industry capabilities which make it a good fit, and typical cost estimate for a company of our size.
- Add guardrails to your prompt.
- Include restrictions on your sources. For example, do not include information on a product that comes from one of its competitors.
- Consider limiting and/or question the legitimacy of social media sources. Although Reddit and LinkedIn can provide useful information, social media is also filled with trolls and bots.
- Add time sensitivity to the research. For example, restrict your research to information published in the last 3-5 years. We often see outdated information in AI research in the fast moving ERP industry.
This type of research is a starting point. Often artificial intelligent agents incorporate the marketing hype, customer and competitor reviews, and other information which can be misleading. We have also seen AI research that is based upon older information which is no longer appropriate or inaccurate. Although improving, AI is currently a good research tool, but not a replacement for the hard work required for a decision of this magnitude.
Hiring a Professional
Companies often choose to hire advisors to help with the selection process. System selection professionals typically have experience in both the acquisition and sale of new systems and provide perspectives from outside the organization. A professional advisor helps management move beyond feature lists and sales presentations by first defining the company’s real requirements, future-state objectives, process priorities, and implementation readiness.
An independent advisor also brings structure and discipline to vendor evaluation. Rather than relying on generic demonstrations, the advisor can help create business scenarios, comparison criteria, scorecards, and follow-up questions that show how each solution would perform in the company’s actual operating environment. This reduces the risk of decisions being driven by vendor messaging, incomplete requirements, or assumptions that later become costly scope gaps.
The value is not only in choosing software, but in reducing implementation risk before the project begins. Advisors can help validate proposals, identify missing services, clarify scope, compare implementation partners, and align stakeholders around the decision. Because independent advisors are not tied to a specific software vendor, their role is to keep the evaluation focused on business fit, risk, and expected return on investment rather than license sales.
The System Selection Search Process
Business Management Systems have been around for over 40 years. In that time, the methodology for selecting a new system has evolved alongside the technology. In the early days, systems were simpler and typically designed for a single area within the organization. For example, we used to call business software accounting software as it was primarily for generating required financial statements and tax returns. As the systems evolved they took on the roles of invoicing customers, paying bills, and the related accounts receivable and payable functions. Then came inventory management, manufacturing, demand planning and human resources functions. When you put all these functions in a system, you get the term “Enterprise Resource Planning” (ERP).
The Evolution of System Selection Methodology
Initial system selections were primarily focused on, “can it do my accounting.” Differentiators were more around non-profit or governmental fund accounting compared to basic financials. As the role of the system expanded so did the number of questions companies asked. The system selection process became an ever expanding list of questions that could number in the hundreds. The questions were weighted and then a score was produced ranking systems. This process became more cumbersome, so programs and websites were developed to facilitate the process. However, the results were not getting better because the scores were somewhat subjective and could not take unique business process requirements into consideration. Furthermore, “scoring” features and functions completely missed the human elements of change management.
Modern system selection search methodologies tend to have multiple phases that follow a common process:
- Discovery – Review, analyze and document key business processes.
- Visioning – Identify the key capabilities required for future success.
- Selection – Require solution providers to demonstrate 3-4 scenarios covering ≈80% key requirements.
- Contracting – Select deployment, licensing and implementation models that match business needs.
Some methodologies break one or more of these phases into multiple steps. For example, the selection process may include a brainstorming phase including multiple solutions followed by a shortlisting. However, most professional selection companies have shifted from the laundry list of features to scenario based evaluation. In our methodology we provide all potential solution providers:
- A company overview describing the operations.
- High level diagrams of the key and critical processes.
- Key capabilities required from the new system, and
- An outline of the evaluation criteria.
- Solution provider questionarie.
- 3-4 business scenarios with corresponding master data and sample documents.
Scenario Based Demonstrations
We highly recommend scenario based demonstrations using “real life” examples from the company’s operations. Forcing solution providers to use you scenario has numerous advantages, including:
- Improved Provider Evaluation – Because the solution provider must follow your process, you gain a better understanding of their ability to perform discovery. To properly demonstrate your process, they must first understand it! Forcing understanding also provides insight into their curiosity. Finally, forcing the vendor to follow your process demonstrates their interest in working with you in a partnering model.
- Builds Confidence – By including staff responsible for performing the process in the scenario development and system evaluation, you increase their acceptance of the future change. In addition, the team starts building relationships with the service provider. This is very important for the ultimate change management process associated with system implementation.
- Greater Understanding of Future System – Most importantly, seeing the company’s data in the future system makes a foreign looking software application more understandable. It is already confusing enough trying to evaluate multiple systems to have to translate your process to Contoso, XYZ Manufacturing or some other fictional entity. The exact same scenario the user has processed in the current system performed in a new system is infinitely easier to compare and evaluate.
The Most Effective System Selection Search Process
The most effective way to select your next system is not to chose one of the four methods discussed. It takes a combination of research, experience, expertise and references to ensure you select and properly implement the best system for your business. Your system selection process covers the software, implementation partner, and publisher. You want a system that will not only last a long time, but bring positive change to your operations. Positive change requires human interaction in learning, understanding and adapting to new processes, technology and software.
We highly recommend talking to peers, professionals, competitors and your favorite AI! However, we also believe that experience in system selection and implementation are critical to success. That expertise can be internal, from a current service provider, or an independent client advocate. If your current service provider offers multiple ERP systems for your industry, their knowledge of your current system and processes can be invaluable. However, the person from their organization who consults with you should have no undisclosed financial benefit from any particular software publisher. That should also be true for any independent selection company. Some advisors receive commissions or other compensation from software vendors or their partners for “winning” the deal. That is “ok,” if disclosed, and the primary goal of the selection is the client’s best interest.
In all cases, the company who will use the software must be responsible for the ultimate selection. On a 2026 selection engagement the client was having a hard time choosing between the three finalists. All three at one point were “in first place.” They tried to ask me personally who I would select and I refused to make the selection for them. Instead, I reminded them of why each software was preferred at some point, their biggest weaknesses, positive aspects from each solution provider, and the solution cost profiles. All of the finalists could meet the business objectives or they would not have been finalists! However, the ultimate decision was not mine to make or bias with my personal preferences.
Exploring System Selection?
For more information see our previous blog on I-BN as a System Selection Advocate. Check back for more information on our upcoming blog series on the future of Artificial Intelligence in ERP:
- Artificial Intelligence in ERP – Key Terms and Concepts – An overview explaining 3 general categories of Copilots, Automation, and Insight
- AI in ERP – The introduction to a series which relates the three concepts to the top 5 ERP providers in the small to midsize business market.
- AI Innovations in Acumatica: Cloud ERP’s AI-Enhanced Efficiency
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Copilot and Intelligent Automation
- Oracle NetSuite: AI-Fueled ERP for SMB – Capabilities and Considerations.
- Sage: AI and the Rise of “Agentic AI.”
- Harnessing AI in SAP Business One: Copilots, Automation and Insights.
I-BN matches customers with the advocate best suited for their System Selection project. We suggest you start with a free System Selection Exploration to help match you with the best possible provider.