There are a plethora of ERP softwares to choose from in the marketplace today. Sorting through all of them can be a daunting process, so it can be helpful to look to the market to see which systems are most commonly adopted by organizations throughout the world. In this article I unveil the top 10 ERP systems that Third Stage Consulting has recommended the most to our clients from our offices throughout the world. This compilation is an independent ranking based on the frequency that our clients have chosen the leading ERP software in the market.
Number 10 in terms of the most selected software solutions for our clients is a product called Odoo. Odoo is an open source system, it's a vendor based out of Europe and they're quickly gaining traction and momentum in the ERp software space. Odoo is still a solution that we're more likely to recommend for small to mid-size organizations if they're looking for flexibility, lower cost and that open source platform. Odoo is also focusing on trying to go after the mid-market and even larger enterprises as well.
Number nine is actually what we call “Best of Breed,” so in other words there wasn't one singular ERP solution that we recommended to a client but instead it was a multitude or a variety of different systems that meet different needs for that particular organization. While there's no one system that was most prominent in these best of breed recommendations it's worth noting that more organizations that we've seen in the last year are interested in or considering best of breed solutions and not necessarily looking at just single one-size-fits all ERP Solution. Since it's becoming more prevalent in the industry, we decided to rank this at number 9.
Number eight of our most recommended ERP systems is a product called Acumatica. Acumatica is a product that we commonly see in small and mid-sized manufacturing organizations. Acumatica is a fairly flexible product, it's built fairly specifically for manufacturing and distribution organizations so it's naturally a good fit for our clients in the small and mid-market that are involved in manufacturing and distribution. Some examples of the types of clients that we've recommended Acumatica for include a structural manufacturer, a home building products manufacturer, as well as a medical device manufacturer. Those are just a few examples of the types of organizations throughout the world that we've recommended Acumatica to and it's the reason why Acumatica lands at number eight on our most recommended ERP systems for 2022.
Number seven is a product called IFS. IFS is a software vendor based out of Europe that focuses heavily on organizations that do field services and construction. IFS is a solution that we're starting to see not just the mid-market adopt at a higher rate but also larger enterprises. This is the case as it becomes better known throughout the world, for example, in Europe IFS is fairly well established. There is currently a pretty established ecosystem built within Europe but when you look to other parts of the world like North America, Asia and Latin America, IFS still isn't as well known but they're making inroads. IFS certainly has a product that can scale as well as support different types of organizations, especially the ones that are field service intensive. A few examples of clients throughout the world that we've recommended an IFS implementation to include a mining organization, a couple of different aerospace and defense manufacturers as well as an engineering consulting firm.
Number six in our most recommended ERP systems is Oracle ERP Cloud. Oracle ERP Cloud is one of the big tier-one systems. Oracle ERP Cloud often competes against SAP, in fact, when we recommend Oracle ERP Cloud, it often is pit against SAP. Oracle ERP Cloud is a software that we recommend to various organizations, especially ones that maybe don't want a system that's as rigid as SAP but they want something that's still scalable or more scalable than some of the smaller solutions in our top 10 list. Some examples of clients that we've recommended Oracle ERP Cloud to recently are a chemical and sealants manufacturer, a water distribution firm as well as a metals manufacturer.
Number five is Epicor. Epicor is a tier-2 solution that's firmly planted in the mid-market and they tend to go after manufacturing and distribution organizations as well as some retail. A few examples of recent clients that we've recommended Epicor for include an auto parts manufacturer, a consumer product manufacturer as well as a metals manufacturer.
Number four of our most recommended ERP systems is SAP S/4HANA. SAP is a product that we continue to recommend to larger multinational organizations. Typically organizations that have grown aggressively through mergers & acquisitions and organizations that are for other reasons potentially trying to standardize their operations and create an operating model that's consistent across a global organization. If we were just to look at our large clients, our Fortune 500 or Fortune 1000 clients, SAP would probably rank a lot higher than number five on that list but when we look at our entire client base, it comes in at number five. Some examples of clients that we've recommended SAP S/4HANA to recently include a couple different chemical manufacturers, a large consumer product organization as well as a large multinational cement manufacturer. Manufacturing is a common theme we see with SAP customers, large multinational companies and organizations that are looking for consistency in scale.
Number three is Infor Cloud Suite. To be clear, when we say Infor Cloud Suite, that could also be Infor Syteline, Infor M3 or it could be the newer Infor Cloud Suite solution. Infor has still somewhat fragmented their different solutions underneath the Cloud Suite umbrella but in general if you look at the entire Infor Cloud Suite of products, that's the product that lands at number three on our list. Infor Cloud Suite is a great alternative to the SAP’s and Oracle’s of the world, the large tier-1 systems. Infor Cloud Suite is big enough to scale and can be complex and can be super costly and risky to deploy the platform. Some recent examples of clients where we've recommended Infor Cloud Suite to include an energy company, an aerospace and defense manufacturing organization as well as a laser device manufacturer. These are organizations or clients that could have gone with SAP, Oracle or Microsoft Dynamics but they instead chose Infor Cloud Suite because of the flexibility and some of the breadth of capabilities specific to manufacturing and distribution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi1opwcLQ74&t=24s
Next on our list of most recommended ERP systems is Oracle Netsuite. Netsuite is a product that we commonly consider and recommend for small and mid-market organizations, in particular organizations that are looking for a common platform and don't have complex business processes that they're trying to change. Additionally, if they're open to standard, off-the-shelf, SAS cloud-based processes. That is where Netsuite tends to fit in the market, so when we look at our small and mid-market clients it's very common that we recommend that product in that space. A few examples of clients that we've recently recommended Oracle Netsuite to include a few different non-profit organizations, a children's toy manufacturer as well as a Professional Services firm. Oracle Netsuite offers us a pretty diverse client mix. The commonality they all have and share is the fact that they're small and mid-market companies that are open to more standardized business processes and they lie like the cloud SAS model that Oracle Netsuite brings to the table so these are some of the reasons why Netsuite is number two on our list of most recommended ERP systems for our clients.
Coming in at number one is the system that we recommend the most to our clients. That system is Microsoft Dynamics 365. And to be clear when we talk about Microsoft Dynamics 365, we're talking about both Business Central and FNL. Some might argue that we should split those out and assess or consider those two systems separately but we look at it under the same umbrella of Microsoft D365 for the purposes of this ranking. Microsoft D365 is recommended often because so many of our clients are looking for flexibility and they're looking for alternatives to some of the bigger, more rigid, monolithic ERP systems in the marketplace. Many of our clients also like the Microsoft look and feel and the integration to other Microsoft products like Power BI, SharePoint, Outlook, teams Etc. Those are many of the reasons why we recommend the product so often to our client base. Some examples of recent clients that we've recommended Microsoft D365 include an entertainment company, a children's toy manufacturer as well as a few different industrial product manufacturers so it's a pretty diverse client base. The commonality between these organizations is that they're looking for robust and flexible capabilities that other systems can provide so for these reasons that's why Microsoft D365 is the product that we've recommended the most to our clients in recent months.
If you are looking to strategize an upcoming transformation or are looking at selecting an ERP system, we would love to give you some insights. Please contact me for more information eric.kimberling@thirdstage-consulting.com
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