This checklist is deliberately practical. Each item is either done or not done, and each one exists because its absence causes a specific, recurring problem. Work through it in order; the stages depend on one another.
Stage 1 — Before you speak to any vendor
Requirements and readiness
- A named business owner has been appointed with authority to make decisions
- The executive sponsor is identified and has agreed a standing review slot
- Three to five core processes are documented end to end, including exceptions
- The real approval matrix is written down — document type, threshold, approver, escalation
- Employee count, expected ERP user count and role count are established separately
- Entity, branch and warehouse counts are confirmed for today and for a credible three-year plan
- Existing systems are listed, split into 'replace' and 'retain and integrate'
- Known data quality problems have been profiled, not assumed
- A written deployment constraint exists, or has been confirmed not to exist
- Evaluation criteria and weights have been agreed and published internally
- A realistic budget band has been agreed with the sponsor
Stage 2 — Building the shortlist
Shortlisting
- Longlist filtered against hard constraints first — deployment, Arabic, entity count
- Shortlist reduced to three vendors
- Each shortlisted product's target business size confirmed against yours
- For partner-delivered products, the specific partner is identified before demonstrations
- Reference customers requested in Kuwait or the GCC, in a comparable sector
- Vendor viability checked — how long the product has existed, and its regional installed base
Stage 3 — Demonstrations
Running demonstrations that reveal fit
- Your scenarios sent to every vendor at least one week in advance
- Sample data provided — chart of accounts, item extract, customer list
- Your approval matrix configured live in the product during the session
- One full transaction completed in the Arabic interface, if Arabic is required
- KWD three-decimal handling tested through pricing, discounting and reporting
- Stock for one item shown across all branches on a single screen
- A consolidated trial balance produced across your entity structure
- Each vendor asked to name what the product cannot do well
- All attendees scored against published criteria before leaving the room
Stage 4 — Commercial and contractual
Before signature
- Licensing, implementation, migration, customisation and support priced as separate lines
- All vendors priced against identical stated assumptions
- Five-year total cost modelled, including support escalation and upgrade re-testing
- Named consultants and their availability confirmed in writing
- Internal resource expectation stated by the vendor, by role, by phase, in days
- Requirements to be met by configuration versus custom development listed explicitly
- Responsibility and cost for re-testing custom work at each upgrade agreed
- Written change-control process agreed, including how out-of-scope items are priced
- Support scope and response commitments in the contract, not in a brochure
- Data ownership and exit terms confirmed — what you get back, in what format
- Acceptance criteria for go-live defined and agreed by both parties
Start with a scored shortlist — the ERP Finder applies our published methodology to your requirements.
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