ERP Selection Consultant, India

What an Indian ERP shortlist usually looks like by company size

There is no single Indian shortlist, because a trading company with one warehouse and a multi-plant manufacturer are solving different problems. I build the shortlist from your requirements, but some patterns come up often enough to describe.

• Smaller traders and service firms often weigh staying on a Tally-based setup, with a CRM or inventory tool connected to it, against moving to a suite such as Zoho where books, inventory and CRM share one data set.
• Growing manufacturers and distributors usually compare Odoo and ERPNext, sometimes alongside an industry-specific Indian product, because production, batches and multi-location stock start to matter more than accounting alone.
• Indian subsidiaries of foreign groups and larger mid-sized firms often look at Dynamics 365 Business Central or the parent's preferred system, judged on how well the Indian localization is delivered.

These are starting points, not answers. Each option stays on the list only while it can meet your must-have requirements, and anything removed gets a short written reason. That record matters later, when a promoter or board member asks why a familiar name was not chosen. If you are still unsure whether you need an ERP at all, my ERP evaluation work starts one step earlier.

Comparing Indian partner proposals on equal terms

In India, the partner often shapes the outcome more than the platform. The same software can be delivered by a small team that knows your industry well or by a large firm that staffs the project with juniors. Proposals also arrive in very different shapes, which makes a quick comparison misleading.

Before reading prices, I check that every proposal covers the same scope. Typical gaps I look for include:

• e-invoicing and e-way bill connectivity quoted as a separate item, or left to the client to arrange through a GST service provider
• data migration from Tally described in one line, with no mention of cleansing or trial loads
• training limited to head office, with nothing for plants, branches or depots
• annual maintenance and support described without response times or a clear list of what is covered
• customization estimated in man-days with no description of what will be built

I then lay each proposal out against your requirement list, mark what is included, excluded or assumed, and turn vague lines into clarification questions. You see the real difference between partners rather than the difference between their writing styles. My vendor proposal review page describes the method in general terms.

Scripted demos that test Indian compliance, not just screens

A standard demo shows a clean sales invoice with tax calculated correctly. That proves very little. Indian compliance problems sit in the exceptions, so the scripts I write ask each partner to walk through the cases your accounts team actually handles.

Depending on your business, a script might ask the partner to:

• raise an interstate sale from a second GSTIN and show how place of supply drives the tax
• generate an e-invoice, show where the IRN and QR code are stored, then cancel it and issue a corrected document
• create an e-way bill for a dispatch and update the vehicle details midway
• send material out on a job work challan and receive it back with process loss
• book a vendor bill that attracts TDS and show the deduction on payment

Where a partner demonstrates on a test connection rather than a live one, I record that and ask how the production link is set up and who maintains it. The tax treatment behind each scenario should be confirmed by your chartered accountant; the demo only shows whether the system can carry it out. Scores are recorded per scenario, with notes on what was standard and what needed custom work.

Licensing, hosting and contract terms worth checking in India

License price is the easiest number to compare and the least useful on its own. During selection I look at how each option is licensed and hosted, because that decides your running cost and how much control you keep.

For subscription products, I check user types, which features sit in higher editions, how prices change at renewal and whether billing is in rupees or a foreign currency. For open-source options such as Odoo Community or ERPNext, the question shifts to who hosts the system, who applies updates and who maintains any India-specific apps. Where data location matters to your business or your customers, I ask each vendor directly where data is stored and what options exist, rather than relying on a brochure.

The contract deserves the same attention. Points I usually raise include:

• who owns custom code and reports built for you
• what the annual maintenance covers and what is billed separately
• how statutory changes, such as updates to GST or e-invoicing schemas, are handled and charged
• what happens to your data, and in what form you receive it, if the relationship ends

These points are much easier to settle before signing than after. For a structured view of total cost, see my guide to ERP implementation cost.

How a remote selection runs for Indian companies

Because I am based in India, scheduling is simple: every workshop, demo and review sits inside the normal Indian working day. Even so, the engagement is remote by design. Promoters, finance heads and plant managers in different states can join the same session, recordings let anyone who missed a demo catch up, and scores are kept in one shared workbook visible to every evaluator. If a plant visit or an in-person steering meeting would genuinely help, it can be arranged.

A typical selection moves through a short discovery, a written requirement list, partner invitations, scripted demos, reference calls and a final scoring session with your leadership. I keep the number of shortlisted options small, so each one is tested properly rather than skimmed.

No vendor or partner pays me, whether through commission, referral fee or margin, and I do not sell licenses. That lets me tell you plainly when a cheaper option fits better, or when the honest answer is to fix processes before buying anything. After the decision, I can continue on your side during the build as your ERP implementation consultant in India so the project delivers what the selection promised. For a wider view of my work here, see the India overview or the ERP consultant page for India.