Educational testing company undergoes ERP software evaluation for vendor selection

The client background

This company provides full-service educational testing and assessment programs; survey design, administration, processing and analyses; production of scannable forms; and high-speed laser printing and mailing services. Their customers include state and national government agencies; public, private and charter schools and districts; community colleges, workforce centers, certification and licensure boards and associations and other educational organizations.

The business challenge

The company had recently acquired new businesses and launched new products, each with different needs and requirements. This resulted in a complex IT landscape with numerous systems (both packaged and custom), that required extensive integration efforts and on-going maintenance. In addition, many of the packaged systems had not been maintained as necessary, creating a complex IT landscape that made data analysis and reporting difficult and consumed valuable resources.

The company was looking to move to a more modern, cloud-based application with better and additional functionality than their existing systems could provide.

Strategy and solution

In order simplify the newly merged companies’ processes, drive standardization across core systems and improve integration across their IT system landscape, Baker Tilly was brought in to facilitate the selection of a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This process helped the company identify the necessary requirements of the new ERP, before selecting the system they felt best met those requirements. The Baker Tilly team utilized our proven ERP software evaluation methodology to support the company through a structured evaluation process to:

• Understand their long-term goals and objectives
• Define functional and technical requirements across the business
• Identify potential vendors based on our deep knowledge of the ERP vendor landscape
• Evaluate vendors based on a structured request for proposal (RFP) and demonstration process
• Help the company understand the total cost of ownership for each solution
• Provide a fact-based approach for their decision-making process

As a result, the client reached a decision on their preferred vendor of choice. We continued to support the company as they navigated final decision making and contracting, allowing them to begin moving ahead with implementation. Ultimately, the implementation of one new, unified ERP system will enable the company to create better visibility across the entire organization and improve the overall accuracy and efficiency of their reporting processes and data analysis.