ERP Implementation Partner Selection
Don’t go to market for a Systems Implementation partner before you’re ready.
AUD$49,995*
.
Fixed price
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~30 days
Most organisations approach the system integrator (SI) market before they’re ready. When that happens, SIs gain leverage early – and it’s very difficult to take it back.
Our SI Partner Selection Readiness Assessment is a short, sharp, fixed-fee engagement designed to prepare your organisation to go to market with confidence.
Think of it as a pre-sourcing intervention designed to stop you walking into an SI-led process half-prepared and getting commercially boxed in.
What’s included:
- Procurement and sourcing readiness assessment – artefacts, process, governance, and policy review.
- Evaluation of your existing documentation: how clear is your scope, how “respondable” is your RFx?
- Assessment of likely market participation quality – how likely are you to get strong, comparable responses?
- High-level recommendations on gaps to close before going to market.
- Conducted by independent ERP advisory experts with no vendor affiliations.
- Delivered collaboratively with your internal procurement team.
* Pricing based on standard assumptions around existing documentation and internal resource availability.
Ready to choose an SI partner for your ERP program? Don’t go to market unprepared.
How do you choose the right ERP implementation partner – and why does it start before you go to market?
ERP programs don’t usually fail because of the software. They fail because of the implementation partner – and the way that partner was selected.
Selecting a systems integrator is typically a once-in-a-decade decision, yet SIs go through this process every single day. That power imbalance can show up quickly:
- Selection processes are rushed to meet arbitrary program timelines
- Requirements are incomplete or open to interpretation
- Suppliers influence stakeholders before the process is properly structured
- Proposals are shaped by the SI’s assumptions – not your actual requirements
- Pricing includes risk buffers and contingency that are almost impossible to unwind later
Systems integrators are not neutral delivery partners. They are commercial organisations, incentivised to maximise revenue, protect margin, and expand scope over time. When the sourcing process lacks structure or clarity, they will fill gaps with their own assumptions, introduce flexibility where it benefits them, and price in risk that you will carry.
Clear, well-defined requirements don’t just improve proposal quality; they limit ambiguity, reduce contingency, and lower overall program risk.
The two most common mistakes in ERP system integrator selection – and why they cost you.
Mistake 1: Fixating on the software
- ERP software gets all the attention; the SI is treated as an afterthought
- Organisational needs are ignored in favour of feature comparisons
- The right SI is often more important than the platform you choose
Mistake 2: Letting the SI lead the process
- SIs make commercial judgements on how prepared (or unprepared) you appear
- Less-prepared buyers attract higher contingency, looser SOWs, and more assumptions
- Once the SI has leverage, commercial terms are hard to recapture
Here’s the thing most organisations miss: the right SI matters more than the right software. The third-best ERP product with the best implementation partner will outperform the best product with the wrong one, every time.
Yet the tendency is always to focus on the software. SI selection becomes an afterthought – and by the time it isn’t, the SI is already in the room running the meter.
The more proactive you are before that happens, the less reactive you’ll have to be after. And that starts with genuine insight into your own organisation – your processes, constraints, risk tolerance, and definition of success – before you go anywhere near the market.
What you get from the SI Partner Readiness Assessment
Readiness Assessment report
A focused assessment of your organisation’s readiness to go to market for an ERP implementation partner. We review your existing artefacts, procurement process, scope documentation, and evaluation approach, and give you a clear picture of where you stand:
- Selection processes are rushed to meet arbitrary program timelines
- Requirements are incomplete or open to interpretation
- Suppliers influence stakeholders before the process is properly structured
- Proposals are shaped by the SI’s assumptions – not your actual requirements
- Pricing includes risk buffers and contingency that are almost impossible to unwind later
Start the SI partnership off on equal footing. Download our IT Supplier Sourcing brochure.
Need more than a readiness assessment?
The SI Partner Selection Readiness Assessment is our foundation service – designed to help you get market-ready fast. For organisations that need us to go further, we can provide you a more comprehensive SI Partner GTM package, including:
+1
Defined SI Partner Requirements
We help you define ERP implementation partner requirements separately from your software requirements – attracting higher-quality, more comparable proposals and strengthening your negotiating position from day one.
+2
SI Sourcing GTM Pack
A complete sourcing pack built with your team: project overview, roles and responsibilities, requirements documentation, RFx response templates, evaluation criteria and scoring matrix, and T&Cs – ready to go to market.
We can also lead and run the full sourcing execution, supplier evaluation, and negotiation. Talk to us about what your program needs.
We support systems integrator selection across all major ERP platforms:
SAP ERP implementation
partner selection
SAP S/4HANA and SAP Cloud ERP implementations require an SI with deep functional and technical capability, certified resources, and genuine SAP delivery experience. We help you go to market in a way that surfaces the real capability beneath the pitch deck, so you can select and contract the right SAP ERP implementation partner with confidence.
Oracle ERP implementation
partner selection
Oracle Fusion Cloud is a complex platform – and the Oracle implementation partner ecosystem is equally varied in quality. Our sourcing methodology helps you define prescriptive Oracle-specific requirements, evaluate partner capability objectively, and negotiate commercial terms that protect your interests throughout the program.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementation partner selection
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner network is extensive, but partner quality varies significantly. We help you cut through the noise, define your Microsoft Dynamics 365 implementation partner selection criteria, and structure an RFx process that attracts credible, competitive bids from partners best suited to your industry and scale.
NetSuite implementation
partner selection
NetSuite solution providers operate across a wide range of industry specialisations and delivery models. Our SI readiness assessment helps you define what “good” looks like for your NetSuite implementation, document your requirements clearly, and evaluate potential partners on the dimensions that matter most to your business.
Other platforms we frequently support include IFS, Infor, Epicor, Workday, and other tier-2 ERP solutions. If you’re going to market for an ERP implementation partner and want to do it properly, we can help.
The Invictus Partners difference: Independent advice on ERP implementation partners – with no vested interests.
Invictus Partners is a specialist independent enterprise software advisory firm. We do not resell or implement software. We have no affiliation with any systems integrator, ERP vendor, or implementation practice.
Our leadership team has 225+ years of combined enterprise software, vendor, and systems integrator experience. We’ve worked on all sides of the table — and we bring that knowledge entirely to bear in the interests of our clients. Depending on your needs, we can assist in designing your ERP roadmap, preparing a business case, going to tender for services and software, negotiating contracts, and advocating for you with ERP vendors to secure optimal outcomes.