Why RFPs Often Fail in ERP Selection and What You Should Do Instead

Selecting a new ERP system is one of the most critical decisions a company can make. For many, the first instinct is to launch a formal RFP process, send out a detailed list of requirements, and ask vendors to respond.

While RFPs are meant to bring structure and fairness to the selection process, in practice, they often lead to less-than-ideal outcomes. Over the years, I have seen countless companies invest months into complex RFPs, only to end up choosing the wrong solution, facing budget overruns, or struggling with poor user adoption.

As a Business Application SaaS company in our verticals of Life Sciences, Manufacturing, and Rental, we receive many RFPs. Here at STAEDEAN, we work hard to help prospective clients consider different aspects while making their selection. Since I had a few such interactions recently, I thought I would document some of the facts about the challenges that come from failure during the process.

Why does this happen so often?

Because ERP projects are not just about ticking boxes, they are complex, people-driven transformations.

An RFP filled with hundreds of generic questions may look impressive, but it usually misses the bigger picture. It focuses too much on features that every system can offer and too little on what really matters: how well the solution supports unique business processes, how adaptable the vendor is, and how well the implementation team will work alongside your people.

This gap becomes even more evident in industries like manufacturing, rental, and life sciences. Each has unique processes, complex product configurations, specialized rental billing models, strict regulatory compliance, etc., that cannot be properly assessed through a feature checklist alone.

From real-world cases and current best practices, a few clear lessons emerge:

• Focus on real needs, not endless feature lists. Prioritize the 5-10% of requirements that truly differentiate your business and will drive success. Sometimes I see customers prioritize their most common processes, which do not differentiate them and can be detrimental.

• Provide context, not just questions. Share your strategic goals, challenges, and future plans with vendors so they can respond with meaningful solutions, not generic promises. Also, see whether the vendor asks for those. If they just respond blindly and do not engage, this will also not yield the right results. The ones who care will ask for it and try to get more information. Sometimes I see inflexible processes that don't allow for further questions in favor of keeping everyone on the same page, but that can also yield poor results.

• Evaluate people, not just products. ERP success is as much about the people who implement and support the system as it is about the system itself. Meet the teams. Understand the cultural fit. Change management will be key to the project's success. I often see clients overlooking the criticality of the people component as they get lost in the specifics, as if there is a perfect system out there. There are no perfect systems, only great teams working together to make the project successful.

• Use interactive workshops and demos. Move beyond written responses. See how vendors handle real scenarios, using your data and your processes. I prefer hands-on work over short demos so the customer can see how our teams will work together and how their business will be run with our solutions.

• Stay flexible. The best decisions come from a balance of structure and conversation, not rigid checklists.

At STAEDEAN, many of our customers issue RFPs for ERP projects. I have enormous respect for the discipline and the thought they put into these initiatives. However, I often see opportunities missed because the RFP process is treated as a procurement exercise rather than a strategic, human-centered decision.

A better path is possible. Some organizations are finding success by starting with a lightweight RFI, hosting hands-on workshops, running real-world demos, and spending more time choosing the right partner rather than just the right product.

ERP selection is not about finding a system that matches every checkbox. It's about finding a system and team to help your company grow, adapt, and thrive over the next decade.

If your company is about to start an ERP selection process, I encourage you to step back and ask: Are we designing this to find the right software, or the right future for our business?

The answer can make all the difference.

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