If you’re evaluating ERP systems right now, you might be feeling uneasy or indecisive. You’ve seen the demos. You’ve talked through requirements. You’ve reviewed proposals. And yet, when it’s time to make a decision, it still feels like you’re guessing, just hoping the system will work the way you expect once it’s live.
You don’t feel this way because you’re failing to do your homework. It’s because most ERP evaluation processes don’t give buyers a complete, realistic picture of what they’re actually buying. No, instead, they’re designed to show software capabilities, and they’re doing it backwards.
At Stellar One, we’ve spent collective decades inside the ERP industry, working with companies before, during, and after ERP solution decisions. We’ve seen how traditional evaluation methods create false confidence, and we know how different the outcome is when buyers are given real visibility before they commit.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What ERP Buyers Are Typically Shown During Evaluation
- ERP Software Capability Isn’t the Same as ERP Platform Fit
- Why Sales-Led Evaluations Can’t Show the Full Picture of an ERP Solution
- What a Complete ERP Evaluation Should Actually Provide
- How Stellar One Approaches ERP Evaluation Differently
To understand what you should look for to get a full picture before deciding on an ERP solution, keep reading.
What ERP Buyers Are Typically Shown During Evaluation
Most ERP buying journeys follow a familiar script.
You start with discovery calls to explain your business, usually led by an ERP sales professional. Those conversations shape demo scenarios. Then you’re walked through the software to show how it can handle your needs.
On the surface, this flow feels logical. In practice, it leaves critical gaps.
ERP demos are curated by design. They rely on clean sample data, pre-configured workflows, and carefully selected examples that support a sales narrative. What buyers see is a polished version of the system. What they don’t see is the system they’ll actually live with.
As a result, buyers leave demos with a sense of confidence, but very little evidence as it pertains to their specific business.
What demos typically don’t reveal is:
- How hard the system is to operate day to day
- Where friction appears when processes don’t fit perfectly
- How much guidance is actually available after go-live
- How flexible the partner is when reality deviates from the plan
Those questions don’t surface because demos aren’t built to expose friction. Quite the opposite, in fact: They’re built to minimize it.
ERP Software Capability Isn’t the Same as ERP Platform Fit
One of the biggest reasons ERP buyers walk away without the full picture is confusion between capability and applicability.
During evaluation, buyers are often shown that something is possible. A feature exists. A workflow can be configured. But possibility alone doesn’t tell you whether that approach is sustainable, efficient, or appropriate for your business.
Two ERP systems may both be capable of handling the same task, yet require very different levels of effort, customization, and long-term maintenance. Traditional evaluations rarely make those tradeoffs visible.
That’s how buyers end up surprised later, not because the system can’t do what was shown, but because the cost of doing it wasn’t clear.
Why Sales-Led Evaluations Can’t Show the Full Picture of an ERP Solution
In most ERP buying processes, the people guiding the evaluation are not the people who will ultimately support you.
Sales teams are focused on demonstrating breadth and moving the process forward. They are not responsible for implementing the system, supporting users long term, or living with the consequences of early decisions. That separation matters.
It means critical conversations often get delayed or avoided, including the ones surrounding:
- What shouldn’t be done
- Where standard processes are better than customization
- Which decisions create long-term complexity
- How much effort certain choices will require later
By the time those realities surface, the contract is already signed.
Why Buyers Feel Surprised After Their ERP Solution Go-Live
ERP platform disappointment rarely comes from one bad decision. It usually comes from a series of incomplete signals during evaluation.
Most buyers spend far more time evaluating software than they do evaluating the relationship they’ll have with their ERP partner. They see features and workflows, but they don’t experience what it’s like to work with the provider day to day.
As a result, buyers move forward without clarity on:
- What ongoing support actually feels like
- How questions are handled in real time
- What’s included versus billed separately
- How much guidance they’ll receive as the business evolves
On top of that, most evaluations happen in theory. Hypothetical data. Hypothetical processes. Hypothetical timelines. ERP systems don’t operate in theory. They operate in the messy reality of real businesses. When buyers don’t get hands-on experience with their own data and workflows, they’re left filling in the gaps with optimism instead of evidence.
“Seeing a curated set of capabilities which solve your biggest business issues is not the same as experiencing the future relationship.”
—Richard Sellar, Stellar One CEO
What a Complete ERP Evaluation Should Actually Provide
A better ERP evaluation doesn’t overwhelm buyers with more demos. It gives them clarity about what life will actually look like after the decision is made.
At a minimum, buyers should be able to work directly in the ERP system using their own data, not sample records. Seeing real transactions, real edge cases, and real workflows exposes friction early, when it’s still inexpensive or even free to address. This focus shifts the evaluation from theoretical fit to practical reality.
But software access alone isn’t enough. A complete evaluation also helps buyers understand the relationship they’re entering into. That means experiencing how questions are handled, how proactive the partner is, and what kind of guidance is actually provided once the system is live. Vague promises of “support” don’t help buyers make confident decisions, but lived experience does.
Just as importantly, a strong evaluation provides boundaries. Instead of presenting endless options, strong partners help buyers understand which decisions truly matter, which can safely wait, and which should be avoided altogether. Too much flexibility early on creates confusion and false confidence. Clear guidance reduces risk.
A complete ERP evaluation should answer questions buyers are rarely encouraged to ask:
- What will be harder than expected?
- Where should we not customize?
- Which decisions will affect us years from now, not just at go-live?
- How much effort will this actually require from our team?
When buyers get honest answers to those questions up front, there are far fewer surprises later. And fewer choices, when they’re the right ones, lead to better outcomes.
How Stellar One Approaches ERP Evaluation Differently
Stellar One’s evaluation model is built around a simple idea: Buyers shouldn’t have to imagine the future, they should experience it.
Instead of asking companies to commit based on demos, promises, and assumptions, evaluation is designed to mirror the real ERP relationship as closely as possible before any long-term decision is made.
That means buyers work in the actual system, with real data, and interact directly with the people who will support them long term. Sales are removed as gatekeepers, and education replaces persuasion. There’s no incentive to hide tradeoffs, delay hard conversations, or optimize for a close instead of a good decision.
Evaluation is also intentionally opinionated. Buyers aren’t presented with every possible option and configuration. They’re guided toward approaches that work well in practice and away from decisions that create unnecessary complexity later. This helps teams focus on outcomes instead of getting stuck debating details that won’t materially improve the business.
Most importantly, the evaluation experience aligns incentives. When success depends on long-term outcomes rather than short-term contracts, the goal shifts from “getting a deal done” to “getting it right.”
The result is a more honest impression. Whether they decide to partner with us or not, teams that work with us throughout this stage can decide to go live or not with full confidence.
Making Better ERP Decisions Starts With Better Visibility
If you’re evaluating ERP systems today, ask yourself whether you’ve truly seen the whole picture. If you’ve only seen the most polished parts, it may be time to look into other solutions or press your ERP partner candidates for more useful information.
When buyers are given real visibility up front, decisions become clearer, implementations move faster, and long-term outcomes improve. Want to know why we mention moving faster during deployment? Check out our blog post on why quick ERP implementations make more sense.
Ready to try our free deployment and see what real transparency looks like? Click below to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions About ERP Evaluation