Independent ERP selection

Choose your ERP with someone who has nothing to sell you.

Independent ERP selection for mid-market manufacturers and distributors. We write the requirements, run the comparison, and read the proposals on your side of the table. No software to sell, no implementation to win, no referral fees from anyone.

Book a 45 minute call Check your readiness first

Canada and the United States · Fixed fee · 4 to 6 weeks · Since 2006

The conflict of interest

The firm that assesses what you need is often the same firm that profits from selling you the software.

That is not advice. That is a sales process wearing a consultant's badge. We are paid only by you, and we are paid the same whatever you decide.

Sound familiar?

You are probably here because one of these is true.

–A vendor has already shown you a demo, and it looked good
–Two departments describe the same process differently
–You are not sure whether you need new software or better processes
–The last system project ran over, and nobody wants a repeat
–You have been offered a free assessment by the company that would sell you the software

How selection works here

Problem first. Software second. Contract last.

Write down how the business actually runs

Two to three weeks with the people who do the work. Every process, workaround, and exception, in plain language your whole leadership team agrees on. This becomes the requirements document vendors bid against, instead of a wish list they interpret for you.

Decide what you are actually buying

Which capabilities are essential, which modules you will never use, and whether a Tier-1 or Tier-2 platform matches your operational maturity. You get a neutral scoring model and a shortlist built from your requirements, not from who called first.

Read the proposals like a buyer

We go through every proposal line by line: scope language, pricing assumptions, resource expectations, the difference between what the software can do and what the vendor is committing to deliver. You sign a contract you understand, with the backdoors closed.

What you walk away with

Everything is yours to keep, whatever you decide next.

✓Process maps and a requirements specification you own, in plain files
✓A scored, apples-to-apples vendor comparison
✓Written analysis of each proposal, with the questions to send back
✓A recommendation, with the reasoning, and the final call left with you

Both sides of the table

Fateh AlNaeb spent close to a decade writing and presenting ERP proposals before moving to the buyer's side in 2006. He knows how the document in front of you was constructed.

Zero vendor revenue

No reseller agreements, no partner programs, no referral fees, no implementation hours to win after the decision. Independence is the product.

Built for the mid-market

Manufacturers and distributors between roughly $10M and $500M in revenue, where the operational complexity has outgrown the documentation and a Tier-1 system is usually more than you need.

Questions we hear on the first call

How is this different from the free assessment a vendor offered us?

The vendor's assessment is part of their sales process and will point toward their product. Ours is a fixed-fee engagement with no predetermined outcome: no software to sell, no implementation hours to win afterward, no referral fees from anyone. Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need a new system yet.

Do you recommend specific ERP products?

We do not sell or endorse any product. We give you a neutral set of criteria drawn from your own requirements and a structured way to compare vendors. You make the final decision with a clear picture of what your business needs.

We already have a shortlist. Is it too late?

Not until you sign. A shortlist makes the work more focused: we check each vendor against how your business actually operates, not against the demo they showed you, and we read the proposals before you commit.

How long does it take and what does it cost?

Four to six weeks from kickoff to a recommendation you can act on. It is a fixed fee scoped to the size and complexity of your business, discussed on the first call. It is a small fraction of what a mis-scoped implementation costs in change orders alone.

Read before you shortlist

MDCS Blog

Tell us where you are in the decision.

A 45-minute working conversation, not a sales call. You will leave knowing whether an independent selection process is the right next step, and if it is not, you will hear that clearly.

Prefer to book directly? Use the calendar. Or email al_naeb@metadatacs.ca.