Choosing an ERP is one of the more expensive decisions a growing company makes, and demos are designed to look good. These ten questions cut through the demo. Ask them of every vendor, including us.
1. Which ZATCA phase do you support today?
Get a precise answer for Phase 1 (generation) and Phase 2 (integration), and ask what happens when your wave is announced. See Phase 1 vs Phase 2.
2. Does it fit my kind of work?
Ask to see your own documents — an inspection report, a bill of materials, a multi-stop delivery — not a retail demo. If the system has no field for a tolerance or a pressure rating, you will keep a spreadsheet beside it.
3. Who hosts it, and where is my data?
Hosting, backups, updates and security are part of the real cost. Ask who runs the servers, whether your data sits in a database shared with other companies, and where it is physically hosted. Single-tenant deployments keep your records separate.
4. What is configured, and what needs a developer?
Document numbering, print layouts, tax categories and approval rights should be settings you control. Ask for a list of what is standard, what is configurable and what is custom work, and for custom items to be priced before work begins. See how tiers work.
5. How do approvals work?
A system that makes people administrators so they can approve their own team’s claims is a control weakness. Better: approval authority that follows your organisation chart, with every approval stamped by who and when.
6. Can it stop the expensive mistakes?
Paying a supplier twice, changing a price after the order is raised, selling stock you do not have. Ask which of these the system actively prevents rather than merely records.
7. How do I get my existing data in?
Ask about Excel or CSV import, which entities it covers, and what the error report looks like when a row fails. A migration that fails silently is worse than none.
8. What about Arabic?
Be specific: is the interface in Arabic, or are Arabic names, print layouts and amounts in words supported? Know the answer before the contract, not after.
9. What does security look like?
Look for two-factor authentication, permissions enforced on the server rather than hidden in the menu, an audit trail with before-and-after values, and soft deletes. See ERP security.
10. What happens after go-live?
Ask who answers the phone, how fixes and updates reach you, and what support is included in the price. Implementation is a few months; the system is for years.