Enterprise Resource Planning 2021
Move to the Cloud Prompts Evaluation of All ERP Options (A Decision Insights Report)

Data in this report comes from two sources: KLAS Decision Insights data (information on which vendors are being replaced, considered, and purchased and what factors drive these decisions) and KLAS performance data (quantitative ratings on metrics like functionality, ease of use, integration, etc.). For more information, see About This Report.

Workday Continues to Lead in Mindshare, Followed by Oracle & Infor

Workday, Oracle, and Infor were considered in nearly every decision tracked in this research, and one of the three was selected or is the likely choice in over 85% of those decisions. Many healthcare organizations—particularly former Infor customers—choose Workday, looking to consolidate ERP vendors and improve integration. Workday is also chosen for their technology, ease of use, and strong culture and vision. Though Workday now offers a full suite, there are still some perceived supply chain gaps, and this is the main reason cited when Workday is not selected. Oracle’s reputation, functionality, and full-suite offering continue to be strong selling points for organizations that choose the vendor. Organizations that consider Oracle but do not choose them mostly cite cost as the reason. All interviewed Oracle customers shopping for a new platform use Oracle’s older, on-premises solution—no cloud customers are looking to leave. Infor’s cloud offering is often considered—many of the organizations making a go-forward ERP decision right now are current Infor customers. However, compared to Workday and Oracle, Infor is less likely to be selected, and many of the organizations that do choose CloudSuite are legacy Infor customers. The top reasons organizations select Infor are functionality, cost (it is generally less expensive to migrate to CloudSuite than implement a new vendor), and the integration benefits of having a full suite of ERP modules from one vendor. Organizations that consider but do not choose Infor cite factors such as weaker HR functionality, poor product demos, and complex workflows.

Large Percentage of Legacy Infor Customers Leaving for New ERP Partners

80% of the legacy Infor customers making a go-forward decision have chosen to switch to another vendor or say they are likely to do so (almost all are moving to Workday or Oracle). Although several legacy customers have chosen to remain with Infor and move to the CloudSuite product, more are taking the opportunity to part ways. Some of these respondents cite strained relationships with Infor executives, while others say it is just time to try something different. Additionally, one CloudSuite customer has chosen to leave Infor, citing a complex architecture and lack of reporting capabilities.

What’s Driving Market Energy? Decision Factors Behind Selections and Replacements

Organizations making an ERP purchase cite improved functionality and full-suite integration as the major factors influencing their decisions. A desire for updated technology, especially cloud technology, was also mentioned by several respondents, as were cost and a good vendor relationship or culture.

When it comes to why specific solutions get replaced, outdated technology continues to be the main reason. Many of the decisions included in this research were made by organizations with older Infor products who know they will have to either move to Infor’s CloudSuite platform or choose a different vendor. As noted above, many of these organizations have already chosen Oracle or Workday or are likely to do so.

Vendor Summaries

Vendors listed alphabetically

Rarely considered for new purchase decisions, even by existing customers, and 70% of interviewed customers say Allscripts is not part of their long-term plans. Solid supply chain functionality is a bright spot for customers.

“We have been looking at other things, but we haven’t made the move or considered moving to anything else yet. Allscripts’ system is a great system. There is a lot of functionality behind it. Supply Chain Management is probably one of the best healthcare systems in the industry.”  —Manager (current customer)

“We are looking to switch from Allscripts because we are disappointed in them. There are a few big players that we are having conversations with. The implementation cost will be a big factor in our decision. Allscripts wanted to charge us a lot of money to upgrade again. A new director joined our organization and is calling out all the limitations of the Allscripts’ solution that our previous directors tolerated. The new director has used other tools elsewhere and has higher expectations.” —CIO (organization is replacing Allscripts)

CloudSuite continues to receive high consideration due to full suite of functionality. Actual selection rate lags a bit, as many legacy Infor customers choose to move to Oracle or Workday. Satisfaction among current customers remains steady compared to last year—some customers are highly satisfied, while others report major challenges and don’t feel they get their money’s worth.

“We have made a commitment to Infor mostly due to the value proposition. We were already an Infor customer, and we were able to do some creative things in contracting to assist with the transition and to incrementally phase in a migration to CloudSuite over several years, so the transition wasn’t a rip-and-replace process. That and the finances were really what drove us to CloudSuite.” —VP/executive (legacy customer that recently chose to switch to CloudSuite)

“Being a legacy provider didn’t necessarily help Infor in our case because we were looking for market change. We felt that with the incumbent system, even though the system was a cloud solution, everything had been regenerated and redeveloped, and the system looked completely different than it did when it was on premises. Our decision ultimately came down to culture and HR competency. We decided that Infor just wasn’t the partner for us.” —VP/executive (organization replacing Infor)

Often chosen for functionality and integration benefits of Oracle’s full ERP suite. Most common choice among large and very large organizations. Those that consider Oracle but choose another vendor often cite cost or poor product demos and sales team interactions. All interviewed Oracle customers shopping for a new platform use Oracle’s older, on-premises solution—two of these organizations are likely to stay with Oracle and upgrade to the cloud version, two are undecided, and three have decided to switch to another vendor or are likely to do so. Satisfaction among cloud customers has become more polarized over the past year, with an increase in both unsatisfied clients (service and support are the largest gaps) and highly satisfied clients. Many respondents say the product drives tangible outcomes.

“We were looking for the ease of UI and the ease of implementation. We were also looking at the price. Cloud ERP was an all-in-one product. Everything was available in one application, and we liked that. The integration seemed to be better compared to the integration in other systems. The implementation was also the shortest compared to the implementations from other vendors.” —CIO (organization selected Oracle)

“Oracle looked good and was one of our options for a new ERP vendor. We didn’t go into a deep dive on feature functionality; we looked at the value proposition, the finances, and the transition from our current legacy platforms to the next generation. Oracle looked good and all encompassing, but they were expensive. They didn’t have a decent road map that we could envision in our environment to go from our current vendor to Oracle without a big bang, which was something we weren’t prepared for. The finances are another thing that really steered us away from Oracle.” —VP/executive (organization considered Oracle but did not select)

Offers financial and supply chain modules; no HR functionality. Is thus not considered as often as Infor, Oracle, or Workday but has recently been chosen by several new customer organizations. These organizations chose Premier for specific supply chain functionality and cultural fit. Organizations that replace Premier—or consider but do not select them—cite a lack of integration and HR functionality. Current customers are highly satisfied, especially with Premier’s implementation and training, and get value from the product and relationship.

“We talked to Premier about the implementation, and they basically said that they had their own people who would do it. The people that came out had been working with Premier for many years. There was someone for financial planning, someone for procurement, and someone for overseeing the whole project. Those people knew the software inside and out. I would rate the implementation team high. Premier’s system was just simple, and it was more of an out-of-the-box program. We probably can’t customize it as much as we could customize our previous system, but we are doing fairly basic things. We can make our workflows match the software; I don’t need to make the software match my workflow.” —CFO (organization selected Premier)

“The primary reasons that we are going to a new solution are the lack of automation capabilities and the lack of real-time data in Premier’s system. The system heavily relies on manual work. The solution is really challenging to maintain and doesn’t meet the basic needs of supply chain and finance.” —VP/executive (organization replacing Premier)

Has retained their momentum and energy in the ERP market, leading in number of considerations and likely selections. Organizations look to Workday for solid functionality, updated technology, and help consolidating ERP solutions. Perceptions of immature software and a lack of supply chain functionality persist and are the most common reasons Workday is not selected. Among current customers, satisfaction is down slightly from last year, with more customers reporting concerns regarding money’s worth.

“We looked at Workday and went with them in the end. Their ability to implement and execute was huge. The vendor’s ability to partner and the ease of working with the vendor were factors too. Obviously, the price came into play. In all honesty, we got so close with the price after a while, and we needed some speed with getting a contract worked out. I contacted the leaders at Workday and told them what I needed if they wanted our business, and they made things happen.” —CIO (organization selected Workday)

“We felt that Workday’s system was certainly cloud based in its entirety, but the system lacked some of the functionality in the supply chain and financial areas that were important to us. We figured that one day the system would probably have functionality for those areas.” —Director (organization considered Workday but did not select)

Other Vendors in the ERP Space

Outsourced payroll solution. Not considered by any respondents in this report’s sample.

Component product (HR/payroll). Not considered by any respondents in this report’s sample.

Well-known provider of ERP solutions, but virtually nonexistent in healthcare ERP.

Component product (HR/payroll). Considered by a few respondents for specific functionality.

About This Report

Data for this report comes from two sources: (1) KLAS Decision Insights data and (2) KLAS performance data.

Sample Sizes

Sample sizes displayed throughout this report (e.g., n=16) represent the total number of unique customer organizations interviewed for a given vendor or solution. However, it should be noted that to allow for the representation of differing perspectives within any one customer organization, samples may include surveys from different individuals at the same organization. Ratings from these individuals are aggregated in order to prevent any one organization’s feedback from disproportionately impacting a solution’s score. The table below shows the total number of unique organizations interviewed for each vendor or solution as well as the total number of individual respondents.