In 1996, when Neil Montgomery began the search for a Windows-based ERP system to replace Davis Controls Ltd.'s outdated, 20-year-old MS-DOS-based platform, one criterion was paramount.

“I wasn't into third-party integrations. If things went wrong, and I knew they would, I was looking for one throat to choke,” says Montgomery, president and CEO of the instrumentation and control products maker and distributor. “The primary driver at the time was [having] everything under one roof. Sure enough, in the first year in our first Windows-based environment, there were a lot of problems.”

But because Montgomery had chosen a provider, Exact Software (then known as Macola), that offered all the features Davis needed in one product, the troubleshooting phase was relatively painless, he says.

“Within a year Macola had everything fixed,” Montgomery notes.

His experience illustrates an important consideration for companies that are looking to upgrade or replace their business software: Making sure one product can handle all of the processes need for a smoothly running enterprise.

For Montgomery, that meant finding a vendor that offered a fully integrated solution that handles both front- and back-office functions.

“Everybody can expect a bulletproof ERP [system], but what does it have [for the] front office?” he says. “[That's] really the differentiator … [having] CRM, HRM, document management, workflow, all kinds of really neat stuff fully integrated into the back office program, all working from the same Web-based database.”

The benefits to such an all-in-one solution—having one throat to choke, as it were—provided immediate benfits, Montgomery adds.

“In our accounting office, we used to have a dozen people. We don't need to employ dedicated file clerks or a dedicated expediter [any more]. All of these things are easily done by people accessing the software. We've redeployed those bodies into sales, where they're doing us more good,” he says.

A lot more good—Davis Controls has doubled sales since installing the software, Montgomery says.

“Return on investment is probably expressed in our ability to do more business faster, with the same number of people. I don't see any limit yet to how many times we can increment that volume without adding people,” he adds.

Such scalability is another important factor to consider in choosing a business platform—it must be able to keep pace with your business' growth. Montgomery is especially excited about a recent development called Exact Business Analytics that allows users to compile reports using data culled from each business department.

“The database is keyword-searchable, so you have data in context, which really is the definition of information,” he notes.

For Davis Controls, this solution replaced the cumbersome process of pulling disparate data into a single report, saving time and money and providing up-to-date information to the company's sales force.

That means daily e-mail updates to the outside sales force with sales and inventory analyses that increases its ability to sell.

The data can also be pushed out to personal mobile devices, illustrating another thing to consider when examining software—its ability to keep pace with advances in technology such as the rise of personal wireless devices.

But Montgomery hasn't yet been convinced of the value of Personal Desktop Assistants (PDAs) such as the Blackberry or the Treo.

“I still really see PDAs and Blackberries as strictly being e-mail machines. While you can launch Internet Explorer and you can browse Web pages, I find it awkward. You can't get enough information on that little screen,” he says, adding that his sales staff are pushing to upgrade from their current laptops to PDAs.

But that will wait until they bring him a device with a usable keyboard and a large enough screen, Montgomery says.

And that points up the final consideration in purchasing new technology. Just because a flashy new device is all the rage doesn't make it a sound investment.