I did it, I got sucked in, it was those bloody glossy brochures (I booked online and it still looked glossy!)

Sun, pool, food, entertainment, luxury – everything you would ever want in a holiday, all neatly bundled together, the all-inclusive dream.

One problem (or several) the food had been microwaved a week ago and stuck out front, day after day, meal after meal. The drinks were watered down. The room was small. The cleaners’ disinfectant – pungent. The sun was still there, but to get any sort of glimpse required a bit of Laurel and Hardyesque manoeuvring of sunbeds to squeeze in between our fellow inmates/holiday goers.

So after 2 days we left, we checked out of our all-inclusive nightmare and got the rest of our stay refunded. We went down the road and checked into a beautiful apartment, which was genuinely beachside. We also found that we had loads of money left, like loads. So what did we do? We ate at the best restaurants on the island, we drank at the nicest cocktail bars, all in all had the best time ever, just because we shopped around a bit.

It made me think, why on earth did I go for the all-inclusive option in the first place. The answer, convenience and slick marketing. (Those bloody brochures!)

Then it made me think, where have I seen this before? When has the allure of convenience and slick marketing impacted selection – the selection of an all-inclusive ERP system.

It always seems like a great idea at the time, financials, procurement, HR, payroll, all under one roof.

Thing is, whenever I speak to someone who’s done it, they’re never happy.

“Well we’ve been rolling it out for 18 months, I thought we’d have something for procurement by now.”

“Yea the business bought a system for that a few years ago, it’s quite difficult so no one really uses it.”

The added bonus for those who have gone down this route is they can’t check out after 2 days, they’re stuck for years.

I am biased (just look at my job title and company) but just like I would strongly advise you double or triple check the quality of what you get in an all-inclusive, I would strongly advise against all-inclusive tech for indirect procurement. If your business tries to impose on you, resist like hell. There are loads of great tools for indirect procurement out there, not just ours, and any one of them will trump what you get from ERP. You’ll save loads of money and won’t be encumbered with functionality you neither need nor want.

Anyway, rant over, I need a holiday…

For advice on selecting and implementing a spend management system, contact Touchstone Spend Management.