I've come across many prospects who question the need to get a partner onboard for ERPNext implementation. I decided to write this guide to share my views on why you should work with Frappe Partners, how to choose the right one, and tips to ensure successful implementations.

Why work with a Frappe Partner

I recently decided to work with an interior decorator for home renovation rather do the heavy lifting myself. The benefit: I get the project done in time and budget, get expert guidance, source good products, and finally get help in moving and operations, with limited investment of my own time.

The benefit of working with a partner over doing it all on your own is similar. With a Frappe Partner, you get an expert on board who understands the product, has been there and done that for tens and hundreds of customers and who gives you leverage.

We recommend working with authorised Frappe Partners for the following reasons:

Quality

Partner Maturity Model (PMM) is Frappe's way of ensuring partners have systems and processes to deliver consistent quality services. As part of PMM, our team performs rigorous audits and assigns a score to every partner between 1 to 5, 1 being the least and 5 being the highest. The auditing and scoring process is inspired by ISO 9001 and published on the partner’s profile for customer's evaluation.

Proficiency

Frappe partners have to complete a minimum number of mandatory product certifications. These certifications are listed on their profile too. An applicant goes through a detailed course and evaluations to obtain a certification which ensures your partner's team understands the concepts and features of ERPNext.

OEM support

Partners get special access to Frappe. This includes, fixing a product issue, or raising feature requests that matter to assistance in solving scalability/performance issues. The direct access to Frappe works as an assurance for customers.

How to choose the right partner

Finding the right implementation partner is often more critical than the ERP itself. Although a cliché, this undeniably true.

To help you find the right partner, we offer multiple filtering criteria on the official partner list. Here's how you evaluate those:

Industry expertise

Partners who have worked in your industry are better able to predict and solve the unique challenges in your industry. To make this easy, we have published industry expertise on the partner’s profile too. This expertise is calculated using the past successes implemented by the partner.

Geography expertise

If you prefer in-person implementations, choose a partner from your own city/country. Today, frappe partners cover 35+ countries. If you don’t find a partner listed in your own city or country, you can work with an overseas partner.

Customer references

Browse relevant success stories on www.frappe.io/stories or check the ones listed under the partner’s profile. If possible, ask the partner to connect you with their existing customer to get direct feedback.

Standard implementation over customization

Experienced partners know that using standard features is better than over-customizing ERPNext. Yet, some partners get into the customization trap, either because they are builders and love building solutions or to increase the scope and price of implementation. Great partners know that long term customer success is more important than inflating the bill. These partners understand the long term benefits of minimizing customizations and will help you understand how the base product can fit most of your needs.

Pricing

When you receive the quotation, look for the break down of the scope and whether the pricing has been arrived scientifically. Try to determine if the partner could be underestimating or overestimating the complexity and pricing. Both are equally detrimental in your implementation journey. Underestimating the quote will lead to unexpected increase in price and timeline later. Small businesses should opt for success packs with a standard scope of work and rate card, they’re the fastest and easiest way to get started with ERPNext.

If you’re still in doubt, reach out to Frappe and we will guide you to a suitable partner.

A typical partner profile looks like this:

Implementation, billing and managing change

Implementation methodology

There is no defined playbook to implement ERPNext. Every partner follows a different implementation methodology. Some partners prefer a long blueprinting process to map all the requirements clearly, some partners offer a standard scope of work for faster vanilla implementations, some work with a monthly billing model. Based on Frappe’s experience, we recommend partners to follow agile implementation over waterfall, avoid bloating the requirements in the middle of the project, over-communicate project status and bottlenecks to all the stakeholders involved and most importantly follow standard implementations and avoid major customizations as much as possible.

Ownership of Frappe Cloud account

As a customer hosting on Frappe Cloud, you have two choices. You can either let the partners manage your Frappe Cloud hosting or own your Frappe Cloud account. In the second case you can grant partners access to manage and support your environment. You get full access to your sites, servers, backups, and billing history, while still work with a Frappe Partner for implementation, support, training, and ongoing success. Both options are completely okay. If you don’t want to deal with hosting hassles, managing uptime etc, it is better to let partners manage your Frappe Cloud hosting. Enterprises that host via partners but also want Frappe assistance can reach out to Frappe for a custom agreement available under Enterprise plans.

Benefits of paying via partner

Frappe Cloud allows you to own your Frappe Cloud account while billing is managed through your implementation partner using the "Paid via Partner" option.

Benefits include:

• Full ownership and control of your Frappe Cloud account.
• Incentive alignment, as partners have an ongoing interest in your success and retention.
• Encourages partners to help you improve adoption over time.
• Local currency billing, reducing payment and foreign exchange complexities.
• Flexible payment terms, allowing you to negotiate quarterly, annual, or other billing arrangements with your partner.

Do your part

Many implementations fail because of a lack of an influential project champion on the customer’s side and delays or change of scope from the customers. This part is completely in your control. Ensure leadership oversight and attention, appoint the right project champion who can influence change and finally make sure you make minimal changes to the scope once it is finalised.

Share feedback with Frappe

During the sales, implementation, or maintenance steps, if you have any feedback about your experience with a Frappe Partner, you can visit the partner's profile and click on the "Give Feedback" option at the bottom of the partner's profile. This feedback is shared directly with the Frappe team, and we review it carefully to ensure appropriate corrective actions are taken when necessary.

Final thoughts

Remember, partners are also trying to run a sustainable profitable business just like you. Make sure you have fair expectations and work together as “partners”.

In conclusion, there is no such thing as a perfect partner, neither there is a perfect customer. A partnership requires understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses and complementing them during the journey.