A company looking for an ERP usually watches two or three demos and leaves each one satisfied. The screens are fast, invoices post on the first try and the reports are full. Then the software is installed, and within the first month someone says: "It was not like this in the demo." It really was not, because the company on the screen was not yours.
A proof of concept closes that gap. This article explains what a PoC is, where it differs from a canned demo and when you need one. It is written with a Turkish subsidiary of a foreign group in mind, where the local entity often has to live with a system chosen from a slide deck.
What does PoC mean?
PoC stands for proof of concept. In software buying it means trying the software with your own data before you decide, to see whether it works for your business.
The seller takes a sample of your data, loads it into an environment set aside for you and shows the software with that data. The screen no longer shows the sample company's products. It shows your stock cards. You issue the invoice to your customer, at your price list.
What does a canned demo show, and what does it leave out?
A canned demo shows what the software can do. It uses a sample company prepared for that purpose. That company's data is clean: every product has a unit, every account has a tax number and no order is half shipped.
Your data is not like that. You buy by the carton and sell by the piece. Half of an order has shipped and the other half is waiting. The same customer exists under two account cards. One product has three price lists. A canned demo never touches these cases, because the sample company does not have them.
This does not make a canned demo useless. It is enough to get to know the software, see how the screens are laid out and make a first cut. It is not enough to decide.
What changes in a PoC?
| Canned demo | PoC | |
|---|---|---|
| Data on screen | The seller's sample company | Your customers, products and invoices |
| Processes shown | The flows the seller picks | The scenarios you pick |
| Who uses the screen | The seller | Your own staff try it too |
| Data import | Never seen | You find out whether your data can be imported |
| What you keep | An impression | A list of what worked and what did not |
The fourth row is often overlooked. Moving your data into new software is the hardest part of a transition. In a PoC that job is done once on a small scale. Which field is missing and which record needs fixing shows up that day.
When do you need a PoC?
Do not settle for a canned demo if any of these apply to you:
- You run more than one warehouse or branch.
- You manufacture and have bills of materials.
- You buy or sell in foreign currency.
- You will move years of data out of the software you use today.
- Your business has a sector-specific calculation, such as scrap, subcontracting, progress billing or consignment.
For a Turkish subsidiary there is one more reason. The statutory side is local: e-Fatura (e-invoice), e-Defter (e-ledger), withholding and the chart of accounts your CPA works with. A PoC is where you see whether your own invoices and your own account codes go through that flow.
What should you not expect from a PoC?
A PoC is not a go-live. Knowing three things in advance prevents disappointment.
Not all of your data is moved. A part that represents your business is enough: some of your customer and product lists, open invoices and two or three real cases.
Not every module is tried. The scope is kept narrow. Which processes to look at is settled in the first call.
Not everything works on the first try. That is the point of a PoC. It is better to see what needs adapting before setup than after it.
What should you have when the PoC ends?
A well-run PoC produces three lists:
- Processes that work as they are. Flows that run on your own data with no extra configuration.
- Processes that need adapting. Things the software can do but that have to be set up for the way you work.
- Problems on the data side. Missing fields, duplicate records, units that do not match.
These three lists are the basis for the quote and the setup plan. You decide on records, not on an impression.
How does Birasyo do it?
At Birasyo we do not show a canned demo. In the first call we listen to which processes you want to see. Then we take a sample of your data and load it into an environment set aside for you. In the meeting you turn a quote into an order and the order into an invoice with your own records, and you see stock and account balances in your own figures.
Your data is used only for this trial, and other companies cannot see it. Details and the request form are on the proof of concept page.
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