Choosing Software Is Not a Strategic Decision. It Is a Decision That Can Break You.

I tell you like this because I have seen it:

A company spends $80M COP on a "strategic" ERP sold at a fancy event. 6 months later, nobody uses it. They are still in Excel. Manager calls me: "Bro, we got into a problem, can you get us out of this?"

The problem was not the ERP. It was how they chose it.

Most choose software like choosing a partner at a party: for how pretty it looks in the demo, not for how it will treat you every day at 7am when you have 20 orders on top.

The 8 Filters We Use at TotalSys Before Saying YES or NO

We sometimes say NO to a client. Because if what we do does not serve them, I prefer not to sell them. These are the 8 filters:

Filter 1: Does it solve your pain today or the pain they invented for you?

They sell you AI, blockchain, metaverse. But what you need is to know how much each order costs you.

Filter 2: Will your people use it or hate it?

Show the demo to your plant operator, not just the manager. If your 50-year-old operator does not understand how to register production in 3 clicks, that software is dead.

Filter 3: Does it adapt to your process or do you have to adapt to it?

This is error #1. You buy a gringo ERP that forces you to work like a German company. You are not a German company. You are a Colombian company that has to reschedule production because truck broke down.

Filter 4: How much does it REALLY cost you?

Seller tells you $20M. But does not tell you: $10M implementation, $5M training, $2M monthly support, $8M each time you want a new report.

Filter 5: Does it let you leave?

Uncomfortable question nobody asks: If tomorrow you want to leave, can you take YOUR data? In what format? Do they charge you to take it out?

Filter 6: Who do you talk to when it breaks at 6pm on Friday?

Not with a ticket in India that responds in 48 hours. With someone who knows your company.

Filter 7: Does it show you real cost per order or just save data?

Does software tell you at end of day: "This order left you $2M profit and this one made you lose $500k"? Or just saves that you sold?

Filter 8: Does it grow with you or do you have to throw it away in 2 years?

Today you have 10 employees. In 2 years you will have 30. Does software hold? Can you add inventory module without paying another giant license?

Are you comparing software and do not know which one will not leave you stranded in 3 months?

At TotalSys we tell you the truth, even if that means telling you that you do not need us.

Book 20 minutes and we run your idea through the 8 filters →