How to find the right ERP partner in 2026

With AI-generated proposals and a crowded market, traditional partner selection methods are falling short. In this blog, Ian Wellman, Director of Cloud Services at Tenth Revolution, discusses the complexities of choosing an ERP partner.

Towards the end of last year, I spent a lot of time speaking with implementation partners across the Tenth Revolution network. Despite different markets, technologies and geographies, the message was remarkably consistent  - interest in transformation projects is high, but commitment is low.

Clients are cautious. Many are signing up for pilots, discovery phases or limited engagements rather than full-scale transformations. As a result, getting complete deals over the line has become increasingly difficult. This tension is creating a genuine headcount crisis for partners.

Without confirmed projects, every consultant becomes a cost. Without new work starting, it becomes harder to keep top talent engaged. Partners are stuck between holding teams in anticipation of a pipeline that may convert and facing the reality that many projects simply are not materializing.

At the same time, the market is more crowded than ever. New partners continue to enter the ecosystem, adding more competition and more choice. On the surface, that should be good news for buyers. But in reality, it has made partner selection significantly harder.

The AI effect on partner selection

There is a major complicating factor in today’s selection process: most RFP (Request for Proposal) responses are now created, at least in part, using AI.

Every proposal is polished. Every response is comprehensive. Every partner sounds credible on paper. This means the traditional signals buyers relied on for years are losing their value. Selecting the right partner is less about who can write the best proposal and more about who can actually deliver.

When every proposal says the right things, a few critical questions emerge:

How do you identify who can genuinely deliver when everyone sounds equally capable?

How do you distinguish real experience from well-articulated theory in a market flooded with both new entrants and established players?

And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all - If a partner presents a strong case study, relevant sector, similar challenges, successful outcome, but if the people who delivered it no longer work there, do they really have that experience?

The project may be real. The methodology may exist. But the expertise may have walked out the door. This is no longer a hypothetical scenario. Team continuity is a genuine risk and an impressive portfolio can easily represent capabilities a partner no longer has.

What actually matters in partner selection today

The criteria for selecting partners has shifted. Buyers need to look beyond proposals and focus on what truly reduces delivery risk. It's worth asking:

Can you engage with the actual delivery team?

Not just sales leaders or polished presenters, but the people who would be on your project day to day. Do they have current, relevant experience? Recent delivery matters more than legacy projects completed by people who have since left.

Are they financially stable enough to support you long term?

Multi-year transformations require partners who can weather slow markets without cutting corners or losing key staff.

Are they honest about capacity and continuity?

The people you meet during selection should be the people delivering during implementation, not a rotating cast spread across multiple engagements.

Do they understand your specific journey?

Beyond the technology, have they successfully guided organizations through similar phased approaches, pilot-to-scale transitions and organizational change with their current teams;

How do they differentiate beyond the proposal?

Insight, creativity and genuine partnership cannot be generated by AI. These should be evident in conversations, not just promised in writing.

The uncomfortable reality is this: the best-written proposal may tell you the least about whether a partner can actually deliver. This is why we created Tenth Connect which acts as a strategic connector across the complete ERP journey, providing independent planning support, adaptive mid-project resources and post-go-live capability building, all without vendor bias or locked-in partnerships.

A different approach to partner selection

So what can buyers do differently? Partner selection today requires deep, current knowledge of the partner landscape, not just what appears in RFP responses. In many cases, the most effective move is to engage a partner selection specialist. This is exactly why we built Tenth Connect.

Here’s how we can help:

• We know real capability, not just case studies. We work closely with over 100 implementation partners and we know their teams, current capacity, recent projects and who is still in place. When a case study is presented, we can validate whether the people who delivered it are actually available.
• We understand your context. You are not just selecting an ERP or CRM partner, but balancing AI readiness, budget constraints, phased delivery and organizational change. We match you with partners who have delivered similar journeys recently, with their current teams.
• We cut through AI-generated noise. When every proposal looks flawless, we provide the intelligence that matters - financial stability, capacity management, delivery risk and realistic timelines.
• We are vendor-neutral. We are not incentivized to push a specific partner. Our value is in getting the match right, not selling a solution.
• We speak both languages. We understand buyer expectations and partner realities and we facilitate honest conversations that go beyond sales decks and polished presentations.
• We help de-risk the decision. Through working sessions with actual delivery teams, verified references from recent projects and transparent discussions about continuity and capacity, all before contracts are signed.

The process has to evolve

The traditional RFP process was not designed for a world where AI writes responses and delivery teams change rapidly. Partner selection now demands a different approach.

If you’ve selected a partner recently, did you navigate the process alone or with support? What would have made it easier?

If you’re a partner, how are you demonstrating genuine, current capability when AI can make everyone’s history sound equally impressive?

The market has changed. The selection process needs to change with it. If you are facing a partner selection decision in, our team can help help you cut through the complexity, reduce risk and help you find the right partner for your project.