‘Factor 8’: A Blog Series to Help You Pick the Right EQMS

Over the last five years of running ComplianceQuest, we’ve realized that our clients often spend months in deciding the right EQMS for their context. And often, the final decision is made based on whether the software product has certain features to meet specific critical tasks.

The question is – Is that enough? Should we have a guideline, a process, to pick the right EQMS?

The pre-sales team at ComplianceQuest went back to review their notes from several client meetings to put together this series of eight blog posts. Each post will revolve around ONE FACTOR that must be considered while picking the EQMS.

Factor 1: How does the EQMS fit into your current business process?

What does this mean? We’ve noticed that organizations modify their business process to fit the needs of a product they have bought. According to us, that is exactly the opposite of how it should be. The software product must fit seamlessly into your current process.

In short, the EQMS must be flexible.

What do we mean by Flexibility?

• The EQMS must be customizable as per client needs. The implementation will have the ability to modify forms, move buttons, rejig flow of data, etc. without any programming needed. In other words, drag-and-drop customization.
• The system must easily integrate with multiple ERP and CRM systems. You may use Salesforce, SAP or even custom-built software for your ERP or CRM requirements. The EQMS must connect easily with these systems.
• A flexible EQMS will allow an endless number of custom changes with ease. There will be no need for modifications at the code level. Rather the changes will be at the front end.
• Scalability – both in terms of user numbers or addition of modules (audit management, CAPA, document, complaints, etc.) – will be straightforward.
• Last but not the least, the proof lies in the pudding. An EQMS vendor may say their system is flexible. But during the demo, showcasing a custom flow may take several weeks. A truly flexible EQMS will ‘showcase itself’ as flexible during the demo phase. Go by your demo experience

In the next post as part of this series, we’ll focus on Customer Experience and how that aspect influences your choice.

At ComplianceQuest, we’ve built our product on the #RealCloud with high levels of flexibility and ease of customization. Please write to us at [email protected] to request for a demo.

Other Blogs in the Series

• The CX Factor
• Factor #3: Web-Based vs. Web-enabled
• Factor #4: Next-Generation Dashboards
• Factor #5: Modules & Solutions: Where Breadth & Depth co-exist
• Factor #6: Scalability
• Factor #7: The ROI of deploying an EQMS
• Factor #8: A Team that Intuitively understands Quality