Infor M3 Reviews

Infor M3 is specifically dominant in fashion, food and beverages, and chemicals manufacturing; it works into micro-verticals. In food and beverage, it specializes in meat processing, confectionery, and dairy processing. They have ready-made processes available, so 70% of the processes will be basic processes to those industries, and then 30% can be configured, with 10% for taxation compliance. It works.

The best features of Infor M3 are the micro-vertical and industry ready-made solutions rather than generic solutions. They have ready-made solutions ready, so the implementation of the process discovery happens very fast. It won't take more than two months, and if the process is very simple and they adopt the standard, it may happen within five weeks, covering the implementation cycle which will finish within seven to eight months.

Most of the time, it helps streamline business processes; maybe some processes such as unique subcontracting vary by continent or job work, which could be different due to legal compliance. Other than that, everything helps because the processes are very much streamlined. Everywhere you have a check and maker concept, there is a workflow, and all those things are there; document management is also very simple. You can drag and drop the reports.

The workflow feature is very good and flexible, working with multi-level authorization and all those capabilities. Apart from that, the GUI interface screens are really good. Users can design their own workspace based on the roles, and there are roles-based security options, with many roles available that you need not define—you can just tweak them.

Some customers expect more out-of-box reports, and in some areas, they should provide more reports. However, Infor has introduced a report tool so that key users or global champions can generate reports on their own. This again boils down to the user; some users are not tech-savvy or interested in learning report generation, but they expect some minimum reports to be available.

We are working on the Infor M3 ERP system, and I have been in ERP for the last 30 years. With Infor M3, I have been working for around 25 years.

There aren't many issues; there might be teething issues when you implement the solution. It boils down to user maturity; once the user is matured enough, since the system is new for the user, maybe one month of hand-holding is needed, but after three months, it stabilizes. Incidents also come down, and then the user matures. I don't foresee technical problems because Infor has good patch management; every April and October, they release patches and enhancements.

It is flexible, and there are not many issues. It is stable; nowadays, since it is on the cloud, the support required is really less, and maybe if you really require any kind of change request or any major improvement of the processes, then only.

I can rate Infor's technical customer support highly. Infor has a hybrid approach, offering personalization which doesn't require a technical person. A functional person can do it himself with some training. Form customization and related tasks don't require extensive technical knowledge. However, for substantial process chains, you will need some form of certification.

Before Infor, I mostly worked with Microsoft Dynamics for about 10 years, including when D365 F&O came into the cloud.

Dynamics is a generic product and is not industry-based; it is good for project management accounting and generally for hardware material or distribution scenarios where manufacturing is not present, suitable for project-based organizations. However, it lacks specific industry features, although Microsoft has introduced some industry features for fertilizer.

The initial implementation part is easy to set up in Infor M3. It's very easy in Infor M3, as you get the initial setup 70% ready. In Microsoft, you may get some parts built but only about 30% ready, but in Infor M3, it is much more complete.

It helped a lot because many customers have implemented it. You can take examples such as Alpha Laval and Baloff; many customers are there. Basically, it depends on how you implement it, and rather than doing a big bang approach, if you follow a template, it works very well because you will get more time to harmonize the processes before implementing.

You require a minimum of two years to get the total cost of ownership (TCO); after the first year, you will start seeing TCO.

It differs from continent to continent, basically country to country, but it's not that expensive. Compared to SAP and Oracle, I think it's cheaper.

Infor works on a multi-tenant model; it is not a single tenant or private cloud but a public cloud with excellent security on AWS. Microsoft, on the other hand, operates on a single-tenant model which is kind of a private cloud. Each technology has its own merits and demerits; in Microsoft, you can perform customizations without issues, but here in Infor M3, you have certain limitations where the main components cannot be modified—you must work around or use bolt-ons.

In Microsoft, it is easier to work due to its .NET technology and hybrid architecture, but Infor M3 is more structured, requiring in-depth knowledge of its rules and table names.

I think they should look into the industry best practices, particularly in food and beverage, fashion, and chemicals. Infor has ready-made processes, which provide the best workflows. In their patches, you will also find many new processes. It depends on each organization as well; for small and medium enterprises, they may want to consider Microsoft D365 F&O, which focuses on finance and operations.

I would rate Infor M3 as a nine; it has no issues, and I've seen many transformations in the last 15 years with Infor M3.

I use Infor M3 as a robust system primarily in chemical process engineering, such as chemical industries and textile manufacturing. It is designed for discrete and non-discrete manufacturing, particularly in textiles and process engineering like food and beverages. 

The core applications are developed for industries like food and beverages, textiles, and chemical engineering, defined as process engineering.

Infor M3 has several valuable features, including customer order management and integration capabilities with third-party applications like ION. 

It offers excellent features for sales and purchase, allowing integration with systems like supply chain management. It manages the entire supply chain, from procurement to distribution, ensuring optimal resource allocation and cost management. 

Its CRM automates the sales process, manages leads and opportunities, and handles contacts and account management. Integration with other Infor and non-Infor systems allows for data and workflow management, focusing on role-based access for efficiency.

Improvements could be made in security and scalability. Enhanced changes could be beneficial in security, and while the application is already cloud-based, adding features like daily MRP updates would be advantageous. 

Enhancements in reporting could also be beneficial, with more features to reduce customizations required by customers.

I have been using Infor for the past four years. Initially, it was known as Lawson, now rebranded as Infor M3.

There are no latency issues if deployed on the cloud. On-premises deployment may experience latency depending on network conditions.

The scalability of the application could be improved. It is flexible in the cloud, yet requires some improvements for large enterprises.

Customer support from Infor is responsive and addresses issues, but the response time can be delayed, which sometimes leads me to explore private vendors. The service is also price-sensitive, which can be a concern for small and medium enterprises.

Positive

The installation of Infor M3 is relatively easy if conducted by knowledgeable personnel. The setup requires both administrative and technical expertise and involves data partitioning and configuring based on business needs.

One person cannot manage the entire setup. A good administrator is required for data sizing and server partitioning. The implementation involves both administrative and technical sides for effective deployment.

Pricing is on the higher side and not deemed economical. Although it is expensive, I appreciate the comprehensive features, including AI connectivity and social media integration. 

I would rate the pricing as eight on a scale where ten is very expensive.

Overall, I rate Infor M3 nine out of ten for a positive experience. 

AI features in Infor M3 are integrated for process automation, such as in finance workflows and approval hierarchies.

I do consulting, so I help companies integrate or run Infor M3. I do functional and technical specifications, development, and implementation, so I do much IT work on the software.

I provide Infor M3 to clients, so I'm not an end-user.

The use case for Infor M3 is integration, particularly for processes and data into a single application, for a multinational company that operates in several countries, primarily if that company specializes in manufacturing.

A manufacturing company uses Infor M3 to manage all processes, from planning to manufacturing,  scheduling to time reporting, invoicing to purchasing, etc.

The company inputs the data in Infor M3, with data being made available in the central database for management. It's an ERP solution for big, multinational companies with manufacturing units.

The most valuable feature of Infor M3 is the level of detail it has about the different manufacturing processes compared to other ERP solutions. Other ERP solutions provide the same level of integration as Infor M3, but Infor M3 specializes in several functions, such as planning and manufacturing.

Sometimes, big ERPs tend to be too broad in scope, which means not getting all the details right, while Infor M3 is broad in scope and operations, yet it can be specific in processes because it has different software for different verticals.

For example, if you have a food and beverage vertical that falls under manufacturing but is more into distribution, that can work well with Infor M3. My company has a manufacturing vertical, and people in this vertical can find a good level of detail in Infor M3, so it's a good solution.

The UI for Infor M3 is good. It's a newer cloud-based technology, so customization-wise, it's up to date. I received no complaints from clients in that area. The customization level in the solution is also pretty good, allowing you to do a lot of customizations.

Integration in Infor M3 is good. Collaboration between employees using it is good.

An area for improvement in Infor M3 is training. There should be more training resources available for clients.

Clients also find it challenging to get consultants or integrators for Infor M3. The product doesn't have enough resources in the market to help clients, but Infor M3 is good.

I have six years of experience with Infor M3, and I'm still working on it.

Infor M3 has good stability. Infor puts a lot of effort into the quality of the product, so you rarely find a bug in Infor M3. It's a good quality, stable product.

Infor M3 is a scalable solution. It's made for scalability in terms of resources and configuration. It's made to be run worldwide by several entities in your company, and it's a mutual language.

Infor M3 can also accommodate local regulations regarding financial processes and reporting, and it considers different requirements in various regions of the world.

I've contacted Infor M3 technical support, and the team was pretty good and quick to respond. The technical support team was knowledgeable so that it could respond in a timely fashion. It didn't take long to receive a response from the Infor M3 team.

Two years ago, I used SAP, the market leader. At the time, SAP was a different product, but I thought Infor M3 was the better product, so I went with Infor M3 instead of SAP.

The main difference is that SAP was broader in scope, but the level of detail it had wasn't good enough for some industries. SAP is more extensive in scope but has no specialization, while Infor M3 has a smaller scope yet great specialization with the micro-vertical product.

The UI of SAP wasn't as good as Infor M3. Infor M3 has a good UI as it's modern, efficient, and pleasant to work with. Infor M3 also has better technology when it comes to presentations. Clients also preferred Infor M3 because of the friendly UI and up-to-date technology.

To me, Infor M3 is much better than SAP. However, SAP is more renowned because it had a good head start in the industry. Many people encourage using SAP, so when people transition into management positions, they have familiarity with SAP and know how to use it. It was easier to sell SAP than Infor M3 in the past because SAP has more presence.

Deploying Infor M3 starts with a demo to the client, who can agree on what's been presented or ask for modifications. The consulting team then works on the client's request and then comes to an agreement with the client on the final solution. The consulting team designs the project around the final solution and will take some steps, such as trying to build the base of the solution with the basic features, configuration, and data. Once that's done, the team takes that to the client, who then tests it and agrees on modifications.

The second phase entails more advanced configurations, integration, and data, which is how my company deploys Infor M3 for clients. Deployment is step-by-step and always includes going back to the client to ensure that my company doesn't make any mistakes and that everything meets client requirements and specifications.

On average, completing the deployment for Infor M3 takes nine months to two and a half years. That period covers project conception to the final delivery and going live.

Evaluating Infor M3 for ROI takes a long time, and I have yet to discuss that with my customers. In my experience, my current customers use the solution happily, but I have yet to calculate ROI.

I'm not part of the team that manages Infor M3 pricing, but it depends on the client, integration, ship-out, and training levels. You get the price from the solution provider, but it would be best to discuss it because nothing is set in stone regarding pricing.

My clients use the SaaS version of Infor M3.

How many people you need for deploying Infor M3 depends on the company. For example, if the company is huge, that requires a big team of consultants, including project managers, to cover everything. For a smaller company that won't be using the full scope of Infor M3, maybe it just needs a basic configuration, then a smaller team of consultants would do.

From the IT side, you'd need at least a solution architect and a solution delivery manager, apart from two functional consultants, ideally one consultant per functional area. However, it can be two or three consultants. You'd also need technical resources that you can outsource.

The minimum requirement for deploying Infor M3 in terms of staffing is an architect, a solution delivery manager, and functional and technical consultants.

As Infor M3 is cloud-based, you don't have to do maintenance as a client. The solution provider takes care of maintenance.

My advice to others looking into using Infor M3 for the first time is to get the demo. The demo is free and helps you discover more about Infor M3. It would not be easy to know what the solution is capable of if you don't get a demo. If, through the demo, you see that Infor M3 fits your need, then consider using it. If not, you can dismiss it. A demo is crucial, and for demoing to the management team, let people from Infor come in and do the demo for your management team before making a decision.

I would give Infor M3 a nine out of ten.

Infor M3 is used in major European countries, including India. This is the Infor M3 that has specialized ERP packages for every industry, such as equipment, food and beverages, textiles, and chemicals. Separate packages have been created for these industries and they cover almost 85 percent of the standard processes within ERP. The processes that are specific to these industries have been defined and classified into core and common processes. The modification required in the ERP is hardly ten to 15 percent of the processes. This means that Infor M3 has tailor-made packages for each and every industry.

The value of an ERP is the same as that of tailor-made packages. Out of the 15 percent of processes that can be customized, seven to ten percent of them can be worked from workaround processes. However, the straight-way process as per the requirement of the client is not available, but a certain way is available. With this solution, we can achieve the target and only five to ten percent of the process needs modification.

Different countries have different finance practices, but I believe they need to fine-tune their practices to match industry standards. Practices vary from country to country, for example, in India, it is different than in the US. Sometimes, clients require alternate processes that are not standard, but they claim that these are the standard practices in their industry. At those times, we feel that the option required is not available with the solution. This is not the case only for Infor M3. Other ERPs also have the same problem. We can't mold the ERP to fit the customer's requirements. There are some standards in place because many screens and programs are integrated into the finance process. We can't make modifications to fit the client's requirements.

The customer needs specific screens for different users, so if that program is in place, we have one planning tool in Infor M3. Planners need to know all things related to manufacturing, purchase, and sales in order to make decisions about planning. In one of my clients, I came across the requirement that they were asking for user authority in the planning tool. This is not the case though, because all planners need to know all things. However, on the manufacturing side, we can say that the person who is working with machine operations only needs to know machine-related information and doesn't need knowledge of products or sales. That standard industry is available, so we can give access to the user as per their needs. If the maintenance people are there, we can give them limited access, but if the planner is there, we need to give them all access according to industry standards. However, this requirement from the client side is not possible with the standard Infor software, but Infor can consider implementing it if the need is larger for many customers.

I have been using the solution for almost seven years.

Infor M3 is a stable product as per the purchase version of the Infor M3. Previously we were facing some gaps in the sales team and actual functional implementation team, but now it is not that much. The stability is improving. The sales team is also having knowledge of the actual product. This is the gap in every marketing and product implementation company, the sales team is giving a promise for everything and the functional team is not able to keep that promise.

I give the scalability of the solution an eight out of ten.

When support is required, from Infor, it is not available at a large scale. Infor provides one portal for support. We can open the incident or we can ask directly on the portal. There is no training information available, so there are limited consultants in the market. This is an online process, so we need to mention each step to the customer. They need to understand what a customer is, what the product build is, and what phase the order is in. If there are critical or standard requirements, or if there are any issues or wrong practices, we need to explain all of this to their technical support. However, this process can be time-consuming, and sometimes the customer's purchase limit related to the product build can prevent us from giving them the development patch they need, and that leaves us helpless.

Neutral

We have noticed that people are using SAP and other products that are locally made. They have been using these products for 20 years, and they are just updating or canceling their use of these products and moving to Infor M3. The solution is a stable product, and it is industry specific. This means that Infor M3 has plug-and-play device-like features, so we can implement the standard Infor M3 program and have at least 80 to 85 percent of our processes covered.

The initial setup is straightforward. The solution is industry specific. The textile and garment industry has specific needs that can be fulfilled with the help of specific software packages. For example, the textile package can be used to define the style of a garment according to specific requirements. Infor M3 offers this package and makes it easy to configure. For the food and beverage industry, there is also a level system available that we can define easily. 

Regarding the implementation time, Infor M3 has developed one Infor Accelerator program that can be achieved within a six-month timeframe if all the standard processes are in place. The Infor Accelerator provides a time advantage by reducing the time it takes to implement the software. The client can also see what processes are taking place and what the consultant is doing through the Infor Accelerator portal. This allows the client to be more informed about the implementation process.

The company can have both functional and technical consultants for the implementation program. The team of consultants for implementation should have four to five functional consultants and one or two technical consultants. The required technical and personal support is available within the team. 

The price is based on how many users we are going to implement with the solution. We need to purchase the license per user on a renewal basis. The cost is between $50 and $100 per user annually.

Compared to the other ERP products available in the market, Infor M3's ERP cost is on average. However, if we compare the advantages and the requirements of clients, the cost is not as high. The working cost is not as much.

I give the solution a nine out of ten. The Infor ERP is implemented in many industries and has received positive feedback from all of them. It is a known, reliable, stable, and cost-saving ERP.

We first should know what our pain area is. Why do we think we need an ERP, what are our specific requirements, what business lines do we operate in, and is our business in sales, manufacturing, or distribution? Based on our needs, we can select or customize a package for Infor M3 that addresses our pain area. We can see a demo of how Infor M3 can address that pain area. I recommend Infor M3 because it doesn't come in a part. Other ERP products come in a part, so we can buy or implement only the manufacturing module or finance module. Infor M3 comes as a full product. The solution's functionality and advantages for the end user are good compared to other ERPs.

We're in the beverage sector. I'm a functional consultant, and I support our subsidiaries to resolve all the incidents and handle enhancements of the ERP.

It's simple to use. You don't need any complex training to use it.

It's also stable. It doesn't have many updates or many hotfixes to install in a year. We don't have many big issues with this ERP.

They're strong in terms of sales and distribution. There are many suppliers approved by Infor in France, Canada, and the USA. They've got a strong network.

It should be improved in terms of procurement of the supply chain and business intelligence analysis. We have the Infor BI tool, but it's more complex to use than, for example, Power Pivot or QlikView in the market.

They can add support for eCommerce to buy our items online. There could be a feature like that. Also, we are now in the time of AI. So, we need some AI features to help us make the decision based on some examples from machine learning.

One of the weaknesses of Inform M3 is the online documentation. They don't have a big catalog of incidents or a knowledge database to help you to resolve an incident, whereas SAP has a big community online, where we can ask a question and get an answer within hours.

I've been using this solution since 2018.

It's stable. We don't have any big issues.

In total, we have about 1,500 users of this solution, and we have 10 people from IT.

We're able to handle five subsidiaries and have about 1,500 users. They're satisfied with our ITSM to handle incidents. We have an annual inquiry where we request reviews from our end-users, and they're satisfied.

We work with them via Infor Xtreme or Infor Concierge, which is the new name of Infor Xtreme. They're reactive. I'd rate them a 6 out of 10 because, in the case of complex incidents, they don't always have the experts. There're a few experts for Infor. In the first contact, you get an engineer profile, and then you escalate the issue to be resolved. It once took us half a month to resolve an incident.

They're also not flexible if we have specific enhancements, which is normal in IT. They don't guarantee all the specific enhancements. They only guarantee the standard code. They won't help us with specifics.

Neutral

For us, it was a big project because we implemented it from scratch. It took us one to two months to implement this ERP. We shouldn't forget that Infor M3 is in the Top 3 ERPs in the world. So, it's complex. It won't be as easy as, for example, Sage or another middle-level ERP, or SAP Business One.

If you compare Infor M3 to SAP, Infor M3 is less expensive than SAP, but if you compare Infor M3 to Dynamics 365, Infor M3 is more expensive. It also depends on the model that you buy. It depends on whether you have the complete package or whether you have separate models.

I was not there at that time, but I know that they did the benchmarking. They had SAP, Dynamics AX, and Infor M3. Out of these, Infor M3 was the best option for our beverage sector.

To first-time users, I'd advise taking Infor M3 training with Infor for the standard use of the ERP, and then they can add the activities specific to their corporation.

Overall, I'd rate it an 8 out of 10 because it's simple. They offer many technology features, and they also have a good support network.

In my company, I take care of the integrations of Infor M3 with other third-party tools. The customer that I work for uses Infor M3 for business processes.

The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is highly customizable. Regarding integration plans or options, Infor M3 has some good tools to make that happen.

All of the features of the tool can always be improved. There isn't an area in the tool that is not really working well.

The solution's technical support is an area with shortcomings that need improvement, especially the support for the product named M3 rather than the support offered by Infor as an organization.

I have been using Infor M3 since 2016, so it has been seven years. I am an independent consultant working for a company that uses Infor M3.

I have faced no problems whatsoever with the solution's stability. There have been some occasional issues related to the server being down, but mostly it's up and running in no time.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight to eight and a half out of ten.

Considering the cloud version, I feel it is a really scalable solution. There are no problems at all with adding products to the software.

The solution's technical support is more like a business policy Infor M3 has in place. I rate the technical support a six out of ten.

Neutral

The initial setup's straightforwardness or complexity depends on the customer. Infor M3 has an accelerated implementation in place since it is an almost off-the-shelf implementation of needed functionalities, which is relatively easy to do, but it takes longer only if you go outside of that.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

It's an ERP (enterprise resource planning) tool. It has various business functions such as finance, manufacturing, planning, and procurement, warehousing, and CMS. It also has functions to manage the maintenance of different machines in a factory.

The best feature is that bug fixes can be applied on the fly since we are using the cloud version now. It makes it easy because we constantly get updates from Infor.

Infor comes up with different tools every year, and they are all compatible with Infor M3, which makes it a more reliable and trustworthy tool. The integration is very smooth.

Infor M3 handles all of the core functionalities of different business functions, be it finance, manufacturing, procurement, or warehousing. All core concepts and functionalities are already addressed by Infor M3.

Sometimes, M3 alone cannot handle all the planning functionalities required by a customer. It has to be used along with industry-specific planning tools because M3 doesn't have all the features. However, no product can handle all the requirements of all the industries. There will be some shortcomings in all the products. Though this is an area for improvement, it is not a very serious shortfall or limitation. It can be covered by using third-party planning applications that integrate with Infor M3.

I've been working with this solution for more than eight years.

It's a very reliable and stable product.

I have contacted technical support, and I would give them a rating of eight out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup is not complex for cloud deployments. It's a very smooth process and doesn't require much effort. Within a day or two, the client should be able to run the test versions or the training versions of Infor M3.

For on-premises deployments, the proper SOPs are in place. A system administrator can easily go through those and install Infor M3 for an enterprise without much difficulty.

Infor M3 is a tier-two product and is cheaper than tier-one products such as SAP and Oracle. However, it is more expensive than some other tier-two products.

The licensing cost is dependent on the number of users. Also, if you purchase other tools from Infor as a package, then there may be other discounts offered.

Infor M3 caters to different verticals such as fashion, the chemical industry, manufacturing, and so on. It's a very flexible product. It is also cost effective, and I highly recommend it. I would give Infor M3 an overall rating of eight out of ten.

We use M3 for textile manufacturing and delivery.

M3 has several useful features for managing supply chains, production, and customer orders. It's an excellent system that helps me meet all my requirements for fixed costs. 

It would be great if Infor added some new workflows in the finance module. I'd also like to see better integration with third-party applications. 

I have used M3 for five years. 

The solution is stable.

The solution is very flexible and scalable. They are tied to the AWS website and hence scalable. Our company has around 2000 users for the solution.

I am satisfied with the tech support since they clear tickets on time.

Yes. It's very easy to set up here because now we have the cloud version where you can access at any time your system and also configure the system as well. It's been very easy now because we have an IDM tool, and, also, you have the methodology and the templates. You need an experienced admin for the tool’s implementation since there are some keys involved in the process. Only the admin would know the process of encrypting and decrypting those keys.

The tool’s licensing is yearly.

I would rate the tool an eight out of ten. Infor is a good ERP solution for the manufacturing industry. The product is recommended by the Gartner survey. The solution’s technical staff who is responsible for the maintenance and deployment needs to know JavaScript. You can upload or retrieve the data fast since the solution is deployed on AWS.

The ERP is for all main manufacturers that work with production or distribution. It's used to manage a warehouse, stock, and to provide an overview of purchasing and sales.

All of the different aspects are managed by different companies, like finance, production, sales, and distribution.

Most of the customers need to move to the cloud, but we still have a lot of customers who deploy the solution on-premises.

The most valuable feature is the ability to cover different types of activities, and the requirement for maintenance and data is very low.

I would like to have some kind of dashboard to show an overview of different data on the same dashboard or on the same screen instead of moving to BI. It's a bit complex. If you want a special overview of different data, you need to move to BI. In some cases, it's difficult to have all of the data on the same screen.

It's possible to do it, but it needs some development. Infor is working on it, so we should see some improvements in the next couple of months.

I was a direct user of M3 for about eight years. I have been an M3 consultant for six years.

We haven't had any issues with stability.

I would rate the stability as nine out of ten.

It's easy to scale.

I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten.

Technical support is responsive. At times, the level of feedback is poor. Sometimes the people who take care of the cases don't have the right level of knowledge.

It's difficult to change the level of the case. We always speak to the same guys. It's difficult to have someone else work on the issue. Maybe they work with different levels, but I haven't seen that.

I used to work with SAP, but I prefer M3. SAP is more difficult and complex as an ERP because there's a lot of data to manage.

It's easy to set up with just a cloud environment, depending on if all of your data is well managed or not. A lot of customers don't have a clear view of all the data. In a lot of cases, they haven't managed the data for a while, so you have very old data or data that isn't updated or used anymore.

It might be more challenging to use on the client side.

Most of the customers would like to improve and change a little bit of the process because it's difficult for them. The most difficult part is to auto-manage the data and travel to the new ERP.

It could take from six months to two years to set everything up, including planning.

I would rate this solution as eight out of ten. 

My advice is to check and clean all of the different data that you already manage, like customer data, supplier data, and item data. These should be cleaned before entry. You should also check the different processes so you have a good understanding of them.

Our customers use M3 for their whole steel manufacturing business including the financial, industrial, and HR models.

It's very stable, and it handles all types of industrial and manufacturing businesses in very good ways. I've found it to be easy.

Infor is continually improving their products; they are constantly upgrading and developing their products.

Infor should create one product to handle the whole business. At present, they make ERP systems for each type of business, and then sell additional features. I would like to have one system handing all organizations or all the business in deep ways and not have to buy additional features.

I've been using this solution for about one year.

It is very stable.

Technical support staff are very helpful, and you can have support 24/7. However, because Infor has more than 74 applications, you will have to talk to several people. One person won't know all of the products well. Because of that, I would give technical support an eight out of ten.

Positive

If you've got the business a hundred percent right, then the initial setup will be easy. However, if you don't understand the business or the main goal of the organization, it'll be very difficult.

M3 is a very complicated application for the implementer because there are lot of configuration streams in the industry. If you understand the main goal of the organization, then you will know how to configure it right from the start. Then, you can make it simple for the end user.

Depending on the case, deployment can take days to weeks.

There is a yearly licensing cost.

The price is based on the modules you need. There are several modules, such as the HR module, accounting module, sales module, scheduling module, etc., and the price will vary depending on the number of modules you choose.

The customers always say that it's very expensive. It can cost a lot of money if your organization is huge. It's not implemented in a lot of organizations in my country because it's too expensive.

First, you will need to understand the business and know what is expected from the M3 product.

Second, you will need to sit with one of the experts to show him the know-how and to show how to configure this product to achieve the company's main goal.

I would rate Infor M3 at nine on a scale from one to ten.