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How to choose Output Management software: a buyer's checklist
Output Management software produces and delivers the business documents your ERP creates: invoices, order confirmations, delivery notes, labels and e-invoices. This checklist helps you compare tools on the points that matter after go-live.
Output Management is a broad term. In this guide it means document output from business systems - not production output in manufacturing planning, and not print fleet management. If your question is how to get correct documents and labels out of your ERP, to the right printer, inbox or e-invoicing network, this guide is for you.
What Output Management software does
Your ERP holds the data. Output Management software turns that data into finished documents and delivers them. A typical platform:
- Receives data from one or more ERP systems.
- Merges it into templates for invoices, order confirmations, delivery notes, labels and reports.
- Delivers the result by print, email, PDF, archive or structured e-invoice.
- Applies rules: which customer gets which format, which printer, which language.
For a longer introduction, read What is Output Management.
Signs you need a dedicated tool
- Small layout changes wait weeks for developer time.
- You run more than one ERP, or you are moving from one ERP to another.
- Labels and documents print on many printers across several sites.
- Customers ask for their own formats, or for documents by email instead of paper.
- E-invoicing mandates in your markets require structured formats.
- You send documents in several languages, with country-specific layouts.
If none of these apply, the output tools in your ERP may be enough. Our guide When standard is not enough covers that decision in more detail.
The main types of tools
| Type | Built for | Good fit when |
|---|---|---|
| ERP-native output tools | Forms inside one ERP | One ERP, standard layouts, an in-house team that knows the ERP's form tools |
| Label design software | Designing and printing labels | Labels are the main need, on a limited number of printers |
| Customer communications management (CCM) | Personalised customer communications, often in banking and insurance | Marketing and service letters across many digital channels |
| ERP-independent Output Management platforms | Business documents and labels from any ERP | Several document types, labels, e-invoicing, many printers or several ERPs |
The types overlap. Many companies combine them, for example an ERP-native tool for a few internal reports and an Output Management platform for customer documents and labels.
The checklist: 10 questions to ask
1. Which ERP systems does it work with?
Check your current ERP and any ERP you may move to. A platform that works across ERPs protects your templates during a migration.
AskWhich of your customers run our ERP and version?
2. Does it need changes to the ERP?
Every ERP modification has to be maintained through upgrades.
AskWhat exactly has to be installed or changed in our ERP?
3. Who can change a template?
If only developers can change a layout, small changes will queue.
AskCan you show a business user changing a layout in the demo?
4. Which output channels are covered?
Print, email, PDF and PDF/A, labels, archive and structured files. One tool for all of them means one set of rules.
AskWhich channels are included, and which cost extra?
5. How does it handle e-invoicing?
Look for the formats your markets require and validation before sending.
AskWhich formats do you support, and how do you connect to our access point?
6. Labels, barcodes and printers
Check the barcode types and printer languages you use today, and how print jobs are routed between sites.
AskCan you print our current labels on our current printers?
7. Languages and character sets
One template per language does not scale. See our guide on multi-language output.
AskHow many templates do we need for 10 languages?
8. Where does it run?
On-premise, cloud or hybrid, and on which operating systems. This matters if you run IBM i or have strict data rules.
AskCan it run on our platform and in our data centre if needed?
9. Monitoring and continuity
If output stops, trucks wait. Check how failures are reported and what happens when a printer or connection is down.
AskHow do we see a failed document, and how do we resend it?
10. Proof and support
References in your industry and on your ERP count more than feature lists. So does who supports you after go-live.
AskCan we speak to a customer like us? Who supports us, and in which language?
How to run a fair evaluation
- Write down your top five documents and the problems you have with them today.
- Shortlist two or three tools of the right type, using the table above.
- Test with your own documents and data, not the vendor's demo files.
- Involve the people who use the output - finance, warehouse, customer service and IT.
- Estimate the move: how many templates you have today, and how they will be rebuilt or migrated.
- Compare total cost over several years, including licences, implementation and the internal time to maintain templates.
Where InterformNG2 fits - and where it does not
InterformNG2 is an ERP-independent Output Management platform from Interform A/S, used in more than 4,500 installations worldwide. Interform has worked only with Output Management since 1987.
- A good fit for invoices, order confirmations, delivery notes, labels and e-invoices from SAP, Infor, Microsoft Dynamics, IBM i and other ERP systems, including companies that run more than one ERP.
- Runs on Windows, Linux and IBM i, on-premise or in the cloud.
- Not the closest fit if your main need is personalised marketing communication across many digital channels. A CCM platform is built for that.
- Possibly more than you need if you print a few label formats from one PC. Label design software may be enough.
Frequently asked questions
What is Output Management software?
Software that turns data from ERP and other business systems into finished documents and labels, and delivers them by print, email, PDF, archive or e-invoice.
Is Output Management the same as production output in manufacturing?
No. In this context Output Management means document output - invoices, delivery notes, labels and similar documents - not the amount a production line produces.
What is the difference between Output Management and CCM?
CCM (customer communications management) focuses on personalised customer communications such as letters and statements across digital channels. Output Management focuses on operational business documents and labels from ERP systems.
Can our ERP do this on its own?
Often, for a small number of standard documents in one ERP. A dedicated tool becomes worth it with many layouts, labels, several ERPs, many languages or e-invoicing requirements.
What should a proof of concept include?
Your own documents and real ERP data, at least one label, one email output and one e-invoice if relevant, and a layout change made by a business user.
Related reading
Evaluating Output Management software?
Talk to us about your documents and ERP, or download InterformNG2 and test it with your own data.