Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP) often becomes critical as your business experiences growth and develops in complexity. Smaller companies still rely on spreadsheets to organize data related to budgets, planning, and other important business tasks. Although spreadsheets are useful, they often run up against limitations, especially as you being to generate higher volumes of data and your business operations become more complex.
ERP software helps you gather, organize, and integrate data from multiple sources with greater ease, and gives you the tools to analyze the information for insights that will fuel your company’s success. The software also minimizes the chances of human error and increases productivity; it automates a number of processes for you, freeing up your time from minute, repetitive tasks and not requiring your constant input.
What ERP system should you choose for your company? To determine the solutions that best fit your business needs and objectives, it’s important to meet with an ERP software consultant.
What should you discuss with your ERP consultant?
Before hiring a particular ERP software consultant and choosing a specific ERP software, there are a number of issues to address, including the following:
How the software will meet your company’s needs.
You need to have a clear understanding of how a particular ERP software will help your business. Conduct an analysis of your operations to find business operations that the software can improve on, increasing your productivity in a cost-effective way. Some types of ERP solutions will prove a better fit for your company than others, depending on your needs. Make sure you understand the tangible benefits the software would bring to your company, along with its potential costs.
The details of ERP software implementation.
Before settling on a particular solution, ask your ERP software consultant how long the implementation will take, what the expected costs are, and how well the software will integrate with your system. One major decision to make is whether or not to implement the software with servers on your company’s premises or with servers belonging to the ERP vendor in a cloud-based solution. There are also hybrid options, combining on-premises and cloud-based data storage. The advantages of the cloud include easy mobile access to the software, fewer hardware expenses, and the ability to implement the ERP solution more quickly.
Whether you’ll receive strong support and employee training.
Once the software gets implemented, you and your employees will need to know how to use it for various day-to-day operations, such as keeping track of products and drawing up budgets for your projects. You’ll also need to know how to best make use of the software’s analytical tools to assess your company’s performance across different areas. In addition to training, ask about the kind of support you’ll receive for the software. Timely updates, maintenance, and a quick response to any problems are all essential.
The qualities of your ERP consultants. Make sure you’re working with reputable consultants who have experience with the kind of software you’re interested in using. Have they worked with businesses of your size and in your industry, on undertakings that had a comparable scope and similar demands? To what extent will they be involved in devising and implementing ERP solutions for your company? Along with considering their track record and customer service ratings, evaluate their background and training. Ideally, they’ll combine IT expertise with a thorough understanding of what businesses need in order to run efficiently and thrive.
+ There are no comments
Add yours