If you have been thinking about whether it is right to implement an ERP system for your business, you may sit down, take a moment, and evaluate all the key processes that keep your business going. Be it inventory, or order management, customer relationship management, accounting, and so forth. Various businesses these days are inclining towards the idea of Business Central Implementation. However, many times they are unable to get the right Business Central Partner due to lack of research and ignorance towards other critical factors.
Every business is unique: everyone has different requirements. However, companies that benefit from ERP systems have faced similar issues. Look if you are facing the same issue. Consider if your business is running efficiently enough or you need more robust technology. Do you have definite insights into your business or are you relying on guesswork? Do you have to spend too much time at the back office or admin work?
To be simple, an ERP system integrates all the distinct functions necessary for your business under the same platform. Therefore, streamlining business processes and storing data across the entire business.
#1: You have Distinct Systems for Different Operations
Take some time and contemplate how your employees are tracking and recording data. Do they use one system for accounts receivable and payable, and another for sales and record customer data in a separate system? Are they implementing those time-sucking manual tracking and recording of data? Does your warehouse use completely different software?
When you run different back and front-office operations on different systems, it can hamper the key processes that are meant to help your business run smoothly. Without accurate data on sales, inventor management can face negative impacts. It is even riskier than guessing and filling requirements. While a lack of the latest information from accounting can cripple the whole budget.
An ERP system integrates different systems on the same platform and hence your business relies on a sole source of information. Relying on one source of data cuts time makes business processes smoother while eliminating data logjams. It helps a business make more logical data-driven decisions.
#2: It is Hard for You to Access Your Business Data
What if someone asks you about your business’s average sales margin, sales per day, or sales to date? How long would it take to grope the information? What about the key performance metrics? If you are working in silos and have recorded such data on different systems, it is most likely to eat too much of your time.
Businesses these days are embracing faster speed, and therefore displaying an urge for faster data accessibility. You need to access real-time and the latest data quickly for better decision making, while your employees need data relevant to their tasks quickly to show more efficiency.
With an ERP system, you can get a holistic view of your business at any given time, while your staff can grab data relevant to them and carry out their jobs. For instance, your sales employees must have access to customers’ transaction history to boost renewal rates more proactively while increasing upselling and cross-selling.
#3: If your Sales and Customer Experience are Afflicted
As soon as a business grows, one of the main challenges includes inventory management. Poor inventory management might create catastrophes in your business, not to mention hampering your reputation.
Imagine how embarrassing it can get if you cannot tell the customer if their order has been dispatched. This situation is most likely to occur if you maintain records in different systems. For instance, if you run out of products in demand, you will have to put your sales on standby until the next shipment arrives.
With an ERP system, you and your employees can access the same last-up-to-the-minute information. Your customer care executives must be able to efficiently help the customer with every relevant information they need. Be it payment status, shipping status, refunds, services issues, and so on without having to cut the line and check for the details. Better yet, you can empower customers to go online, check their account, and view status information.
#4: If It Takes Too Long to Manage Accounts
One thing that depicts the need for an ERP system is your accounting department. How are your accounting employees managing their tasks? Are they relying on paper-based sales orders and invoices? Do they take hours at the end of every week to manually enter them into different systems? If yes, it is time to consider an ERP system.
And the same goes for financial recording: does it take ages to reconcile financial data throughout systems and endless spreadsheets? Why would you waste so much time when you can do it easily with an ERP system?
Once you implement an ERP system, you no longer must engage your staff in monotonous and manual activities. You can assign them more predictive jobs and boost business productivity.
#5 You Have a Complex IT Infrastructure
One of the biggest challenges of having disparate systems is managing their IT infrastructure. System customization, integration, and maintenance with patches and upgrades can give you nightmares.
If you are running on-premises, the maintenance can become even worse. Legacy business software upgrades can cause more difficulties than they are worth. With an on-premise upgrade, older modifications erase and must undergo the modification process all over again.
It is always wiser to get a cloud-based ERP like Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. Business Central Implementation gives the agility and flexibility to comply with your growing business needs. This is why picking the right ERP provider is mandatory. Trident Information Systems is a Gold Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation Partner who has served numerous business ventures so far. With a massive team of experts and a robust track of accomplishments, we have won several awards. If you are looking for an implementation partner, contact us.
