Tag Archives: ERP

What is project governance and how does executive oversight shape ERP projects?

What is project governance and how does executive oversight shape ERP projects?

This article explores project governance and the role your Board and executive team can play in guiding an ERP implementation.

Running a complex, mid-sized business in this day and age is difficult without integrated, digital business systems. The question business leaders now face is not so much whether they need an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, but which one and when will they implement it?

Savvy business leaders know digital transformation is inevitable to remain competitive in a world driven by technology. It is often Board Directors, business owners and senior executives that initiate an investment in new approaches and modern business management solutions.

But overcoming choice paralysis and committing to becoming a digital business is only the first step towards achieving gains in performance and revenue. It takes expertise, time and energy to implement and embed new systems into your organisation in ways that will be sustainable.

So, what is the role of senior leaders in the governance of ERP solution implementation projects to ensure their long-term success?

ERP solution projects are strategic and will require strategic guidance

Transforming business-wide systems, and the processes that sit behind them, has long-term implications. It requires careful consideration and should be driven from the top, possibly guided by a strategic plan or digital business strategy.

While the work of completing tasks, liaising with implementation partners, coordinating training and internal communication is best left with the project manager and internal champions/sponsors—without genuine and visible support from the very top, the adoption of enterprise software is more likely to fail.

As well as backing the project management team, in many cases board directors and executives will provide formal project governance.

Taking accountability for how implementing a new ERP solution will enable the vision and go-to-market strategies of your organisation clearly fall under the remit of senior leadership.

When the Governance Institute of Australia surveyed almost 500 governance leaders about risk in 2019, it revealed leaders were most concerned about regulatory and legislative change, reputation damage, increased competition, finding talented people, and cybercrime.

A poor ERP software implementation can cause havoc: hampering your ability to remain compliant, secure, productive and responsive to customer’s needs, which in turn reduces your competitiveness and tarnishes your brand.

What is project governance and what’s needed to do it well?

Project governance is the layer above project management. It should be limited to high-level input about performance, risk, and issues that influence the success of a project—not day-to-day milestones.

Clearly defined roles and lines of reporting are important aspects of good project governance, to ensure that decision-makers know the boundaries, understand their obligations, and get useful information but aren’t bogged down in detail.

Digital strategy consultant Dr Malcolm Thatcher believes governance lies at the heart of IT investment failures. He said steering committees often don’t make the best use of member’s time and expertise.

He said, “Ideally the committee should spend 90% of their time on the project risks and issues, determining how the committee can assist the project team and provide them with clear direction.”

Why do some project governance groups lose focus and become ineffective? “A lack of focus by project steering committees is often matched by a lack of organisational focus on digital investment benefits and outcomes,” Thatcher argues.

It raises a key point. You won’t realise the full benefits of a new ERP solution unless your senior leaders know and embrace the role technology will play in enhancing your business and empowering your team.

Introducing a modern ERP solution—whether you’re stepping up from basic software or replacing legacy systems—can improve internal processes, make data more useable, streamline workflows and reveal deeper insights. It provides a means to do these things: if your whole business adapts with those objectives in mind.

Do you need help planning for a digital transformation? Leverage Technologies is a leading ERP solutions consultancy with hundreds of successful implementations to our name. Start a conversation today.

How to successfully manage change during your ERP implementation

How to successfully manage change during your ERP implementation

Getting people onboard with the new ways of working enabled by a new ERP solution requires change management: here are our tips for more effective change initiatives.

They are two key elements to managing change when it comes to introducing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution into your business: the practical implications of new tools and processes, and people’s behaviours and attitudes.

We’ve written in the past about the importance of effective project management to ensure your ERP implementation happens successfully:

Project management and change management are two different processes, but they often occur in tandem and may have many areas of overlap.

The project work—in this case executing a new enterprise solution—is characterised by a focus on tasks and processes required to set-up the software, re-engineer processes, and train your team in how to use the solution. Change management focuses on engaging and informing people affected by the project to ensure the transition is a smooth and sustainable one.

 

Change is hard: it requires planning, resources, and communication

Change requires taking people out of their comfort zone. Some people will be open to change and others less so, but with a well-planned approach, it is possible to create an atmosphere of excitement rather than trepidation.

You want employees to use your new ERP software solution correctly, but also to proactively embrace the intent of working smarter and more productively, sharing and leveraging data to make decisions, and using your ERP system to identify and act on new opportunities.

Remember to communicate the reasons behind the change and the broader business benefits that the new system brings, not only ‘what’ is happening. Communicate both factual information and key messages repeatedly—assume that not everyone will see every piece of communication or digest it fully the first time.

Factors that contribute to change management success include:

  • Involving your team: The people most affected by the change should be involved in deciding what tools and information will help them work through disruption. A top-down approach won’t fully capture the day-to-day concerns and needs of frontline staff.
  • Strategy first, then tactics: Define what success looks like first, identify and involve all the relevant stakeholders, and then plan and implement the events, documents, and communications that will help you achieve your strategy.
  • Understand the lifecycle of change: Recognise that change management doesn’t necessarily end when an ERP implementation project is finished. Check in on how people feel and adjust timelines and activities accordingly.
  • Leadership participation: Even though you may appoint a person to manage the change initiative, visible and active sponsorship by your C-suite is essential. When leaders use their influence to generate enthusiasm for the desired future state, it’s easier to overcome resistance and concern.
  • Take a phased approach to ERP implementation: Avoid the pitfalls associated with multiple changes in your organisation and phase your ERP implementation so that employees can adapt to the new system, learn, gain confidence, see benefits and then get ready for the next phase of improvements.
  • Confidence is important: Ensure that team members have the confidence to embrace change, voice their opinions and want to make a difference. Get team members excited about the project and the expected outcomes.
  • Communicate regularly: Keep team members updated on new initiatives, project progress, updates, and solutions.

 

Is it time to embrace a more continuous approach to change for business growth?

Whether you’re moving from paper-based records, replacing a legacy ERP system, or stepping up from basic accounting software, your new ERP solution is a big shift. But if you’re serious about gaining a competitive advantage in the digital economy, the changes won’t stop there.

Modern ERP systems are built with flexibility and growth in mind—allowing businesses to add new functionality as needed or take advantage of emerging technologies like IoT.

Writing for Forbes, Bain and Company consultant David Michels said, “Traditional change management as we know it is obsolete. Even the very notion that change can be managed feels absurd given the reality and pace of business today.”

He argues that managing change is now a continuous activity and must become a fundamental part of how you lead, engage, and develop employees—giving your team the confidence and know-how to readily adapt to technological advances or new workflows.

Technology is a facilitator: a tool that makes different approaches and insights possible. The true power of your ERP solution—and other business tools—is realised by people. It pays to foster more adaptable and skilled employees that are motivated to leverage your systems to deliver business improvements.

Looking for guidance during your ERP solution implementation? Our team has decades of experience, hundreds of successful projects, and many satisfied clients behind us. Call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

Replacing your legacy ERP- Should you upgrade or switch?

Replacing your legacy ERP: Should you upgrade or switch?

Is your legacy ERP system starting to pose a barrier to functioning at your best or embracing new opportunities? This post will help you determine whether to upgrade or switch to a new software solution.

When your legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is letting your business down, it’s important to weigh your options carefully before you decide whether to upgrade to a new version or make the switch to different software.

Your ERP system unifies business process management and the flow of information across every part of your business, and the wrong choice can have serious consequences.

 

Why legacy ERP systems create problems for evolving businesses

There are a number of reasons your organisation might be reliant on older technologies or systems that don’t take full advantage of modern approaches.

Business-critical data may be stored and managed in systems that are now outdated, but still in working order. The effort and cost of changing software may not seem worthwhile at first, especially when it may necessitate establishing new processes and the change management work that comes with that.

But the issues that may eventually arise include:

  • Slow, lagging processes and lack of automation reduces a team’s productivity.
  • Cost and risk of maintaining legacy systems running on obsolete technology.
  • Growing skills gap when it comes to knowledge of working with legacy systems.
  • Legacy systems are incompatible with the adoption of technology like AI and IoT.

 

How to decide between an upgrade or a completely new ERP solution

Change is only worthwhile if it delivers business value: that means better performance, lower costs, or features that will improve your offering or competitive advantage.

If you’re torn between the idea of upgrading to more recent software offered by your existing vendor or switching to a completely new ERP solution—there are two important factors to keep front of mind:

  1. Technology is changing at lightning speed: Some of the most advanced ERP software solutions may be relatively mature. All that really matters is whether vendors have progressed in line with changes in the available technology: cutting-edge software must provide powerful native functionality as well as enable your business to gain a competitive advantage through advances like cloud computing, machine learning, mobility, AI, IoT, e-commerce, and EDI.
  2. Implementing a new ERP solution is a big investment: Implementing a new ERP solution requires careful planning, a significant financial and time investment, and internal resources, training and project management skill. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly. Implementing an ERP has long-term consequences, but that also means it has the potential to boost your performance over the long-term if the solution is right for you.

 

Leaning towards an ERP upgrade: the pros and cons

If an upgrade is available for your legacy ERP, you may feel like this is the simplest option. Sticking with your current software provider or re-seller means you can deal with people you already know, it may require less training, or prove to be less expensive.

Upgrading your current legacy ERP is well-founded when and if:

  • Your team is happy with the current system even though it lacks some capability.
  • The upgraded version of your software is up-to-date with current technology and functionality.
  • The technology vendor is reliable, keeping pace with emerging trends, and investing in research and development to improve the solution.
  • Your current ERP was implemented well, you’ve always received great support, and you’re confident that the level of support will continue.

But if all of those statements don’t ring true, that’s a red flag.

It doesn’t make sense to hitch your wagon to a solution that your team doesn’t like and has always been a mismatch with your business needs; has historically been poorly implemented or supported; and potentially won’t allow you to take full advantage of cloud computing, analytics and emerging technologies.

If upgrading doesn’t offer a clear path to improved cash flow, customer satisfaction, and clarity for better decision-making—you should seriously be thinking about switching to a new ERP solution.

Ask yourself if an upgrade of the ERP software you already have will actually see your business through the next 10-15 years: or is it a bandaid solution?

 

Is a new solution the best fix for your legacy ERP issues?

Switching solutions may be the best way forward if an upgrade won’t deliver the capabilities you need to run a better business.

The speed of technological change is astounding. The Internet of Things is real and will only become more embedded within the industry and our daily life. Already in distribution supply chains, smart packaging that contains sensors that generate data is being used to enable better tracking, engagement with customers and deeper insights into supply chain efficiency.  

Machine learning and AI is already part of the way modern ERP solutions deliver automation and forecasting dashboards that alert you to trends. If you don’t move to an ERP solution that empowers you to take advantage, and your competitors do—it could seriously impact your business’ viability in a short timeframe.

The difference that a new system will make must be significant enough to justify the time and effort to go through a comprehensive ERP software selection and implementation process.

Carefully assess your internal needs, gaps and inter-dependencies around the legacy system, so you can judge new software options against specific criteria. Look for a vendor that is large and innovative enough to sustain the R&D required to remain at the forefront of technology so you’re always ahead of the curve and know your product will remain current.

And finally, pay attention to the experience, industry knowledge, methodology and personal approach of any re-seller or implementation partner—you’ll work with them closely to achieve a successful implementation.

Leverage Technologies are highly experienced ERP solution providers with more than 300 successful projects to our name. Call us on 1300 045 046 for a no-obligation consultation or email [email protected].

7 Beginner questions about ERP answered

7 Beginner Questions About ERP Answered

If you’re not really sure what ERP means or why it matters, this post is for you.

There’s a lot of jargon, acronyms and initialisms in the business world: it’s easy to lose track. Maybe you’ve heard the term ERP used in relation to managing a business and wondered, ‘what exactly is an ERP?’.

For people new to the concept, we answer seven of the most common questions about ERP to save you time searching the web:

 

1. What does ERP stand for?

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning.

Enterprise Resource Planning refers to a process of organising and managing all the resources and activities that help a business function, through an integrated system. You’ll almost always hear the term ERP in the same breath as ‘system’, ‘software’ or ‘solution’, because Enterprise Resource Planning is achieved through the application of software and associated technologies.  

 

2. What is the purpose of ERP systems?

ERP systems exist to bring daily workflows, tasks and data from various business functions together into a coherent whole. The software helps to link and standardise processes and makes information available across all parts of a business, to inform related activities and allow for high-level consolidation, analysis and reporting.

In business, there’s a lot of emphasis on setting a strategy so that you can make plans with a clear end point in mind. This idea recognises that although you may have different people working on different tasks in different parts of an organisation, collectively you’re working towards a common goal.

But how do you coordinate the practical, day-to-day flow of tasks, materials, information and procedures involved, especially when your business has grown in size and scope—or operates across multiple business entities, several stages of a supply chain, numerous branches and warehouses, or multiple countries?

Traditionally, different departments or business functions create and use their own systems, and store their own information separately—whether that’s on paper, in spreadsheets, or bespoke software. But this ignores the fact that each part of a business is dependent on the others in order for an entire enterprise to operate well.

That’s especially true when complex structures or processes are involved. As your business gets bigger or more complicated, it gets harder to gain a complete picture of how each aspect of the operation contributes to overall performance, and to communicate effectively across teams.  

That’s the reason that ERP solutions were created. In the very early days, ERP systems were mostly used by large manufacturers looking to coordinate and plan the required resources for each stage of production. Now they are used by businesses in all kinds of industries that want a more unified approach to managing their core business functions.

[FEATURE ARTICLE – A Brief history of the ERP]

 

3. What does an ERP system do & how does it work?

An ERP solution is sophisticated software that, when successfully implemented, should make it easier to manage workflows, collect and share information, and make insight-driven decisions.

You have a choice of how to deploy and implement your ERP system, whether that’s on-premise, in the cloud, or via a hosted, private cloud. Modern ERP systems make it simple to adopt a cloud-first, SaaS subscription model where your business pays by-the-month and benefits from real-time data, true mobility, data security without the hassle of maintaining a server, and automated updates to ensure your software is always current.

ERP systems are not the kind of software where you can sign-up and start using it straight away. They need to be configured for your specific business requirements and reporting needs. While you may choose software from a particular vendor, many businesses work with a re-seller or implementation partner (like Leverage Technologies, a highly-awarded and experienced partner working with vendors including MYOB, Sage, and SAP) to guide them through the implementation and make custom modifications.  

Typically ERP systems use one database to store and share information across the whole business. Most systems are modular, with a variety of different modules that cater to different business functions or activities, such as accounting and finance, inventory management, customer management, production, business intelligence, and HR. Modules are designed to work seamlessly together. Add-ons and complementary applications can be integrated where necessary.

Employees can be given access to some or all modules or specific functionality, with different permission based on their role and responsibilities.

In addition, newer ERP systems apply technologies including AI and machine learning to automate processes and eliminate some repetitive, manual tasks, as well as analyse data to help you forecast and plan with greater precision.

The interconnected nature of an ERP means that information about a customer is available across the business as a person moves through their buyer journey: from adding them into the system as a lead, the progress of their order, through to managing returns and warranties, and reporting on aggregated sales and profits at the regional or national level. Similarly, every stage in the life cycle of creating and delivering a product can be seen, tracked and analysed to improve your purchasing, quality assurance, cost management or supply chain efficiency.

 

4. What’s the difference between an ERP and a CRM or Accounting software?

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system focuses solely on that specific aspect of your business—managing your sales funnel, customer journey and marketing efforts. An accounting program helps you balance the books, manage payroll and invoices and some reporting.

Both systems are useful in their own right, but are designed to manage isolated aspects of your business. On the other hand, an ERP system can include both of these areas of functionality (and much more) and ensure that information can be easily shared between them.

Once a customer is created within an ERP system, all of your interactions, orders, balances and dealings with that individual or organisation is linked across every part of your system. For instance, when someone in the sales team adds a customer’s details and includes attributes like their location, that information will flow through and allow your CFO to generate accurate reports by sales region that help the business analyse profitability.

Accounting and finance functionality is usually a fundamental inclusion in an ERP solution, because data from across the business is required for your business to create accurate, consolidated financial reports, and to gain clarity about overall costs, margins, and the performance of different teams, processes and product lines.

 

5. What are the benefits of an ERP?

High-level visibility and the ability to manage processes across your whole enterprise are the key benefits of an ERP system.

Greater visibility of what is happening allows you to identify bottlenecks, cost blowouts, and inefficiencies—plus it gives you a better vantage point to see opportunities to grow, enter new markets or develop new products and services.

An ERP system can help you answer questions like: Who are my best customers? Where am I losing money on dead stock? What product lines are most profitable?

Integrated systems and data means there’s less room for error, smoother workflows, and less effort required to aggregate information so reporting becomes faster—with instant access to a lot of key data via intuitive dashboards.

 

6. Do I need an ERP?

The top three misconceptions about ERP systems is that they’re only for large businesses, or only for manufacturers and that they are too expensive. We break down these myths in detail in a previous post.

The fact is, your need for an ERP will be driven by the problems your business is currently experiencing in terms of information silos or inaccurate record-keeping, poor productivity due to manual processes, lack of coordination across your supply chain, and lack of consolidated financial reporting.

For many businesses on a growth trajectory, the cost of not implementing an ERP is the real concern because their current disparate systems are holding them back. Are you displaying any of the seven ERP readiness signs?

These problems can impact small to medium businesses just as badly as large businesses. The return on investment when your business is firing on all cylinders can more than justify the expense of a modern ERP system (particularly given that you can pay monthly using operational budget).

Implementing an ERP solution does require time, a significant investment, and project management muscle within your organisation. Learn more about what you should consider and the kinds of questions we ask new clients to determine their readiness.

If you think you do need an ERP solution, take your time and choose wisely.

[LEARN MORE – Your 2019 ERP software selection guide]  

 

7. How much does an ERP cost?

The cost will vary depending on the software you choose, the functionality you want, how you deploy the software, your configuration needs, number of users, and other factors unique to your business.

We’ve created an indicative reference price chart that you can use to scope the size of your ERP project and allocate a tentative budget based on the size of your organization (employees and turnover).

 

A few bonus answers about ERP!

Another query many people have is who uses ERP? What kinds of companies and what kinds of software? Here’s a few case studies of real businesses that use ERP systems that you might find helpful:

Still have more questions about why an ERP system is important, its main characteristics or functional areas? Our expert team would be happy to help: call 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

Data Management Guide for small business

A Data Management Guide for Midsize Companies

The ability to track, extract, and analyse data on an enterprise-wide scale provides a strategic advantage to midsize businesses. With effective data management, these companies can mine in-depth insights to drive customer engagement as well as optimize costs and workflows.

Big data management entails tapping into in-memory processing, which enables applications to access and manipulate data very fast as it’s generated.

Armed with in-process business intelligence, operations personnel can make better, informed choices. Leveraging these data insights can also help improve employee/customer engagement.

Here are the basics for leveraging enterprise data for predictive analytics and decision making.

Use Appropriate Data Structures

A sizeable chunk of your data will be streaming in unstructured from diverse sources, and you’ll need a way to structure it for analytics as well as querying applications. As such, think about how you intend to use the data, and figure out a way to sort, tag, or classify it.
If you don’t have the necessary big data mining tools and AI analytics resources to extract, organize, and study massive amounts of unstructured enterprise data, consider engaging a provider who can help.

READ NOW: How High-Tech Companies Are Pioneering The Digital Economy

Connect to the Internet of Things (IoT)

You haven’t yet figured out everything there’s to know about how customers are using your product or service if you’re not leveraging the enterprise IoT. Connecting the technology to products enables companies to monitor, gather, filter, and scrutinize usage, performance, or platform data using AI or machine learning applications.
IoT data analytics can help an organization make mission-critical, operational, technology, or business decisions. The technology delivers big data that’s virtually impossible to track, collect, and analyse in real time using traditional techniques.

Build the Capacity to Process and Store Big Data

As your digital footprint expands, you’ll be generating or receiving massive chunks of enterprise data rapidly. Do you have the physical infrastructure required to store it in-house?
As a midsize business with potential for growth, you may prefer to invest in cloud storage. This way, you don’t have to spend heavily on redundant storage capacity. You can scale gradually in tandem with the rising volume of business data.
Cloud storage allows you to employ big data analytics while on the move, including using mobile devices. It enables your employees to make data-driven decisions on demand, regardless of their physical location.

Invest in Big Data Transmission and Processing Capacity

Be sure you have sufficient bandwidth to accommodate the rapid flow of massive chunks of enterprise data. The need to access and analyse some of the data in real time makes it paramount to deploy adequate network and processing capacities. Equally important, don’t forget to make technical provisions for any CPU-intensive big data-mining, AI, or ML applications.

Secure Your Enterprise Data

Some of the data you’re collecting or storing constitutes sensitive personal information or business secrets. You need to secure it in compliance with relevant local and international regulations. There are costly legal and financial ramifications for not complying with cybersecurity laws.
If you have business data in the cloud, be sure to figure out who between you and your provider is legally responsible for its protection at rest and in transit. Typically, encryption, multi-factor authentication, firewalls, and anti-malware are critical cybersecurity measures you need to have in place.

Summing it Up

Leveraging data analytics can help midsize businesses boost productivity, streamline workflows, and register incremental revenues. Fortunately, they don’t have to deploy costly on-premises infrastructure to do that.

Instead, the companies may partner with strategic cloud providers to help optimizing enterprise data management to drive business value.

For more information on how to leverage Big Data to grow your business call us on 1300 045 046 or email [email protected].

Customer satisfaction in the wholesale distribution industry

How technology can help improve customer experience in Wholesale Distribution

Businesses operating in the Wholesale Distribution industry are faced with a number of priorities including maintaining optimum inventory levels, ensuring accurate order fulfillment, shipping and more. All this while optimising cash flow and acquiring new customers.

In today’s markets, wholesale distributors need to evolve fast and remain efficient to provide a high level of customer satisfaction. Simply ensuring on-time, in-full delivery of products is no longer enough.

As customers demand a more proactive approach to service delivery from their providers, wholesale distribution businesses are increasingly implementing technologies to transform the way they operate across all areas. From inventory management to delivery, to customer service and more. The ultimate goal: improving customer experience to create growth opportunities.

In today’s post, we are having a look at some of the key areas that businesses in the Wholesale Distribution industry can improve with the use of technology.

 

Customer satisfaction is the best customer acquisition strategy

According to the IDC research “The Next Steps in Digital Transformation”, conducted in 2017 by interviewing 3,904 Small and Midsize Businesses, customer acquisition is on top of the priority list.

IDC report top priorities for midsize businesses 2017

To support this goal, SMBs are using a variety of technologies (an average of 4.8 solutions in 2017 compared to 3.8 in 2016 ). The most popular technologies in use include Collaboration, CRM and eCommerce.

Top technologies used in business - 2017 report

To acquire new business, your existing customers’ references, testimonials and high NPS levels are key. Happy customers are not only loyal, but they also become your advocates!

In the Wholesale Distribution industry, customer satisfaction starts with the back of office systems that can enable an enhanced level of service.

 

#1 – Real-time inventory management

Choosing the right set of technology tools to manage your inventory in conjunction with other key areas of your business (such as finance and sales) can help you fulfill orders more efficiently without causing a surplus of inventory.

The result? Happy customers and a better sales process that relies on up-to-date data, coming directly from within your business.

 

#2 – Value-added Wholesale Distribution services

Implementing the right technology to provide value-added services to your clients can prove to be a great way to increase customer satisfaction and develop new business. As stated in “Embracing the Digital Economy in the Wholesale Distribution Industry” by SAP, wholesale distributors can aim at taking their business to the next level by providing value-added services such as:

  • IoT sensors embedded by the manufacturers into products to help your customers identify downtimes or need for new parts/replacements;
  • Using Artificial Intelligence to predict future demand based on external factors, such as weather forecast;
  • Using real-time, predictive analytics to recommend order items, quantity and delivery time;
  • IoT-connected vending machines and other retail venues.

 

#3 – Modernising customer touchpoints

Customers expect a seamless experience across each stage of the interaction with your business. Modern technology can help your Wholesale Distribution business enhance customer satisfaction on multiple fronts.

  • Purchase – Providing new venues to order products in real-time using eCommerce platforms that are integrated end-to-end with your warehouse and 3rd party suppliers. This can include websites, text messages an automated re-ordering;
  • Procure to Pay – Predefine suppliers, items cost, optimal stock levels and re-order points to automate the interaction with your customers, minimise manual intervention and increase revenue;
  • Social Media integrations – Incorporate social channels into your customers’ communication venues to get feedback in real-time;
  • Personalisation – Focus on improving existing relationships by implementing Customer Experience technologies. Register your customer interactions and other key information to focus on the engagement strategies that work best.

 

Wholesale Distributors can adopt a number of smart solutions to modernise the way they interact with their customers, resulting in an increase in satisfaction and repeat business. With the advent of Cloud Computing, these solutions are now also available at a low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and are flexible enough to adapt to the future requirements of your business.

At Leverage Technologies, we have been serving the wholesale distribution industry since 2005. For more information or to learn new smart ways to transform your distribution business, call us on 1300 045 046 or email [email protected] today.

ERP Misconceptions and myths businesses want to believe

Top 3 ERP Misconceptions & Myths Businesses Want To Believe

In this article, we are going to review some of the common ERP misconceptions that often come up during our consulting sessions. If you are going through an ERP selection/evaluation process for your business, we hope that this article will help you shed some light on what ERP is, what it’s not and what your options are.

After having implemented Enterprise Resource Planning software for more than a decade, we have come across a number of situations where the perception about these solutions is far from the reality.

  1. Enterprise Resource Planning is only for large businesses
  2. ERP is only for manufacturing companies
  3. ERP is too expensive

Here is our view on why Enterprise Resource Planning software is misinterpreted in these instances, backed by real-world scenarios and articles that we have written in the past.

 

#1 ERP is only for large organisations

The top misconception about Enterprise Resource Planning is that only large organisations have the necessity for ERP solutions.

Our answer is that you don’t have to be big, but you need to have a growth mindset and the ambition to scale your organisation. In fact, ERP software gives you the ability to streamline your operations and increase productivity, no matter what the size of your business!

From Finance to Inventory, Manufacturing, Reporting and more. ERP gives you a “single source of truth” that is used across all the areas of your business to consolidate disparate systems and eliminate manual processes.

Although large organisations have a major appetite for ERP software solutions, small and midsize businesses can also go to market for a new ERP to step up their capabilities.

From our experience, businesses that are turning over $2M+ and are still using a basic accounting package, typically start seeing the “ERP readiness signals” that lead to the implementation of a new system.

 

#2 ERP is only for manufacturing companies

Manufacturing businesses have without a doubt a large degree of interest in adopting Enterprise Resource Planning solutions. It is no secret that industries such as food & beverage but also discrete manufacturing see ERP has key to success.

However, a common misconception is that unless your business has a manufacturing component to it, ERP has no reason to be adopted.

From our experience, this is certainly far from the truth as our 250+ ERP customers span across virtually every industry! From Wholesale Distribution to Professional Services, Construction, Healthcare and many more, we have seen ERP software work beautifully in a range of different situations.

To further disrupt this common ERP misconception, check the following case studies:

 

#3 ERP is too expensive

Budgeting for an ERP software is not an easy task and requires involvement from multiple parties. The good news is that there are multiple price points to choose from according to your business size, budget availability and desired outcomes.

“ERP is expensive” – Our response to this common ERP misconception is:

  1. There are multiple tiers of ERP software solutions to accommodate the needs of businesses of multiple sizes. If you are a growing small business, look for “entry-level”, Tier 3 ERP software solutions to start with.
  2. ERP shouldn’t be looked at merely as an expensive exercise! In fact, ERP systems are often implemented when your actual internal systems are limiting your business. By removing the limitations of your current system, you open up to a new way of moving your business forward to better operations, enhanced capabilities and growth. For more information, read our recent article about “the cost of not implementing an ERP solution”.
  3. Modern technologies have transformed the way you use and pay for an ERP software. Long gone are the days of costly, ERP implementations. The advent of Cloud Computing technologies means that your ERP software is now delivered to your organisation “as a service” and the CapEx model is being disrupted by an OpEx alternative. The result? Learn all about Cloud-based ERP and what it means for your business in this article.

 

Conclusion

If you look at the common ERP misconceptions, it is clear how most companies might be missing out on a true opportunity for growth.

If you still think that ERP is only for large organisations or enterprises, likely in the manufacturing industry, that have access to massive implementation budgets, think again!

Today’s ERP is Cloud-based, adaptable and scalable, which means that any organisation with a growth mindset can step up to a whole new way of running their business.