by Kaloyan Dimitrov, founder of Vambos.com and Coriti.com
A business has various departments which work interdependently to maximize performance. For instance, a typical firm will have sales, operations, accounting, customer service and human resource departments. Each unit has distinct roles and performance metrics. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software comes to combine these functions into one system. Here, information is stored in a single database and shared by all departments.
When choosing an ERP system, you must make sure that the software is:
1. Functional.
The ERP of your choice must take to account various functions of your business. For instance, the functions of the accounting department such as cash management, handling payables, et cetera, should be captured correctly. The system will not serve you well if such functions are missing or mixed up.
2. Flexible.
The system should be flexible enough to allow changes and improvements as your business needs grow. It is possible for growing enterprises to consider administrative and process amendments. An ideal system will thus be user-friendly so as to maintain high productivity standards even with the changes. Another important aspect of the system is its ability to process data in various formats. This way, employees will efficiently process information from varying sources which could be in different formats.
3. Modular and Open.
One of the simplest ways of organizing various functions in an ERP is by creating distinct modules. Each module should house related functions of a department. This makes it easy to manage information and restrict data to users on a need to know basis. Information on these modules should be easy to access especially where another department depends on the data.
4. Support and Stability.
It is common for systems to fail in certain instances due to unforeseeable reasons. Whenever this happens, you need fast and reliable vendor support to enable you to resume normal business operations. On the other hand, such system hitches should not be rampant and their impact should be minimal. In other words, you ERP should be stable and reliable.
5. Mobile Friendly.
In this era of digital technology, you cannot afford to confine your system to desktops. You need systems that can be accessed through hand-held devices such as Smartphones and tablets. This will allow your senior management to always have access to valuable information for decision making. Also, it gives sales teams the convenience to gather and relay information remotely. Such convenience reduces turn-around-time to the benefit of your clients.
6. Real-time Data.
The integrity of information used for decision making is very important. This makes it convenient to choose an ERP that relays real-time data. With such a system, you can rest assured that every business decision you make is backed by factual information. It also makes reporting accurate and efficient.
7. Use of Best Practices.
A good ERP must be designed to help users embrace best practices in the industry. For instance, your ERP must conform to International Financial Reporting Standards. Another important standard to use to benchmark the quality of services offered by your ERP is the ISO 9000 certification. If your system is built to these standards, then you will spend shorter period testing it and training users.
8. Easy to Use and Implement into Your Organization.
One of the common mistakes senior managers of institutions make is to deploy systems without involving processing teams. Such software releases often fail or take a long time to implement because they are not configured to satisfy process requirements. Another common challenge users may encounter with such systems is difficulty in navigating through the user interface.
To avert these shortcomings, involve your matter experts in vetting the suitability of the ERP to your organization. Allow yourself adequate testing phase until all users are satisfied. This will make it easy for your teams to embrace the system.
Kaloyan Dimitrov is the founder of Vambos.com and Coriti.com – the latter a company offering cloud-based ERP, BPM, and CRM solutions. Passionate about sports, business, mathematics and artificial intelligence, he is happy to be able to use those interests at work on daily basis.
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