How Do You Know It’s Time for a New ERP?

26th November 2018

Change is always uncomfortable. It necessitates facing challenges head-on, owing up to shortcomings and making corrective actions despite the discomfort. Organizations usually run watertight setups for several years. Experience in business, deep understanding of systems and processes and inflows and outflows, means that the ERP systems that they use are often fixed and familiar. Stakeholders often loathe changing existing solutions, preferring familiarity to efficiency. Given the constant state of flux businesses are in today, it is necessary to upgrade ERP systems factoring real-time requirements and with better functionality, which can directly translate into better productivity and enhanced bottom-line.

In every organization there comes a time when questions begin to arise about the functioning of processes. Can these be made more efficient, can different departments be consolidated for reports, can energy and money be saved with better technology and can costs be reduced; are the most common among them. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions often come lower down the scale during this change. Existing solutions are often preferred for newer ones, or two solutions combined for a set of tasks. While this works temporarily, it also drains time and money in the long run.

ERP systems integrate and streamline business processes, including easing out workflow and reporting. Cloud based, flexible ERP solutions are freely available tailored to small and medium businesses. According to a 2017 research by TechnoUSA, 81% business are still in the process of implementing ERP and 16% of these are only doing it to replace old software.

The key issues that warrant a change in ERP solutions

• Functional limitations for a rapidly growing business – Businesses grow and expand, add more divisions and processes. These rapidly growing needs necessitate solutions that are agile, flexible and scalable. Organizations that continue to use old ERP solutions compromise on their productivity and growth. Inability to factor in acquisitions, new products and services, technical enhancements from third party vendors are all signs that a current solution may be inadequate. New requirements such as POS software, e-commerce and social media compatibility can also prompt such decisions.
• ERP vendors’ inability to support current systems – The ERP marketplace today is filled with software vendors who are investing time, energy and money in developing newer products. By staying with a product that isn’t being upgraded, supported or developed, organizations tend to lose out on several new technology and functionality developments. This will cost them more money in the long run when compared to implementing new software.
• Additional work required outside existing ERP systems – An up-to-date ERP solution includes all the latest functionality, including dashboards, reporting software and Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Besides enabling companies to keep themselves on top of things, it also serves as a one-stop solution for all the company’s needs. Organizations that are hiring third party solutions in addition to existing ones, are incurring higher costs and making processes more complicated. One ERP solution suffices for several functionalities at once.

Conclusion

With businesses in a constant state of flux, growing quickly, building agility and scaling rapidly, there comes a need for them to be on top of their ERP solution that fulfils several pain points, and streamlines workflow. Up-to-date, functional ERP solutions address several problems at once, easing the work for enterprises significantly.

To know more about the various ERP Solutions that Levtech provides for different requirements, please reach out to us at marketing@levtechconsulting.com