Is ERP the key to post-COVID business success?
Bringing data and applications together, Enterprise Resource Planning is the go-to solution for choice for organisations seeking to drive resilience and the reinvention of operations in the new business landscape.
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Keeping pace with the emerging economic and social changes will require a fresh approach to core business processes and day-to-day operations. The decision that companies make today about their ERP solution will set their trajectory for years to come in terms of operational flexibility and resilience. As companies manage the transition to next-generation ERP with digital solutions and cloud features, they must mitigate risks by first addressing their most urgent business challenges and then preparing for a full transformation and a smooth transition of core ERP functionalities.
Several of the business challenges raised by COVID-19 are tipping the scales toward speedier adoption of next-generation ERP systems, with companies particularly focused on the following:
Supply Chain
One of the biggest issues in the current business environment is the disruption to supply chains, particularly for SMBs working with fine margins.
Factories and warehouses are operating with smaller workforces abiding by strict safety procedures to prevent transmission. With workers spread thin in a time like this, it’s vital that managers have total visibility and access to necessary data in order to successfully manage their supply chains and keep business operations continuing as normally as possible.
Investing in ERP means you can get hold of the information you need, whenever you need it, helping you stop your supply chain become a bottleneck for your business.
Mobile ERP
If your mobile capabilities are not integrated with your ERP system, then staff will complete more tasks on-site while other jobs will be neglected altogether. This is particularly worrisome since the technology exists to carry out almost any task remotely on a mobile device.
Committing to mobile allows you to get ahead of the competition and turns the current crisis into an opportunity. Once properly integrated, real-time data can populate the system, such as customer order status, inventory levels, quotes and much more. All of this means better insight and better customer service, in addition to more agile working conditions.
As well as the benefits to front-facing staff, there’s also the business intelligence data suddenly made available to busy executives on the move. This means more visible information on revenue, pipeline, performance, ROI, customer behaviour and much more.
Cost Cutting
If more staff continue to work from home, organisations will increasingly see sections of their site underutilized. When this occurs, a long-term trend will naturally be to downsize on floor space and make additional savings on rent. Cloud-based servers represent a fantastic opportunity to capitalise on this tendency to downsize by shifting focus online.
Traditionally, businesses have had three primary concerns about implementing cloud technology: privacy, interoperability and cost. Decision-makers want to be sure that sensitive data is secure, that major systems that their business relies upon can be linked together and that it will be cost-effective.
A report by Gartner has suggested that cloud environments are expected to experience 60% fewer security incidents than traditional data centres. Therefore, while security is always of paramount concern, it seems the cloud is winning out over on-site solutions.
Real-time Data Analytics
Brexit and its associated trade uncertainties combined with the revolution to our working lives brought about by COVID-19 make for challenging times for Management. The solution, at least in part, can be found in real-time data analytics. Richer, real-time data allows staff at all levels of an organisation to make quick and evidence-based decisions from anywhere in the world. This means that orders and stock levels can be monitored and addressed more quickly and more accurately than by antiquated systems that are operated on the factory floor.
Next-generation ERP platforms can help companies address all these business challenges. They give companies real-time transparency with respect to sales, inventory, production and financials. Powerful data-driven analytics enables more agile decisions, such as adjustments to the supply chain to improve resilience. Robust e-commerce capabilities help companies better engage with online customers before and after a sale. And a lean ERP core and "cloud-first" approach increase deployment speed.
To learn more about how a Cloud ERP Solution can solve your business challenges, contact Storm Technology
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