Is Your ERP Winning?

With companies moving to remote working, the cloud, and other technological advances, they are looking to replace legacy systems with the latest technology to create a scalable and adaptable environment.

In that light, businesses focus on updating and strengthening their ERP, which is the backbone of their operations. Initially, upgrading your ERP or syncing specialty solutions was a daunting task. However, the evolution of technology has made it easier to switch to a better solution. Here’s a look at some of the top reasons why companies are looking to upgrade their ERP systems.

ERP vendors are constantly innovating to create a better environment for their customers. Even with the abundance of demand and supply, there’s a gap between the number of companies that want to implement smarter systems and the companies that end up investing in new technology. Here’s a look at how intelligent tech is incorporated into ERPs. While only 4% of companies have an intelligent system, a massive 53% of companies are looking to incorporate or adopt an intelligent system.

Here’s a report from Highradius, a market leader in AR automation, that discusses the emerging trends in the ERP ecosystem to make it intelligent and adaptable.

The technology trends we are talking about are essential in creating a scalable and sustainable ecosystem to boost the financial performance of your business.

Here’s a list of features that you should consider while assessing your ERP systems for up-gradation to ensure enhancement in critical business operations.

1. Scaling Up with Cloud

Traditionally, ERP software was on-premises with start-up fees and installation costs. Businesses with major security concerns found the on-premises option preferable despite the expenses of maintaining and updating the system. However, the demand for mobile and accessible cloud-based ERP systems increased with the onset of the pandemic.

With vendors offering affordable cloud-hosted options, mid-sized businesses now have access to multiple scalable solutions. With cloud-based ERP, organizations don’t have to worry about regular maintenance or update. The cloud-based ERP enables the ‘work from home’ setup and provides easy access to data. The pay-for-usage model with the flexibility to select only modules that you need reduces costs.

Cloud-based ERPs are successful due to features like flexibility, minimal resource requirements, ease of scaling up, remote accessibility. Mid-sized businesses are driving the demand for cloud-based ERPs leading to a predicted market growth of $101.1 billion by 2025.

Cloud ERPs constantly evolve to address the needs of the market, making it the gateway to modernization. According to a recent survey by Accenture, almost 50% of organizations planning on shifting their operations to the cloud in the next 3-5 years. This testifies that the shift to cloud-based ERPs is inevitable.

Some of the top cloud-based ERPs in the market today are:

1. NetSuite ERPis a complete and scalable ERP solution that streamlines business processes. It provides high-growing, mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises the right tools to accelerate growth and drive innovation
2. Sage Intacctis a flexible accounting and financial management software built for businesses of all sizes. It has powerful automation features, multi-dimensional data analytics, and other advanced functionalities that drive company acceleration
3. SYSPROis an industry-built ERP software that simplifies planning, execution, and control of production processes. It has complete tools for record-keeping, resource allocation, analysis, planning, and reporting as an end-to-end platformSage Business Cloud Enterprise Management offers financial, supply chain, and production management in one flexible business management solution. It provides rich and integrated functionalities perfect for distribution, manufacturing, and services industries
4. Oracle ERPis designed to drive innovation, enhance business productivity, and improve your operational performance. It is a full-suite platform with finance, project management, procurement, risk management, and other core features

2. Improving Accessibility with Mobile ERP

A mobile application has become more of a must-have for a modern-day ERP solution than a good-to-have feature. Cloud computing has made data globally available on the go and not bound to a single physical system. Mobile access increases efficiency and speed in the day-to-day workplace.

Among the many benefits of mobile ERP, the capability to attend to your business anytime-anywhere is especially beneficial to finance and AR teams. Mobility helps you avoid any potential bottlenecks in the finance function. It exponentially reduces bottlenecks by making real-time data accessible without any extra costs.

Improving internal communication reduces the risk of production delays. Adopting mobile ERP enables companies to adopt a more efficient workflow, enhanced efficiency, and a quicker decision-making process.

1. Netsuite Mobile ERPis designed with a mobile-first user interface approach to achieve seamless workflows. Available for both iOS and Android, the app supports push notification and supports features like time tracking, call logging, and expense reporting
2. Microsoft Dynamics AXis designed specifically for manufacturers and distributors. The mobile app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows users. Users can capture various expenses on the go by taking screenshots of receipts, creating and submitting timesheets
3. SYSPROhas created a mobile app called SYSPRO Espresso which is available for both iOS and Android users. It provides secure and easy access to suppliers, customers, inventory, and key business data. It supports offline access too
4. Sage X3provides a mobile application for iOS for iPhone and iPad users. It helps sales professionals perform sales analysis, financial analysis, and business analysis completely remotely—tasks that previously required users to be tied to their office computers
5. Acumaticaprovides iOS and Android native apps and supports any web browser on any device. The mobile app offers features such as time reporting, task management, mobile push notifications, and expense and sales order management

3. Increasing Efficiency with Personalization

The need for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ ERP system is increasing as more and more SMBs and mid-sized businesses start adopting ERP solutions. The change towards providing personalization in ERP modules took place in 2019 with solution providers jumping onto the bandwagon.

The demand for personalized ERPs arose from businesses realizing the benefits of giving up certain controls over their ERP systems. The change towards personalized ERPs created a configurable solution with minimal IT dependency. This approach was not only innovative but also affected the bottom line by reducing capital and maintenance costs.

Personalized ERPs are not built from scratch. Standardized industry-ready modules are created which businesses can opt for based on their requirements. This creates an ERP which supports the specific needs of multiple industries. Every component of such ‘personalized ERPs’ undergo standardization to ensure that flexibility does not affect the deployment time

ERPs are now evolving to be more consumer-centric, flexible, and accessible. The tools simplify usage, make it easier to operate and reduce IT dependency.

Customization also allows ERPs to seamlessly integrate with other technologies like AI and IoT to make the system robust and high-performing.

Moreover, personalization in terms of UX has come forward to be a key factor as employees expect to work with a system that’s easy to use and understand. Enterprises have also woken up to the intangible costs of ignoring UX such as making it difficult for employees to work, adding to the workload, creating process fatigue.

4. Generating Insights with Data Analytics and AI

While ERPs have been a great tool to collect and store data. However, ERPs require the data to be organized to enable analytics and reporting. With advancements in data science and AI, smart, predictive analytics has become an integral part of modern-day ERP build.

Today, cloud ERP vendors realize the importance of big data analytics. As companies take an analytics-driven approach to strengthen their financial standing, ERP systems are creating a robust data analytics module. Many mid-sized businesses combine their ERP systems with third-party finance integrations to further their visibility on their capital and the O2C cycle.

ERPs set the path to analyze both structured and unstructured data. This is where Artificial Intelligence comes in. With predictive analytics, Machine Learning, AI can leverage information in the ERP to:

• Automate repetitive accounting functions
• Increase efficiency of transaction-processing
• Verify the accuracy of statements and reports
• Predict threats to the working capital

In a Harvard Business Review survey, 34%-51% of business leaders predicted that AI will have its biggest impact on the enterprise’s back-office functions of IT and finance/accounting.

The use of AI has become increasingly powerful in finance. Companies such as Highradius, leverage AI to create high-performing AR solutions that impact the bottom line and improve the working capital while speeding up the O2C process. Some of the top ERPs with powerful data analytics and AI tools are:

1. Infor Coleman:Provides conversational UX with chat, voice, and image recognition capabilities
2. NetSuite Intelligent Cloud Suite:Netsuite, through AI has created a powerful ERP which is capable of providing better insights and greater efficiency through the integration of predictive analytics
3. Microsoft Dynamics AIprovides virtual agents, sales insights, and customer service insights thanks to machine learning
4. SYSPRO:Syspro has created ‘digital citizens’, AI-powered bots that integrate directly into the ERP to deal with repetitive tasks across the organization
5. Epicor EVA, AI-based voice command user interface for productivity improvement. It streamlines routine tasks like quoting and scheduling. It also provides data-driven recommendations (e.g. anomaly detection in manufacturing)

5. Enhancing Adaptability with API Integration

An Application Program Interface(API) has become a crucial technology for ERPs for collaboration with third-party software used within a company.

Initially, the interaction between an ERP and any third-party software was manual. However, gradually ERPs like Netsuite and Sage Intacct is building an ‘API first’ build approach to ensure scalability of the ERP.

With this step, multiple ERP providers have created ‘MarketPlaces’ which allows companies to look for compatible third-party software that can easily integrate with their ERPs.

While API technology in itself can be a bit tricky. In the postmodern ERP, API compatibility is becoming a major checkpoint for success and adoption rate. Some of the prominent ERPs that enable the API technology are:

• Oracle Netsuite:Oracle Netsuite has created a marketplace “Suiteapp” that allows companies to extend the functionalities of their ERP systems with compatible and verified third-party software. Netsuite is building up a strong base for smart finance using APIs. With verified solutions like RadiusOne and Avalara that leverage its API capabilities, it is enabling mid-sized businesses to scale up seamlessly.
• Sage Intacct:Like Netsuite, Sage Intacct has created a dedicated “Intacct Marketplace” which features third-party software for time management, budgeting, AR to help build a stable operational ecosystem for companies

Conclusion-

While these are some important features to be on the lookout for, while undergoing ERP transformation, businesses must have a strategic implementation outline. These questions should address the business requirements and how the transformation addresses them. Outlining the operational changes when undergoing an ERP transformation and post-implementation is important in ensuring that general business is not hampered during the process.

A successful ERP up-gradation can impact your business’s bottom line, strengthening its financial cores and boosting the working capital. In the digital era of business operations, it is essential for businesses to keep up with the competition and come out at the top.