Top ERP Software and Systems for Businesses in 2017

Question 1

What is ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning Software ?

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software is used for business process management. It allows an organization to integrate all departments of the business and carry on the process in a hassle-free manner. This is not a hyped concept anymore. It is part of every business and is intended to remain in place for many years to come.

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software incorporates the implementation of an effective system of the various processes of estimation, scheduling, purchase and shipping operations. It also includes the effective integration of customer management and accounting tools for better productivity solutions on the whole. An ERP system involves integration of various modules for better management of the enterprise solutions on a highly optimized level for generating higher growth and increased profit for a business organization.

What are the Must - Have features of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software

Separate modules for Financial Management, Human Resource Management, Inventory Management, etc.
An excellent user friendly interface with highly effective and easy navigational systems for greater user productivity
Real time generation of data for better management facilities
Detailed analysis and report generation schemes for critical monitoring and research options.
Extensive database and management solutions with easy query retrieval and update solutions.
Cross platform synchronization for greater applicability over various interfaces.
Highly secure systems for guaranteed transactional operations.
Easy creation of master data for greater insight into the various operations.
Proper full time customization of widgets and other integral functionalities for ensuring highly effective and professional performance levels for the various organizational resources.
Great reduction in time complexity for better and quicker solutions
Enhanced facilitation of rollback features and auto emailing service for greater response strategy.
24*7 customer support solutions for greater customer satisfaction and retention on the whole.

What are the Perks of using an Enterprise Resource Planning Software?

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software varies from business to business and hence the perks or advantages also varies. But below given are some general advantages of using an ERP software in your business. Read On:

Automation
What stands out as the most important of all when it comes to implementing an ERP system in your business is the excellent automation features provided for the various processes. This guarantees greater task manageability and better implementation solutions with easy report generation also. On the whole, automation serves to execute each and every transaction with the utmost ease, thus ensuring easy data and workflow, and report maintenance.
Reduced Time Complexity
Compared to the manual implementation of the given process, the use of a highly effective enterprise resource planning software guarantees that very less time is utilized in carrying out greater number of tasks, thus ensuring quicker and faster methods with better productivity solutions on the whole.
Reduced Paperwork
With the implementation of an enterprise resource planning software, every particular stage of a given process lifecycle goes digital, from the very planning to the final product delivery. All this documentation is later on stored for future analysis purposes. Also, it helps in reduced manual paperwork which also serves for a cleaner and greener environment!!
Better Monitoring And Analysis
Digital documentation of the data helps in better management of the various aspects of the component module strategies of a particular enterprise. This helps in easy Report Generation System and better monitoring and analysis of the various reports for crucial decision making in the business.
Highly Efficient Data Management
Apart from all these perks, one most significant thing about an enterprise resource planning software is the extensive database management solutions that the system tends to offer. Also, it creates great potential for better security standards with respect to each and every transactional operation, optimized for greater efficiency on the whole.

Why Should you use an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software in your business?

Basically, an enterprise resource planning software helps in formulating systematic management solutions of the various resources of a particular organization. This helps in generating maximum financial and organizational stability for a greater stand on the economic forefront. Research suggests that around 62 percent of the organizations and the various enterprises which have effectively implemented this particular software in their business have had unprecedented growth in their productivity levels. Also, they have generated a significant 55 percent increase in their revenue levels after the incorporation of the ERP system in their business.

What can be the Potential Cons of Using An ERP Software

Although the perks or advantages of an enterprise resource planning software are substantially solid, there may sometimes arise some problems, or in other words there can be some potential cons of using this software. Listed below are some of the disadvantages that may follow the integration of this software in your business. Keep them in your mind to avoid them:

Not A Simple Single Software Solution
An enterprise resource planning software differs in the various aspects, considering the fact that business requirements vary to quite a great extent in any given market. Accordingly, the particular software needs to be chosen for implementation. Hence, lack of universal modules in this particular software may pose some sort of disadvantage to some businesses.
Prone To Technical Glitches
Much as you would like to appreciate the software’s efficiency, it is inadvertently prone to some technical glitches which might cause potential data loss and reduced productivity. For this, constant monitoring of the essential data needs to be maintained along with a scheduled regular backup strategy for the same.
Needs An Internet Connection
Most modules of the software can be best implemented only if there is a high speed internet connection. Any lack on this particular part can create substantial threat to easy and smooth functioning of the various process modules of the enterprise system on the whole.

What are the things to keep in mind While buying an Enterprise Resource Planning Software?

There are a few crucial aspects which one needs to keep in mind for ensuring a highly productive and efficient statistics of the given enterprise in the existing economic forefront. For this very specific reason, one needs to implement the correct and highly business compliant enterprise resource planning software for greater efficacy standards on the whole.

Set Your Requirements Straight
Research well on the kind of ERP software solution you need to implement in your given business. Take your time in zeroing-in on a couple of ERP systems before you finalize on any one. Don’t be in any hurry and first make a list of all your required functionalities and specifications. Narrow down your search for the most apt ERP solution on the basis of this list. This will ensure that you get to buy only the best one for your business.
Better Time Complexity
Some of the software tends to have glitches in terms of real time implementation and time complexity issues. Make sure to get hold of only that ERP tools which will not only decrease the time complexity but provide greater modular implementation on the whole.
Security Standards
Security is one important feature that needs careful implementation in any business organization. So make sure that the ERP software companies have ensured enough security layers to keep your confidential information away from any breach of a potential attacker.

Most of the ERP solutions in the market comes equipped with lot of functionalities and features. And, with the inclusion of latest technological innovations and highly creative solutions, an ERP software is destined to quickly take the productivity levels of your business organization higher. This will ultimately ensure better business solutions, and subsequently greater financial standards for you on the whole. Thus by now, it must have become very clear to you that an ERP tools will indeed prove to be a highly valuable asset for your business.

Latest Trends In ERP Software

As every software has its pros and cons, it also has its trends based on new updates, new releases and consumer demands. Below are the latest trends in the ERP software industry:

1. Classification of Tier I ERP systems will soon become obsolete

The concept of Tier I, II, and III ERP systems and their differences will soon become obsolete and not the system itself. There are so many ERP systems available out there in the market nowadays and not just the big three's – SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics. There are also open source ERP like Odoo in the market which is freely available. There are hundreds of options available for all kinds of organizations including big corporations.

2. Gap between ERP implementation success and failure is continuously increasing

ERP implementation failure is increasing continuously and does not seem to reduce currently. Yet, there are many success stories. The differences between success and failure are expected to remain and become more evident. Successful implementations will execute effective project management, organizational change management, and business process re-engineering. Failures in implementations will stop investment in such areas. The differences between the two groups will become more extreme.

3. Cloud ERP is no more an issue

If companies want to migrate their ERP to cloud, it is no more an issue now. There are plenty of options available out there to help companies migrate their ERP to cloud. This trend is expected to continue in the future and will become part of the ERP system instead of just a buzzword. The question now is that which companies would move in this direction and which ones will not.

4. Small and mid-size organizations are increasingly adopting ERP systems

Until recent developments in ERP software, huge corporations had a huge technological advantage over the small and mid-size corporations as only 3 big ERP's were available and that too at a high cost. Now, with the development of SaaS ERP systems, mobile technologies becoming more cost-effective and easy plus quick deployment, small and mid-size organizations are trying to catch up with big corporations. The ‘high cost of ERP software and CRM software’ days are long gone. Open source ERP's are easily available in the market now, making it accessible to all sizes of business organizations.

5. Cause of ERP failures are exposed by the high-profile lawsuits

The increasing need of an ERP Expert Witness is a reflection of the current trend in ERP implementations. Many organizations are getting trapped in lawsuits, out of which many are high-profile. These high-profile lawsuits are exposing the reasons behind ERP failures and other shortcomings in the industry. The parties and their ERP issues highlight the reasons behind ERP implementation failure and all this tell us how the failures can be avoided!

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