In recent years, Enterprise resource planning (ERP) waves have penetrated the business environment, especially the Financial Services Industry, with every small and large enterprises now desiring to implement an ERP. The belief is that innovation through ERP can make any company work smarter, faster, and ultimately achieve more results. And this is true!
Since its introduction, ERP has been known to eliminate disparate systems and consolidate independent systems, creating operational harmony across any organization making use of it. Trust me, a good ERP will help to drive overall process efficiencies and innovation while reducing operational costs.
But just before you implement any ERP, here are 3 basic things to note and consider.
- ERP is not always a one-sized fit all
It is widely believed that ERP is a one-size-fits-all system. Are they? Maybe not! In fact, they are not. Sincerely, each ERP solution is designed with features and functions to support unique business needs and industry-specific obligations. There are some core business needs that have to be addressed by a stand-alone application. Therefore, any CIO or CTO is looking to implement an ERP must therefore ensure they are not swamped with the one size fit it all mentality. The best practice is to identify your basic business needs and ensure your proposed ERP solution addresses it. If not, stick to a stand-alone solution that solves your problem. It is just common wisdom to know that an Enterprise resource planning needs of a Financial Services Industry will differ from that of a Manufacturing firm, hence ensure that in your ERP decision making process, this is considered so as not to waste resources, time and money.
- ERP should not be used to impress your business Ecosystem
Implementing an ERP solutions, especially when done correctly and utilized effectively certainly have the potential to impress customers, stakeholder and onlookers, however, that shouldn’t be your primary purpose. Providing superior results at all levels should. Ensure that with your ERP implementation, you are empowering your staff and strengthening your client relationships.
- Consider Industry-Specific Application
Some Technology Service Providers have painstakingly created specific line-of-business applications to perform particular tasks and simplify some core business processes. More often than not, these applications are more likely to holistically meet an enterprise or a department technological need better than the ERPs especially because they very customizable and help the business users execute their task in a way that is personalized. So, just before you invest so much in ERP, ensure that it address your most fundamental and crucial business need. If not, Industry specific application might just be the way to go.
Olokunde Olanrewaju is the marketing and communications Team Lead at Simplex Business Solutions, a foremost IT organisation in Nigeria with presence in other African Countries