ERP Readiness Part 1: Does My Business Need a New ERP Solution?

In our initial conversations with so many of our customers, we hear many of the same shared pains and frustrations. Many take issue with their current software itself, trying to run their growing business on spreadsheets or small accounting solutions like QuickBooks. Limited by functionality and lack of data integration, they aren’t able to easily answer the bigger questions each day.

But another subset of our customers and those that engage with our content on the Vision33 web site see things from a different perspective. They don’t necessarily see the inherent issues in their current software or lack thereof. But what they do experience on a daily basis are the pains or symptoms of growth outpacing internal systems. These symptoms appear more in the way of comments like, “My sales team is out there selling items I don’t have in stock”, “My cash flow is tight and I don’t know how to improve it” or “I can’t find one report that gives me all the data points I need to make this decision”.

If you are in either of these situations, you may or may not be asking yourself the bigger question “does my growing business need a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution?” The short answer to the question is a unanimous – yes. Growing small to midsized enterprises (SMEs) can better manage their growth with an integrated business management solution. Streamlining business processes through integrated core functionality, automating manual processes through workflows, and reporting on accurate data; all benefits experienced by companies that have adopted an ERP solution like SAP Business One.

However, the long answer to the question takes a bit more thought and research. There are a number of other questions that business owners must ask themselves first. After all, ERP applications support the core of your business operations; you want to ensure that your selected solution is befitting of your organization and your goals. Determining when your organization is ready for a new ERP solution can be more easily managed if you first answer several other related questions:

1) Does my company have the IT resources available to research potential ERP solutions?
2) Have I already assessed my company’s ERP Readiness?
3) Have I defined the business requirements of the ERP solution that my company will eventually adopt?
4) Have I reviewed and qualified my ERP solution options on the market;
5) Have we chosen the right implementation partner to select the ERP system?

Vision33 will discuss each of these questions in detail in this new blog series!