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Developing an ERP strategy is the best way to ensure that an ERP solution, like SAP Business One, will address your business needs and maximize your ROI. Having previously determined whether your business has the necessary IT resources to allocate to research potential ERP solutions, the next step is assess whether or not your company is ERP ready. ERP readiness depends on a number of considerations.
Below are several questions every business should ask at this stage of preparing to adopt an ERP solution:
1. Have you defined your business process needs?
What processes are critical to your business? Whether it’s a custom manufacturing process, support for an ERP integration with an eCommerce solution, or self-service function to empower your customers to manage their business with you, defining your business needs up front will help you evaluate which ERP solution will best fit your business. Once an solution has been selected, an ERP partner can then further help refine these requirements during the implementation process, however the main point here is that in defining the process, you can envision how an ERP solution can improve your current operations; improving your current operations and making your business run more efficiently.
2. Have you set performance expectations for adopting an ERP solution?
While it is important that your business establishes the anticipated ROI for the investment in an ERP solution, more important is considering the opportunity cost of not adopting an ERP solution. Manual processes, double data entry and human errors and other bottlenecks can cause operational inefficiencies. And without the tools necessary to easily analyze your business in real time, staying informed of trends that reflect changing market preference or new opportunities can impeded your business’ goals for growth.
For example, think of the cost of not knowing why your top tier customers are ordering less this year or have stopped ordering altogether. Keeping in mind these opportunity costs can help your business build a better case for adopting an ERP solution and get key stakeholders in your organization onboard.
3. Are you prepared for change management?
Another business requirement to ensure ERP readiness to prepare your organization for change is to get prepared change management. Indeed, change in an organization that is accustomed to a previous legacy system or tried and true workflow that have worked well in the past may not be convinced of the need of a new ERP system. This can cause early adoption challenges of ERP so it is important to ensure that you have appointed an ERP project manager that will work with your selected ERP partner in the future. This person will coordinate demos and training for your employees to ensure the project runs smoothly and make sure everyone understands your business processes, expectations, and are prepared for the change. Check back next week for some considerations about how to evaluate ERP solutions on the market.
