ERP Selection guide

What is an ERP? ERP is enterprise software that manages all the core business functions required to run a company, such as accounting, procurement, inventory management, human resources, customer relationship management, and much more. ERP helps businesses integrate their multi-departmental activities and improve overall efficiency. For example, an ERP system can help you track your inventory levels across all your warehouses, manage your employees’ vacation requests, and automate the billing process for your customers. This allows you to streamline your operations, reduce errors, and save time. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation can be a game-changer for your business. With 95% of businesses reporting business process improvement after implementing ERP, it’s time to take the next step for your organization. How to Improve Your Business with ERP Implementation? Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an essential tool for businesses to streamline all their operations and improve their overall productivity. ERP implementation can help improve the way businesses handle their data, automate key processes, and enhance operational efficiency. In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of ERP implementation and how to get it right. Benefits of ERP implementation for businesses ERP implementation provides a range of benefits for businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large enterprises. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key benefits of ERP implementation. 1) Centralized data management: ERP implementation provides a single source of data for all departments, such as finance, sales, marketing, and HR. This means all teams have access to the same information, which helps minimize errors and avoids contradictions. 2) Standardization of processes: Another benefit of ERP implementation is that it standardizes business processes. This means all your employees are operating under the same rules and procedures, making processes consistent across the organization. 3) Automation of routine activities: With ERP implementation, you can automate routine tasks such as invoicing and accounting. Automation frees up personnel to focus on other important tasks such as analyzing the data and making vital business decisions. 4) Improved productivity: ERP implementation provides employees with access to the information they need in real-time, so they can make decisions faster and with greater accuracy. With an ERP system, you can also eliminate manual data entry and reduce errors, promoting productivity throughout the organization. 5) Better visibility and transparency: ERP implementation provides business owners with real-time visibility and transparency of their company’s operations. This means you can access information on-demand and make better business decisions based on accurate data. 6) Scalability: ERP systems can grow with your business. Adding modules or users to the system can be done with ease, ensuring the system can scale to meet the demands of the business. How to implement ERP successfully ERP implementation is a complex process that requires careful planning and organization. Below are some tips on how to implement ERP successfully: 1) Define your business needs: The first step in implementing an ERP system is to identify the business processes that require improvement. This will help you decide which functions you need to automate. You can conduct a needs assessment or seek advice from an ERP consultant to help you identify your business’s core needs. 2) Choose the right vendor: Choose an ERP vendor with a track record of successful implementations. Look for a vendor that provides comprehensive support, including training, integration services, and technical support. 3) Plan your implementation: Every step of the ERP implementation process needs to be carefully planned out to avoid costly mistakes. You should create a detailed implementation plan outlining the scope of the project, timelines, budget, and any potential risks or challenges. 4) Train your employees: Invest in employee training to help them adapt to the new ERP system. Employees who are well-trained are more likely to understand the system’s capabilities, leading to an increase in efficiency and productivity. 5) Monitor and measure success: Once the ERP system is up and running, it’s important to monitor its performance metrics. This can include tracking user adoption rates, system utilization rates, and more. Tracking these metrics will help you determine whether the system is achieving the desired goals or not. Steps to improve ERP implementation: 1- Assess Current Systems: Take a look at your current systems and identify areas where improvements are possible. This assessment will help you understand the current state of your business operations and where there are inefficiencies or bottlenecks that can be improved using ERP implementation. 2- Define Project Scope and Goals: Understanding current business processes will help in setting goals and objectives for ERP implementation. Decide on key performance indicators and quantify your desired results. 3- Select Software: Choose an ERP software that meets your specific requirements and fits within your budget. 4- Configure Systems: Configure the ERP system to meet your specific needs. 5- Migrate and Prepare Data: Migrate data from your existing systems to the new ERP system and prepare it for use. 6- Testing: Test the ERP system to ensure that it is functioning correctly and meeting your needs. 7- Training Employees: Arrange a customized training facility with employee-specific needs. Training programs and workshops remarkably strengthen workplace efficiency. 8- Implement: Implement the ERP system within your organization. 9- Provide Ongoing Maintenance and Support: Provide ongoing maintenance and support to ensure that the ERP system continues to meet your needs.  By following these steps, you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your organization’s business processes, provide real-time data and reporting capabilities, increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve data accuracy. Final thoughts. ERP implementation can help businesses streamline their operations, improve efficiency, and ultimately achieve business success. Implementing an ERP system is a complex process, but with proper planning and execution, the benefits for your business can be transformative. With the benefits and tips outlined above, you can make an informed decision about implementing ERP in your business.

What is a good ERP System? A good ERP software/ system should address every part of the business. In today’s time, there are countless Enterprise resource planning/ management solutions available but the challenge is choosing the one that fits all the organization’s needs. Selecting the right ERP software can be challenging unless one opts for expert advice. ERP Selection Criteria? Yes ERP selection criteria is the process of deciding whether a particular ERP system matches the business needs or not.  Selecting an ERP system is not an easy or small task. It is intensive, time-consuming, and requires collaboration from various members of the team. Top ERP Selection Criteria: Pre-selection ERP Criteria:  1. Requirement Gathering  2. Vendor Viability  3. Technology  4. Costs  5. Support and training  6. Industry Expert  Post-Selection ERP Tips:  1. Implementation  2. Risk Mitigation  3. Scalability  4. Post live Tools Let’s discuss all the factors in detail. Pre-selection ERP Criteria: 1. Requirement Gathering and System functionality: The standard question in ERP selection is going to be: What system functionalities and requirements is the organization looking for? What degree of user-friendliness is required? Answering these questions will help you decide if the ERP solution is a perfect fit for your business or not.  This can be the most lengthy and complex decision in your ERP evaluation and selection process. Here are some parameters to look for Gather requirement, Process automation, end-users. Consider which of the current organizational challenges could be solved or recued by opting for an ERP system. Think of all the manual processes at your organization that can be automated using ERP system. How much tech-savvy is your end user? Are they able to navigate through complex workflows and features?  Plan for Integrated System:  Does your organization have multiple departments that use different systems? Can the selected ERP system bring all departments under a centralized system? 2. Vendor Viability: It is always advisable to check the vendor’s reputation and trustworthiness before investing in the ERP system. One should also take into consideration the options for future scalability to determine if the system is suitable for long-term usage.  The general idea is to check for Credibility, product viability, and scalability. The following Main factors can be looked at before finalizing the vendor: How the organization has evolved, growth plans, age, and financial health to be taken into consideration.  Seek customer references, how long have they planned to keep the product running, distribute or update it.  Does the company have the potential to expand in foreign markets? 3. Technology: There is a simple question to ask: What technology is the system offering and what technology does the business require? Check for customization, requirements, and value. Determine whether the solution meets the technical needs of the organization and processes. If not customization is needed to complete the request. Does the selected solution help in meeting the technical needs of the organization? Check that the selected ERP system is not going to be outdated in the near while. 4. Costs: Cost is an important factor to take into account. Before committing to any solution it is better to calculate an estimated ROI.  Consider the following factors basic price, true cost and ROI. Whether the pricing factor of platform really worth paying for? If not, there are plenty more ERP systems to evaluate. Try to estimate the true cost by taking into account the long-term ownership cost and benefits of the ERP. Estimate the RIO and it should exceed the long-term ownership costs. 5. Support and training: Support and training are important pieces of the system. It can include training videos, documentation, recorded videos or in-personal training. Think of the following factors, type of training and costs. Type of training: Consider the needs of end users and the sort of training that would be required for training. Costs: Is the cost of training and support included or there would be a separate charge for it? 6. Industry Expert There are various invisible competitive advantages of choosing an industry leader which are sometimes not available to others.  Has the vendor served a particular industry for long and proven itself successful compared to competitors? Post-Selection ERP Tips: 1. Implementation: After the selection of an ERP system, there is a need to make sure that there is proper implementation.  Here are the things to take care finding an ideal software, planning, data transfer, training the users, conducting test launches, and post-launch tasks. 2. Risk Migration: Investing in an ERP system can be risky as it requires budget allocations, provisioning for hidden costs, learning new and complex functionalities, and training for using systems effectively. 3. Scalability: Companies usually scale up and down as the years pass by and that is one of the reasons why ERP systems are scalable as they offer more facilities to manage employees, manufacturing, and other resources of daily use. Take the next 10 years into consideration for your scalability needs. 4. Post live Tools: Look that their support is reliable and that they would be providing you with support services when required. For any errors or problems, there should be support services in order to maintain smooth functionality. Conclusion Conducting ERP selection is a difficult process but by following the pre and post-selection criteria one is able to take into account various factors and take the best ERP into consideration for purchase.  Ready to get an ERP implementation done? Contact TechUltra Solutions – we are experts at Building custom ERP Systems which help you to up to date in Industry 4.0 Revolution.  What are your thoughts on ERP selections, do let us know in the comments. ERP Selection Criteria infographic: The ERP selection criteria infographic will describe both the Pre-selection ERP Criteria and Post-Selection ERP Tips for optimum decision making. ERP Selection Criteria infographic Frequently Asked Questions on ERP Selection Criteria: 1. How often do you need to do maintenance ? This is dependent on the water source and your usage .Changes in the water source might disrupt your maintenance schedule .Hydra offers free first year maintenance service every 3 months so as to gauge