For a long time, it was the default for entrepreneurs and their staff to maintain separate applications for individual business tasks. Perhaps this is also your approach, and you have gotten used to compartmentalizing processes like order fulfillment, bookkeeping, and inventory management on different apps. But this is by no means the only way to manage your processes, and in today’s business environment, it may not even be the most efficient approach.
If you are looking for new ways to add value to your business, the answer may lie in enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration for all of your current data-providing applications. This will entail streamlining or plugging in all of your business’s touchpoints for culling, processing, and managing business data related to sales, customer relationship management, accounting, HR, and the like.
Instead of depending on separate computer software, spreadsheets, and hardcopy file systems, you’ll be working on one consolidated platform with all of these tasks represented by interconnected modules. Though it may require you and your staff to go out of your comfort zone, ERP integration may be one of the best long-term investments you make for your business.
To illustrate, here are the top four benefits of synchronizing all your business data and consolidating your IT environment with an ERP system integration. Consult an ERP vendor who offers the most up-to-date solutions and ask them how you can ease into cloud-based ERP software.
You’ll Contend with Less Manual Work
One of your biggest pain points with regard to the separate-app approach may have to do with your reliance on manual data entry. In truth, manual data entry is time-consuming, and it is also prone to human error. You shouldn’t get to the point where you and your staff spend hundreds of hours on manual data entry, and even worse, additional hours rectifying costly mistakes.
ERP integration will make it easier for you to automate several data entry and data processing functions, like those related to accounting and real-time inventory management. You’ll be able to increase your overall efficiency and productivity with data-related tasks, as well as decrease the physical and mental burden on your staff.
You’ll Be Better at Handling Real-Time Business Data
A huge downside to drawing up business data from different applications is running into data silos. More applications mean more barriers to deal with, and therefore, more time needed to consolidate and process business data. By the time you’ve finished reconciling the numbers from different sources, your data may already be obsolete. That, of course, prevents you from making the timeliest and most responsible decisions for your business at any given moment.
But if you push through with your ERP integration, you will be able to arrive at a single source of truth—a common source for every data point in your business. That also means that you and your staff can have access to real-time data for every aspect of the business, and you will better understand how one data point affects another. You will no longer need to scramble to put two and two together, as your integrated ERP system will do this for you.
You’ll Cut Costs for IT and Overhead
ERP integration may require a significant investment upfront. But in the succeeding months, you will be able to see the difference in your business expenditures. A more efficient ERP system will demand fewer resources from you, especially in terms of cost of ownership and IT support. You’ll have all-in-one functionality from the ERP modules in your system, and you’ll only need to make one-time purchases for all of them unless you want to scale up or scale down.
You’ll also notice that certain overhead costs, like overtime pay, will go down. Thanks to the ERP, your staff will be able to work smarter and cut the number of hours they spend on overtime work. A tech upgrade that can bolster your business efficiency in this way will net your long-term savings, which your business definitely needs.
You’ll Increase Your Conversions
An integrated ERP approach will also allow you to make good on existing sales opportunities. You will be able to use the integrated modules to consolidate customer data, read into trends, and determine the right quantity of products to stock. The numbers from these modules will also help you identify the best leads and to reach out to them while the iron is still hot.
In other words, you will be able to make decisions that will turn your leads into sales. That alone is a good reason to invest in ERP integration.
Conclusion: Overcoming Modern Challenges with Modern ERP
Consolidating all of your business data points via ERP integration makes perfect sense, especially in the context of the digitally-driven, competitive world. In the near future, you will need to address industry-wide modernization efforts and even tighter competition among your peers.
Having an integrated ERP system will make you defter with your business data, and it will help you establish consistency for all your business functions. When you are ready to make the investment, seek out a vendor who can onboard the best modern ERP solution for you.