Maybe you are a small but growing business that is starting to feel the strain of outgrowing a basic accounting system. Maybe you have a legacy system that is bogged down with years of bolt-on solutions that go unused. Maybe the cost of maintaining on-premise is no longer a viable business decision. Whatever the case, choosing the right business software is no easy task. Your new system is going to be the backbone of your business and it is going to play a major role in the future success of the organization, so there is almost no margin of error. With that, we’ve come up with 3 key steps to choosing the right business software in a 3 part blog sereies. In this first installment we will talk about matching business software to business needs.
Matching business software to business needs requires a lot of homework, carefully assessing what the business hopes to achieve with the software implementation. Unfortunately not all departments or people are always going to be in agreement about how to prioritize business needs.
Internal sabotage from change-resistant employees is often a leading cause of ERP implementation, according to an article at Panorama-Consulting.com. So leveraging those organizational change best practices right out of the gate is part of your software selection best practices.
Start with looking at each department. What problems are occurring in each that you are trying to solve with the new system? What software is each department currently using? Choosing the software that compliments the way your people work will make them more receptive to learning and using it.
For example if your human resources department is heavily invested in using Microsoft Office and Outlook, then choosing a solution that works similarly to these can be a big help. The Microsoft Dynamics line of enterprise resource planning software, for example, has a solution to fit any industry or department and they integrate seamlessly with and work similar to Microsoft Office products. And assessing the needs of each department early on will help to give them a sense of ownership in the project and therefore they will be more invested in making it a success.
Once you know what your people need, it’s time to ask yourself what your IT infrastructure looks like and what it can support in terms of a new system. Maybe you have some third party solutions in place that you aren’t ready to part with yet, or you have custom processes, working in a niche industry. Best of breed ERP software will be relatively easy to integrate with third party software, and it will be customizable to fit a wide variety of industry verticals. So be sure to make customization and integration a top priority.
This infographic shows how you can improve your business with ERP.
Here are some key points to remember when matching business software to business needs
- Key business requirements should be defined and documented at least in part by the executive team.
- Look at defining business requirements as the first step toward streamlining processes across the organization, and not simply a way to address bottle necks and other problems in your business and financial processes.
- Once needs are defined prioritize them. Is a particular need a make-or-brake situation, fairly important or just a cherry-on-top in terms of software functionality and capabilities.
- What is the preferred deployment model? How much or how little of the system and your data do you want in the cloud?
- Focus on how you can achieve measurable business value from the system through advanced analytics, efficiency, collaboration and real-time business intelligence. Avoid simply looking for a band aid to old problems.
About goERPcloud
goERPcloud is the first on-demand Microsoft Dynamics Cloud Marketplace that allows you to test drive different flavors of Microsoft Dynamics AX, GP, NAV and CRM with preconfigured 3rd party applications. goERPcloud boasts a robust ecosystem of Microsoft Dynamics Partners, helping businesses find the cloud-based software solutions that best fit their current and future business needs. Since 2000 RoseASP.com, the power behind goERPcloud, has provided hosted Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM applications to businesses around the world. For more information about goERPcloud, visit www.goERPcloud.com.
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